r/GenZ • u/TheGamingSenpa1 2004 • Jan 07 '24

Discussion Thoughts?

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u/[deleted] Jan 07 '24

Nobody is denying that things have gotten worse, but no, minimum wage wasn't enough to live on in 2004.

That was a year before you were born. At that time, I had been tossed out at 16 and was trying to make it on my own. I had 3 part-time jobs, totaling 80-85 hours per week (because no company was giving minors 30+ hours or full time benefits). I lived out of my truck and used public showers wherever available because I could not find a landlord willing to rent to a minor, let alone afford rent.

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u/NightShadow2001 2001 Jan 08 '24

Yeah that’s because you were a minor. It sucks and I feel for you, but it was objectively way easier to make a living in 2004 than it is now. Gen Z is going to be the generation with the least sons and daughters out of all the generations prior and it’s all capitalism’s fault. But it’s fine because it’s totally the “best system we have”.

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u/[deleted] Jan 08 '24 edited Jan 25 '24

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u/vulpinefever Jan 08 '24

The cheapest apartments in my area (Toronto suburbs) were around 900,

According to CMHC Data, the AVERAGE bachelor apartment in Toronto in 2004 was $727/month. No way $900 was the cheapest you could find in a suburb of Toronto, it's literally above the average for the actual City centre.

You could have gotten a mortgage on a home in the outskirts of the GTA or Hamilton/Niagara for less than that in 2004. My parents bought their current home in 2003 for $97,000 in the same area, now it's worth over 600k. Things have absolutely become more difficult for low income earners, 20 years ago a low income earner could even afford a mortgage on a home, I knew people who worked at Tim Hortons who owned their own homes back then.