I would like to broaden the debate. Perhaps, play the devil's advocate, somewhat.
Let us examine other professions; be they medical, legal, engineering architecture and many more. They all have apprentices starting out at the bottom learning their profession. Many spend years & years gaining enough experience and knowledge to be approved, classified, qualified. Mostly they start on a lowly wage and work their way up. It is many years before they gain promotion and start to earn a substantial salary. I agree there is a difference in the funding of their education; some have university grants or sponorship, other are also self sponsored. Pilots are mostly self sponsored or have earned it the hard way through self improver routes such as AFI/QFI. But hearing about the enormous debts incurred by university students when they leave those institutions, perhaps they are similar to pilots. (I am assuming that the PPL costs are those spent voluntarily to pursue a hobby).
So here we have a group of young 20 year olds starting out with 200hrs and green apprentices earning over 30,000 GBP pa. Within 4 years they can be captains and earning 70,000+ at the age of 28. Wow. Look around at your mates and compare yourself. Thank your lucky stars. You joined as a vocation and now you want it to be a cash cow. If that is the case you ain't going to last the next 35 years as captain doing the same drudge week in week out. However, the bank account will look very rosey.
I've had 35.000 GBP F/O's sitting next to me and things have gone wrong. Perhaps not always in flight, and if so certainly not in the QRH. There have been pax problems over the N.Atlantic, numerous problems on the ground with everything under the sun. You ask for their opinion in the hope of educatiing them to think and decide. (After all next year it might be them sitting here). Nothing. A big ER! I even know of SFO's in the majors who are so cosy that they do not want a command. They will have to do all the work and for little extra pay, but a lot of hassle. Ouch!
So, before you start to gripe I would suggest that you consider just how fecking lucky you are to be where you want to be; have only 2 rungs on the ladder to the crock of perceived gold, and to be way ahead of your contempory apprentices in the salary stakes at the same age.
How is it that we created an atmosphere where everyone at the bottom wants a slice of the cake from the top shelf. I too was mighty irritated when I was told by some old fart of a captain that 'my time would come'. Pompous ass. Perhaps he was right after all. Perhaps green horn F/O's think they are the same as old farts. They can handle the a/c just as well on most days. But then the manure hits the air conditioning, or things get just a little feisty. That's why there are 2 pilots on the flight deck and 1 has the responsibility. And that's why he gets a bigger slice of the cake. It's the same in every profession. It's that ours seems to have a very gentle salary slope between the bottom and the top rung; most others have many steps and steeper gradient. The LoCo's have also created a case where the top rung is occupied for a significantly greater time that the bottom one. A major contrast to previous years and the majors. Because of this I'd be curious to calculate the earnings over a 40 year career between a major carrier pilot, 15 years to command, and LoCo pilot 4 years to command.
I do not agree with the way LoCo's treat their personnel. Generally they abuse the vocational aspect of the job, suck you dry and give very little incentive to make them a career. But that is your choice in the end. Sadly that is the real world. I don't agree with it, but then back to the beginning, "Devil's advocate".