You also have to remember that there are a limitless number of people who have a camera and some skill who will do it as a favour or for the cudos of being published etc that either don’t charge or only charge a token amount. This drives overall prices down because even when someone is prepared to pay a photographer the rates they can charge are forced down. You charge what? well theres this guy who’s nearly but not quite as good or experienced than you doing it for half. He’s doing it for half because his competition is the brides niece who did a photography course as school and is really artistic. Not to mention that if its an event and one person lucks out and takes a great photo with their phone, suddenly they are better than the pro who churned out several hundred photos and missed the one because they had to shoot something else.
Right now it’s my 15-85. The lens is really nice for a non pro lens and the range is amazing on my crop sensor camera. Will it be a forever lens? No because my current body still has a mirror so I’ll need to change to RF when I next upgrade, but as I’ve been winning comps with an almost 20 year old dslr, I don’t see the need to upgrade anytime soon.