Why?  Why are there "too many" PhD students for the number of jobs?  Why do people take poor-paying adjunct and postdoctoral positions?  These questions have been asked recently, with various conclusions: we need to graduate fewer people, tell them about their mediocre job prospects, destroy false hope, etc.  But the question rarely comes up as to what these people would be doing if they weren't in PhD programs, or adjunct teaching - largely because the alternatives are often significantly worse.  Alternatives such as being wait staff at a restaurant, barista at Starbuck's, or a paper-pusher sitting in a cubicle.  Such jobs are also mediocre to low pay, and can be degrading, or boring, or require ingrained interpersonal skills that many in academia simply do not possess or do not want to possess.  And there is nothing wrong with that.  Forcing individuals into jobs they don't want, are overqualified for, or are psychologically demanding is not good for anyone.  There is a problem with low pay - such a problem exists in many fields, including food services - but that is a systematic failure enforced by salaries being set by employers and not bargained for by employees.  And that is the main problem currently - pay based not on true productivity but instead on perceived (not necessarily actual) skill levels and competition in the labor market.