Last few posts hit the nail on the head. The margin just isn't there to pay instructors a decent wage when the cost per flying hour is circa £100. Is it time to accept the fact that we are subsidising the students...and remind them of this when they fail to prepare mentally for a lesson. Paradoxically, It is not just them who pay when they need extra lessons when they are not prepared...by implication we also pay the subsidy but get a free hours flying. Unfortunatley the value of this hour is great when you are a shiny new instructor...it builds your skills and confidence. But after a while the value of this hour is degraded, as although we still are learning, we have seen a lot of it before.
Then its time to upgrade.
p.s. look at commercial instructors where they do get paid a reasonable salary...relatively