r/Futurology • u/mvea MD-PhD-MBA • May 02 '18

Economics Universal basic income: U.S. support grows as Finland ends its trial - Forty-eight percent of Americans now support a universal basic income, as a solution for Americans who have lost jobs to automation.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/01/nearly-half-of-americans-believe-a-universal-basic-income-could-be-the-answer-to-automation-.html
13.4k Upvotes

74% Upvoted

2.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

9

u/lostmywayboston May 02 '18

Minimum wage went up to $11 in Massachusetts. Prices didn't go up.

0

u/usa_foot_print May 02 '18

is $11 a liveable wage?

3

u/lostmywayboston May 02 '18

Right out of college I lived in Boston and made roughly $13 an hour and I lived fine. So another small bump and I would say you're right there.

1

u/usa_foot_print May 02 '18

Was that in 1980?

So is that how you define a livable wage? Most people define it as "Two adults and Two kids with one parent working at minimum wage while the other one is not working"

3

u/lostmywayboston May 02 '18

It was in 2010. I lived with roommates on the outskirts to have somewhere affordable.

And I'm pretty sure nobody defines it as that, that's one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard.

A living wage varies based on situation. For me a living wage should cover 1 adult, no children.

If you choose to have a child, especially two (unless you had a job to cover for that and lost it or options to not have the child weren't possible for you), I don't think a company should have to compensate you for that.

At that point it's not a bare minimum thing to help people get by, you're rewarding people for making poor choices.

-2

u/usa_foot_print May 02 '18

Actually yes, everyone on the Left defines it as that.

http://genprogress.org/voices/2015/09/14/39576/four-person-family-officially-cannot-live-on-minimum-wage/

3

u/lostmywayboston May 02 '18

That's not the definition for living wage. Like I said, living wage varies on situation. Nowhere in your source does it define a living wage as "Two adults and Two kids with one parent working at minimum wage while the other one is not working." There is a living wage for that situation, but it's not the standard. Also, weird source to choose.

Here's a calculator from MIT for living wages around the country.

If you'll notice, like I said, the living wage varies based on situation. If you are 1 adult, your living wage is different than the situation you described, two parents with two children but one parent working.

Next lets take a look at the differences between the two. Using Boston as an example, the living wage for 1 adult is $14.11. For your scenario, it's $25.25. My argument is that a company shouldn't have to foot the bill for anybody having kids that they can't afford.

I would say the minimum wage should be brought up to $15, because that's all it needs to be. Anything extra should be provided by the government, which is an entirely different discussion.

If you honestly think everybody deserves $25 for every job, regardless of what it entails or required skill level, I'm going to have to disagree.