Meaning & use
lifetime earnings
Last updated
Meaning
nounplural
The total amount of money a person is paid for work across their whole working life.
Grammar: Treated as a plural noun: lifetime earnings are higher for graduates on average.
Patterns
- lifetime earnings of someone
- someone's lifetime earnings
Economists estimate that a college degree adds hundreds of thousands of dollars to lifetime earnings.
Taking several years out to raise children can reduce a parent's lifetime earnings.
Her lifetime earnings were modest, so she relied on a small pension.
Common combinations
- boost lifetime earnings
- Extra training can boost lifetime earnings considerably.
- reduce lifetime earnings
- Long periods of unemployment reduce lifetime earnings.
- estimated lifetime earnings
- The report gives the estimated lifetime earnings for each profession.
- average lifetime earnings
- Average lifetime earnings differ widely between regions.
- gap in lifetime earnings
- The gap in lifetime earnings between the two groups has narrowed.
Synonyms and how they differ
- career earnings
- Career earnings usually refers to pay in one occupation, such as a sports career, while lifetime earnings covers all work.
- total income
- Total income can include savings interest, gifts or benefits, whereas lifetime earnings counts only pay for work.
- lifelong income
- Lifelong income is a looser phrase and can include pensions and investments after work ends.
Word family
Commonly confused: lifetime earnings or lifetime value?
lifetime earnings vs lifetime value
Lifetime value is a business term for the total profit a customer brings a company, not what a worker is paid.
Practice
Which sentence uses lifetime earnings correctly?
Choose one answer.
Lifetime earnings is a plural noun meaning total pay across a working life. The other options misuse it as a short period, a place or a verb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “lifetime earnings”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.