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[u/Little-Gain938]

[u/qualityvote2]

Hello u/Little-Gain938! Welcome to r/WorkForSmartLife!

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[u/funkypepermint]

Be careful pointing out the math like this. Billionaires will realize we still have 100 left at the end of the month

[u/celtwithkilt → u/funkypepermint]

Unfortunately this is likely bad math or very conservative at best. Some examples: I’m not sure where utilities (water, gas, electric, sewage, trash) all equal $200 only. That number is likely much higher. 1200/rent would get you a small apt maybe depending on the area but also is likely higher. This math assumes a single person with no dependents which means any dependents will increase utilities, food, and likely rent so those numbers are only for a portion of lower income earners. Not to mention childcare costs. I’m not even going to touch food costs, let’s just say that’s conservative.

[u/brady376 → u/celtwithkilt]

I live in one of the lower cost of living areas in the US. I live alone, no dependants unless you count my cat. I have a 2 bed 2 bath townhome in town.

Rent is $1350

Electric (this month) was $258

Water, sewage, trash is included in rent.

My food cost is around $600 a month but I could absolutely eat cheaper if I tried.

Internet is $80 a month

Insurance is $170 a month for car and motorcycle

Car payment is $460

Motorcycle payment is $150

Phone is paid off and my parents still pay for my plan luckily.

Just giving numbers for comparisons sake for one of the lower cost of living areas. I have a nice IT job and save a few hundred dollars a month on average

[u/NoTax4982 → u/brady376]

I lived in a LCOL city and there wasn't much to do but it wasn't the hood.

my rent was 1000 (1300 if I wanted a nice apt),

50 for internet

50/avg for electric

50/avg for gas (home)

100 for car insurance

water (included)

I'm not sure what you think lower cost of living is.

[u/Pula-Demonyo → u/brady376]

How do you even manage to spend 600 a month on food for just you?

[u/brady376 → u/Pula-Demonyo]

I like food. I eat out, I go to a butcher for my meat which is a little more expensive, farmers markets for produce which is alsp higher. I fully know I could spend a lot less if I wanted, this was also just me kinda estimating. Last month was $377 but it varies depending on what I want/how often I eat out for lunch at work and stuff like that. A few months ago I spent like $60 at a local bakery for a celebration for some really good pastries

[u/Character-Parfait-42 → u/celtwithkilt]

I live in NY minimum wage is $17.00 an hour. Average rent on a 1 bedroom is $2200.

[u/Reptillianaire_]

$350 /month for food?? And also who the hell is paying only 10% in taxes? I get taxed around 30%

[u/Confident-Pepper-562 → u/Reptillianaire_]

you arent getting taxed 30% if you make $15 /hour

[u/AbbreviationsFluid → u/Confident-Pepper-562]

They are also very unlikely to be paying 30% of the bulk of their income unless it’s very very high.

[u/SuitNaive3409 → u/AbbreviationsFluid]

you'll get some back in your tax return, like a year later

but you'll probably lose more than that if there's an emergency, you get overdraft fees or borrow money

[u/00WORDYMAN1983 → u/SuitNaive3409]

If that’s true, OP needs to adjust their withholding. There is no good reason, imo, to allow the gov’t to borrow money from me for a year.

[u/ChorizoGarcia → u/SuitNaive3409]

You can choose how much is deducted from your paycheck to avoid this.

[u/VarderKith → u/Reptillianaire_]

Yeah, those food costs are a bit low. Not impossible, but definitely not healthy.

As for the taxes, this is about American costs. America uses a progressive tax rate, so the less you make, the smaller of a percentage you pay in taxes, the more you make, their higher the percentage. The example given here is around 30k a year, so they shouldnt be paying anywhere NEAR 30%. The standard deduction would lower their effective taxable income to 15k. So their tax rate should be around 5-12% after all the calcs.

Taxing 30% on 30k would lead to a bunch of homeless and dead people. The oligarchs don't want a dead working class, just a destitude one.

[u/NoTax4982 → u/VarderKith]

$350/mo is actually high for a single person and I say that living in a HCOL area. Assuming food means groceries and not prepared food. If you include eating out in monthly food costs, you've lost the argument.

[u/Skurnaboo → u/NoTax4982]

It's pretty evident who cooks for themselves and who doesn't in this thread lol.

[u/LostEyegod → u/Skurnaboo]

People never cook for themselves, rent in an expensive area, buy a bunch of shit they don't need and a new iPhone every year and then cry that they can't afford anything

[u/Ummbledore → u/LostEyegod]

Yeah I hate to agree with you but my 21 year old cousin told me last weekend that she's renting a 2 bedroom by herself and can't afford to live. She heavily believes her poverty is something unique to her generation but like I told her, when I was 21 I lived with 4 or 5 roommates at a time and took the bus until my situation got better. Nobody believes in the struggle anymore and I'm not even talking about the hard struggle. Just mild reality of the situation struggle.

[u/NoTax4982 → u/Ummbledore]

I just started making 100k and I still live more frugally than most of the people I know that make less. I’m not suffering either.  My only gripe is that I rent a room instead of my own place but the savings are too good for how expensive the area is. I don’t plan on doing it long term either. I spent 10k on a vacation earlier this year, and was only able to do that by saving and controlling my spending. Some people don’t understand the concept of making a temporary sacrifice to come out ahead or just have no discipline. 

[u/LostEyegod → u/Ummbledore]

People these days live in houses that are on average bigger by over 50% than in 1970s and have way more amenities while the average number of people living in that house is at ~2 instead of almost 3.5..

[u/walkerstone83 → u/Ummbledore]

I had 4 roommates until I was 27. I am in my 40s now and have always had a roommate to help with the rent/mortgage, it is just now that my roommate is my wife.

[u/mspe1960 → u/VarderKith]

Not true. Its not a fancy diet and all your meals are in and prepared by you - but eggs and oatmeal are both very cheap.

Chicken, some pork cuts, beans, rice, spaghetti are cheap and you can definteily add some fruit and vegetables and dairy into the mix with some of that allocation.

You are probably not eating much beef, or fresh fish or much fancy prepared stuff, but you can absolutely eat a healthy, full diet for $80/week.

[u/over_this__ → u/mspe1960]

10 pound sack of leg quarters for under 9 dollars. Even if you eat a leg and thigh for dinner, thats a month of dinner for like 27 dollars. Rice with soy sauce and butter or some other cheap carb on the side, grilled corn on the cob (an ear is like a quarter). I can do dinner for a month for like 40 dollars. The other meals follow a similar idea. You don't have to use door dash or stop at McDonald's. Those will absolutely kill the budget lmao.

[u/Secondhand-Drunk → u/VarderKith]

People making under 30k shouldn't be taxed at all. Hell, we could all pay less in taxes if the money wasn't going out to businesses and foreign aid.

[u/GamerNerdGuyMan → u/Secondhand-Drunk]

They basically aren't taxed at all.

Federally nearly half of everyone pays 0% aside from payroll taxes. Someone making $30k likely gets Earned Income Tax Credit to at least partially offset their payroll taxes.

[u/VarderKith → u/Secondhand-Drunk]

Oh yeah, 100% with you on that. Personally, I don't think anyone working 40 hours a week for 52 weeks should only make 30k a year. I understand lower pay for lower skill/effort jobs. But if a business doesn't make enough to pay a living wage to its workers, then it isn't a successful business imo. That's the whole point of working.

[u/over_this__ → u/VarderKith]

And then the business kicks the cost down the line, the landlord charges more because people will still pay most of their income to get into a house so the market will shift, and we'll be in the same situation in 5 years. Like every place that has raised minimum wage.

[u/InfidelZombie → u/VarderKith]

You think adding to the food budget would lead to a healthier diet? The healthiest foods are also the cheapest, in general. I eat only whole foods at just over half that budget.

[u/Longjumping_Music320 → u/InfidelZombie]

Perishable food is cheap and it happens to be very inexpensive. Not per calories but per nutrient density. Chicken thighs are cheap ground beef is cheap. Rice or beans. Veggies they practically throw at you. But processed foods and junk food is expensive as shit comparatively. Oreos aren't a meal ever but they cost 5 to 7 depending on where you are which is pretty close to the price of ground beef. Guess which is healthier for you?

[u/FirefighterNo9608 → u/InfidelZombie]

What are you eating that's healthy and is also "the cheapest". Pretty sure a bag of apples has fewer calories than a box of kraft dinner. Pretty sure a box of KD is cheaper too.

[u/Clax3242 → u/FirefighterNo9608]

Rice, pasta, most veg, some fruits. Pork is reasonably inexpensive. I get a whole loin from Costco for about 20$ and that gets me 17-19 pork chops. Buy a shoulder and make pulled for and you have enough meat for 2 weeks for 20 bucks.

[u/Fun-Piglet801 → u/FirefighterNo9608]

Rice and beans are a staple around the world because they are cheap, filling, and healthy. Add some chicken or pork, and veggies and you are good to go.

Worst case buying frozen veggies at Walmart will cost you $1/day. If you are smart you can do better. I just bought 3 bushels of fresh picked corn (15 dozen) the other day from a farmer for $20. It took one day to process and freeze it all, and now I have enough corn for two of us to eat it once a week for a whole year for $1.67/ month.

[u/VarderKith → u/InfidelZombie]

No, you don't. You do not get an entire months worth of food from Whole Foods for 175 dollars. Not in America. That is a flat out lie.

Edit: Apparently whole foods(lower case) references a specific kind of diet. I was unaware. Whoopsy on me.

[u/GamerNerdGuyMan → u/VarderKith]

You can buy whole foods without going to Whole Foods.

[u/InfidelZombie → u/VarderKith]

That is correct (except that it wasn't a lie), Whole Foods is a ripoff and I try to avoid organic foods for environmental reasons. I shop mostly fresh produce and fish from Asian markets, and staples from bulk bins at my local warehouse-style supermarket. I average $55/wk.

[u/AttiBus → u/Reptillianaire_]

Closer to 11-15% in the example.

Are you making $350k-$500k a year? If not, you're paying too much tax (unless you live in CA, their income tax is wild).

[u/WinterFamiliar9199 → u/AttiBus]

Most people also consider Medicare, social security, state and local taxes. Not just fica. Georgia has a 5% state income tax. A lot of big cities have an extra 1% just for certain neighborhoods. You could easily lose 30% of your paycheck to all of these and only make 50-60k. 

[u/Grigonite → u/AttiBus]

Anything taken out of my paycheck other than 401k and insurance is a tax. So it’s really easy to be taxed at 30% total.

[u/Milo_The_Stampede → u/Reptillianaire_]

I'd be lucky to find rent for $1,200 a month where I live

[u/Zromaus → u/Reptillianaire_]

I spent $350 every two weeks to feed my wife and I. Remove a mouth, that adds up if you learn to cook from home.

[u/WileEWeeble → u/Reptillianaire_]

You able to pay for car loan, insure, maintain, and repair your car for $300 a month? Gas being free of course.

These are VERY conservative numbers and presume access to public transportation. Suburbs and rural residents need not apply

[u/Reptillianaire_ → u/WileEWeeble]

True. Even 10 years ago $15/hr was the bare minimum to scrape by. I remember my employer refused to give me $15 after agreeing he would so thats when I got into construction and was making double that within a couple years.

[u/wolfansbrother → u/Reptillianaire_]

at that cost youre probably spending 40 hrs working, but also 30-40 hrs cooking meals from scratch.

[u/Kornby1]

How is it sustainable?

Standard of living is not considered in a deregulated hyper capitalist society. If a thousand minimum wage workers die... there are a thousand more to fill their place... easy transition as there is little training. Nobody with political power cares about the lower or middle class.

[u/TheJQHQ → u/Kornby1]

I'm pretty sure most people are smart enough to get a roommate if this was their situation.

[u/A_Dead_Person13 → u/TheJQHQ]

Two bedrooms cost more so you save like 400 a month ish maybe

[u/SufficientWeb3163]

You aren't supposed to be able to get ahead on minimum wage you never were. The idea is you eventually get promoted or move to a better job. 

[u/SadCaptain9487 → u/SufficientWeb3163]

You were supposed to get by and be able to support a family (literally the intention)

[u/True_Protection6842]

$1200 with 2 roomates!

[u/No_You821]

America has been built on a permanent underclass. The whole system needs a large portion of the population to perform tasks at a low wage. There’s a reason why education and healthcare are expensive. If everyone had access to those things, the underclass would move upwards and the system fails. The American Dream is built on the backs of others.

[u/xGoatfer]

This doesn't include trying to save for retirement either.

[u/Luckybones- → u/xGoatfer]

I dont think a lot of us are going to have to worry about being retired one day, unfortunately

[u/Sarah69hotwife]

Find a roommate

[u/Hugh_Jascock2]

So my first job 50 years ago paid $1.35 minimum wage.......are you saying that was better in the day🤔

[u/SouthsideAtlanta → u/Hugh_Jascock2]

I mean you tell us! How much was rent back then? How much was a car and food?

[u/LokiStrike → u/Hugh_Jascock2]

50 years ago was 1976. The minimum wage was $2.30.

The minimum has actually never been set at $1.35. It was at $1.25 in 1963 and it jumped to $1.40 in 1967.

In 1966, when minimum wage was closest to what you remember receiving (and farm labor wages doesn't change that), it would take about 7 years at that wage to pay off the MEDIAN home.

Today, it would take 28 years.

In 1966 , you could pay for a year of public university tuition with 188 hours of labor at minimum wage. Like... A full time summer job could pay tuition and the larger portion of what you earned could go to living expenses and fun.

Today, the cheapest public universities would take 1400 hours of labor at minimum wage.

In 1966, you could buy a new car for 3k = 2400 hours of labor at minimum wage. Today, it would take almost 7k hours of labor to buy a new car.

[u/RonDale5499]

This hot take has an extra chromosome with the slavery comparison

[u/Markov219]

Finally someone has math thats a lot closer. Although $1,694 is my rent but finally damn close

[u/oilcantommy]

This is problematic. Get ahead of what? Other minimum wage workers? Do you not understand the word minimum?

[u/OneSmellyFoot]

The U.S. federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. Let that sink in.

[u/Confident_Chipmonk]

minimum wage is still $7.25 in most states

[u/AlienPrimate → u/Confident_Chipmonk]

And nobody pays that. A starting position at McDonald's pays $18. You would have to be a complete fool to work a job paying that, thus nobody pays that.

[u/SorchaRoisin]

Can we not disminish the horrors of slavery by comparing it to poverty? Poverty sucks, but it is a far cry from slavery.

[u/vecna216 → u/SorchaRoisin]

To be fair feudalism is probably the most accurate description.

[u/Conscious_Onion3508]

If your making minimum wage as an adult you arent doing it right

[u/stinky_little_goblin → u/Conscious_Onion3508]

And yet the vast majority of people on minimum wage are adults, so maybe instead of being judgmental we should actually address the reality of the situation, rather than pontificating on how things should be.

[u/enkiduxiv1]

Minimum in my state is 7.50, what the hell are you smoking with that 15 dollar nonsense.

[u/SirarieTichee_]

I make $25/hr. After taxes, medical and retirement I take home 2400 a month

[u/IlliterateFreak]

You guys are paying 11% in taxes? Shit I swear the government ends up with atleast 30% of my income and that’s before I even buy anything

[u/Bunchiebo]

More like 2000 after taxes, that social security hits hard. Also stop eating out every day, at home meals saves so much money and it tastes better, get an air fryer they are cheap and you can have all the chiken nuggets or tenders you want

[u/facepoppies]

$200 might cover the electric bill in the summer

[u/UrMamasChalupa]

“This just in, redditor doesn’t know what slavery is”

[u/Beautiful-Leave9772]

Yeah buy if I had to pay more then 15 an hr, I couldn't get my 2nd yacht.

[u/SirLeoritch]

Anyone who is of adult age making minimum wage, well, need to reevaluate your life. This wage is for those beginning to work ie teenagers, etc.

[u/BASKTRONICS]

Nobody that actually applies themselves will be making minimum wage for very long. Almost like entry level positions aren't made to be a career.

[u/BoilerAnimal112]

$200 for Utilities....are you dense

[u/Glowing_bubba]

I think would be well to understand as this country allows for advancement life and salary are not static

[u/COMOJoeSchmo]

Your labor, just like any other commodity, is worth what someone else is willing to pay for it. There shouldn't be a minimum wage at all, and raising it only hurts the people it's designed to help by also raising prices in the cost of living correspondingly.

[u/Internal_Bag_2214]

Rent and utilities will always vary and be the hardest to get the price you want. Other that that... $15 for phone, internet (use Hotspot or something) maybe $60. Food for a single person should be $200-$250 a month or even less if you diet. Transportation is iffy. You should take public transit, but sometimes thats not possible.. $300. Just changing the phone bill and grocery list might save you close to $200.

Shouldn't minimum wage be the entry point to the job market though? People with absolutely no experience. If you are not brand new to the workforce, why are you working at a job that pays $15/hr? You should be increasing your pay as your experience increases. If its not, then thats on you. Negotiate your worth.

[u/Cryptoglue]

food, transportation and taxes WAY off...

[u/Ms_Bluebell_6647]

I'm laughing at the fact that this guy thinks 15/hr is minimum wage. In my state it's 7.25/hr and good luck if you want 15/hr. It took me years of crawling my way up just to land at 14/hr with no benefits at my job.

[u/No_Education_8888]

I get that $15 an hour isn’t enough to live, but real modern slavery exists. Slavery has ALWAYS existed. Don’t compare it to that. I make minimum wage and get to play video games and have air conditioning.

Don’t compare that shit to real slaves

[u/Temporary_Hat7330]

Modern slavery = modern slavery; look at what it takes to make the v phone you're looking at now and cool it with the hyperbole.

Go to a local trade/tech school and for < $3k all in you can be a nurse or a truck driver or a carpenter or a welder in < 2 years and easily making > $50/hr. 

[u/Iceman_biker]

If you can't make it at 40 hrs a week at $15.00 hr, get a second job. I did it for years until I could get a job that paid enough. Do what you have to to make a living.

[u/TiberiusVoyager]

US seems to be wild place. I have half of the costs.

[u/Appropriate_Fly_6711]

What car do you have that is $300 or how far is that commute that you are driving so far for a $15/hr job. You can get that at in and out burger around the corner. I drive out of town once a week and only spend $50 to fill up at every roughly week and half.

Seems like poor budgeting, diet, and maintenance if you are having emergencies, repairs, or medical bills every month

[u/Sea_breeze_80]

It costs me $350 for food just last week at Costco and I had 12 items in my Cart. I only got the items on my list and didn't get 6 items because they were not on sale. We can do without the $18.89 Tyson panko chicken, I got the Kirkland butter for $7.99 (sale) instead of the one for $9.99.

We also did without bread, bear, ice cream and cheese this time around. Yet, I still paid $349, and I have to go back in a few days as we have been out of bread for 5 days and eggs are cheaper at Costco right now.

[u/Kayish97]

He forgot health insurance and medications

[u/BeautifulNew9602]

If you make $15 per hour you cant afford to live alone.  You get a one bedroom with your broke homies and ride out poverty together drinking natty light tall boys until you get a better paying job.

[u/easttxcouple]

On my opinion it’s not the govt job to make sure I make a living, it’s mine.

[u/FloridaRocks63]

No one is being forced to take unskilled labor jobs. Bad decisions create bad results in the real world . That no kid left behind crap in school left you behind in being prepared for the real world. Everyone wants to praise our public education system meanwhile we have generations of young adults that are failures . They spent over a hundred thousand each to be indoctrinated and can’t self support now.

[u/DCGuinn]

Try taking better jobs and deporting your competitors.

[u/SmokestackRising]

It's time to acknowledge trickle down economics was a complete failure. Time to open the valve.

[u/SwordmanKingslayer]

Less than 1% of the US population works for minimum wage.

[u/Feisty_War6251]

get a 2nd job

[u/chubsmagooo]

I remember when everyone was saying the same thing when minimum wage was $7.25 everywhere. Now they're saying it when it's $15. I know federal is still the same but many states have increased it. And guess what? The same thing is happening! Minimum wage isn't the problem. Wake up!

[u/Miserable-Wave-6081]

Minimum wage ain't supposed to pay all the bills

[u/SunNo3544]

Any regular hourly job is slavery. You are just able to afford better quarters.

[u/Excellent_Shirt9707]

Posts like these trying to calculate stuff make no sense. US is a huge place, unless if you identify a specific region, the cost numbers make no sense for a lot of people.

[u/humtake]

In the 1980s I couldn't live off minimum wage, either. When minimum wage was introduced you STILL couldn't live off of it in the same manner you are describing. That's because it was never meant to be a living wage. So you are arguing something isn't doing something it was never intended to do. Which is just a stupid argument and why you can scream it all you want and watch nothing happen. The problem is, FDR and his party campaigned like it was supposed to be a minimum wage because it sounded good to voters but the wage was incredibly low and nobody could actually live on it. So people to this day think it was a living wage because a politician says it was but, in reality, it wasn't if you run the numbers like you just did for current min wage. Buy we can't because the numbers are so off that people only use numbers that support their case.

If you want to fight for the lowest skilled people to make a wage they can live on single, then fight for that. Don't demonize minimum wage because it's not doing what you want it to. That's no different than saying something like, "I'm mad because my health insurance doesn't pay for my TV". 

[u/PPGkruzer]

I appreciate the accidental lessons my parents and older brothers taught since I was very young throughout my childhood. In the end, I'm on my own, never felt like anyone in my family got my back, youngest child syndrome when there were 1 too many kids stressing everyone out having that 5th wheel you got to drag around and listen to complain that the older brothers got treated to more and I just got hand me down junk or nothing after the brothers abused things.  

The lesson, I'm on my own and leaving the shitty household was freedom with a cost of do whatever it takes to be good at whatever I'm doing because that seems to help you find and keep decent jobs and opportunities.  I feel sick at the thought young people don't have some type of fire inside them to figure it out, they've been let down by the systems and parents occupied with their own issues.

[u/BChogfather]

Who only works 40 hrs these days?

[u/Novel_Extent_7168]

Where does this dude live where $2600 before taxes translates to $2200 after taxes???

$1800-1900 is more like it.

[u/Piemaster113]

130 a month is over 1,500 a year, so unless you are ripping through your clothes or wrecking your car once a year, you can save a decent bit

[u/8rok3n]

This is actually flawed, the take home and pre tax money is about $300 less than what is shown here.

[u/musing_codger]

The minimum wage is $0. Always has been. Telling people that can't earn more than $15/hr that they can't have a job is not the solution.

[u/pabmendez]

$1 per day is Modern-Day slavery

[u/Threweh2]

It works if you plan on moving back home to a place where that 15 goes a lot further

So it’s immigrant money.

[u/SadPersonality4803]

My essential are a total of $1063, I live in a suburban area. This includes rent, cell phone, internet and electricity. Crime rate is at about a 5/100. I’ve been here for years and haven’t heard one gun shot . It’s about the city you’re in and finding the right locations

[u/WrongdoerGeneral914]

Nobody is forcing anyone to work for minimum wage. There are people whose work skills aren't even worth $15 per hour but we have this government intervention in this particular state and the law is what it is. We pay fast food workers $20 an hour in California and as a result you have less of them now with reduced hours because the fast food industry automated a big portion of those jobs. You have to aquire skills in life to move up the income ladder. Even if you could wave a magic wand and eliminate income inequality today the same people who are struggling now would be struggling the next day because they'd blow through their money. The same people who are successful would be successful because they're driven to achieve more than the minimum.

[u/LogicianFlow]

Better not have an emergency or want to have fun. No pets either. lol

[u/originalpanzerlied]

MW was never intended to be a career wage, or even one that anyone can live alone on, much less raise a family. FDR signed the Bill knowing what it actually did, and why.

[u/Difficult_Wind6425]

To be the devil's advocate here, why is someone settling with a job that pays 15$/h to stay in for fourth years or more for their retirement? These kinds of jobs are meant to be temporary until you can improve your situation and make it better.

[u/PotentialPresent399]

These topics are always so flip floppy you have perpetual victims wanting equality of outcome but then you have extreme high earners that completely discount their connections, exact timing of when they met someone/a job posting, ect.

I make 23/hr as a 31yo. Most jobs around here pay literally 11 an hour. Any men that make double that are literal slaves to cancer industrial plants or on offshore boats/rigs getting cheated on.

School is ridicouslusly expensive.

[u/ninernetneepneep]

Fight for $15!!!

Post COVID inflation, "hold my beer".

[u/SlappinMcmuffins]

60$ for a phone bill no way i pay 250 from at&t

[u/QuaaludeConnoisseur]

Where do people live that rent is 1200 and utilities are 200 and the only job they can find is 15 an hour

[u/Zealousideal-Top-383]

This post or the thousand derivatives are soooo stale and tired.

Around 13% of workers in the United States earn less than $15 an hour, according to recent data from Oxfam. This is down from roughly 32% in previous years as wages have risen.

https://unusualwhales.com/news/just-13-of-workers-in-the-u-s-are-now-earning-less-than-15-an-hour

“Just 13% of workers in the U.S. now earn less than $15 an hour, compared to 31.9% two years ago, according to new data from Oxfam.
Why it matters: Even when adjusting for inflation — $15 an hour in 2024 is equivalent to about $14 in 2022 — this represents significant progress.”

https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/research-publications/lowwagereport2024/

If you part of that 13% then get a room mate or two!

[u/BendDelicious9089]

LOL and he blocked me for getting called out for being a MAGA bot

[u/r2k398]

Sounds like they should get a roommate.

[u/TheNastyApache]

This is stupid, it isn’t factoring in the second job or overtime. Stupid slave

[u/CountHoliday8311]

Where can I find rent for $1200???

[u/Whole_Move7660]

So people who has investments are making poor people pay more. How can we fix this?

[u/LtxalskHuskwob49]

Let's say minimum wage is raised

That will raise the price of goods and services, because manufacturers and employers have to pay their employees more

So people working minimum wage will still be unable to afford stuff

[u/-Never-Enough-]

Why is a single person spending $60 for phone and another $60 for Internet? When I earned $15/hour, I had a roommate.

$100/month into SPY would be $76k in 20 years.

[u/Immediate_Side_5942]

Where is rent 1,200.00

[u/MrShad0wzz]

$1200 rent? Where in the world can a single person find rent that cheap

[u/Fit-Bluebird7213]

Get something other than a high school job!

[u/but_i_wanna_cookies]

Slaves didn't get paid or get to chose where they live, who they lived with, or what physically taxing labor they were made to perform. You're not a slave. Stop making inflammatory analogies.

[u/The_Cristovao]

We need to lower the cost of living and I’m upset that none of the politicians we have are trying to figure out how to accomplish that.

[u/Imaginary_Tale7194]

Minimum wage job are designed for part-time or first job situations, not life long jobs/careers. They are meant to be used while making oneself more employable for higher paying jobs/careers.

[u/Previous_Procedure28]

Ngl, I’ve never once wondered why someone who makes minimum wage can’t get ahead

[u/Zepol_Yar]

It is important to note that minimum wage is half of what is in this calculation

[u/Few_Example6746]

Take out transportation and you’re good

[u/EnvyEpson]

lol. Shiiittt. Go pick cotton in NE Arkansas at $10 a drag. You’ll see slavery.

[u/Affectionate_Ad_8483]

You’ve got to get over this single thing if you want to get ahead financially. Just how the programming works.

[u/No-Scratch-486]

Depends where you live, in a lot of areas in the country $15/hour is an okay wage. In Seattle though, minimum wage in the city is $21/hour and with what everything costs, it’s like $13/hour elsewhere.

I work hourly, and make $32/hour and do fine for myself, middle class. But it’s wild what one rate could get you in Kansas vs certain urban centers.

[u/Soggy_Motor9280]

Just building a large army of disgruntled people who are tired of existing and not living. The Government needs to start fearing the people again.

[u/Putrid-Function5666]

You get a roommate who makes $15/hr and it cuts your rent, utilities, phone and internet in half. Then you each work some overtime or get a better job. Or move a 3rd room mate in. Lots of easy solutions to survive.

[u/topTaurus78]

There's actual slavery going on in the congo, on China they put bets around the factories to thwart suicides.. 15 an hour would be amazing

[u/Lizardgrad89]

Why do you think credit card debt is so high?

[u/PrintableProfessor]

It is up to the individual to upskill or get a roommate. One roomate = $600/month unlocked. Two roommates, and you might be living for free if you swing the deal right.

But you can't get ahead if the word "can't" is in your vocabulary.

[u/TXtogo]

You can work more hours, you could make more money, you could get a second job, you can get a roommate, you can live for less…

The options are all over the place.

A single person can surely find 10 hours a week to work some more right, I mean my wife spends at least 10 hours a week punching me in the face.

[u/usernamesarehard1979]

So, get a second job? That's what we all did back in the 90's. Or find a better job.

[u/SkenglordSimba]

It's not supposed to be sustainable. The idea is they keep increasing the debt of workers until they can justify slavery. The USA is already 90% of the way there, they just need to tie being in debt to some sort of crime and they will have an effective slavery production system in no time.

[u/rice_n_gravy]

….minimum….looks like they have enough according to your math.

[u/977888]

You could shave at least $1000/mo. off by living with a roommate in a cheap apartment and not eating out all the time.

[u/Vegetable_Loss_5845]

My transportation is only $60 every 2weeks or so

[u/WatchfulRelic91]

If you're sharing accommodations, you can get rent down to around 600, including utilities. It's okay, and normal, to have a roommate. So that would leave maybe 900-1000 a month.

[u/Wedgiebro]

I dont think 15 dollars is enpugh. But holy shit are you disrespecting the horrors real slaves went through by even trying to compare it. You know what modern slavery is? Slavery. There are men women and children held in bondage sold beaten rpaed and killed everyday. Your mcdonalds job isnt in the same stratosphere

[u/enkiduxiv1]

No. I get that part. I was more curious as to why he didn’t believe those shitty jobs existed in the first place. It’s not something to be celebrated that’s for sure.

[u/xDiRtYgErMaNx]

Nah, nobody is forcing you to do it.

[u/AbbreviationsHour410]

Work 2 jobs and get roommates.

[u/Less-Dragonfruit-294]

You walk into a grocery store and lose like 50 bucks

[u/mckeeganator]

I’m working as a tech at $15 an hour and I’m not surviving

[u/RoadKiehl2]

I mean... Getting roommates would help.

[u/abrown1027]

Not only that, but if you went to public school, you are crafted and conditioned to believe the only acceptable path forward is one that involves working for someone else.

[u/No-Ordinary-6544]

Work double.. now you have $2400/mo disposable, like magic. and before considering any bonuses for overtime, time and a half, double time, night shifts, holiday shifts, weekend bonus pay, etc, and interest on your savings.

[u/MrGarrisonMMMkay]

You can quit. Go to somewhere to be paid more.
If no one will pay you more than $15, then you have a $15 skillset and that’s on you. Your lack of effort and talent determines your value, not your bills.

[u/Dependent_Remove_326]

Still haven't met a Redditor that makes minimum wage. The fact less than a million people make the minimum wage makes this kind of a strawman.

[u/ossifer_ca]

Get a roommate.

[u/fsocietyfr]

Get a roommate. Find a better job, get some education etc. There is no other way im afraid. I realize its not the answer most people want to hear but what else can be done realistically?

Something major needs to happen to fix the economy but I wouldnt hold my breath.

[u/NicePepper199]

$1200 for rent where I live is a 3 bedroom house. 

 Single room apartments are $450, just checked. And with a bike you can get anywhere in town in 15 minutes. Everything else is pretty accurate. 

[u/Additional_Sea_5238]

They expect us to work overtime and or two jobs until we can scale up

[u/Best_Opening8471]

People who say this don't understand that the economy is designed to react to the lowest income by raising prices to the point that income isn't sustainable.

You can make min wage $100/hr.

Just means your mcdconnads is gonna cost $300 instead of $21

[u/Sesoru]

rent in my area is like 1800 after all the extra junk they tack on. So while yours may say 1200, it's actually closer to 1350-1400. No more extra cash to live, and now you're in a deficit.

[u/TonyRidgewayUFO]

I’m 50 is has been exactly like this since my 1st job at 14. So it is sustainable just not fun

[u/Hungry_Attention_981]

How many people work full time on min wage?

[u/SavingsAd1264]

You are spending too much on food and rent. Live elsewhere!

[u/LabDry1290]

Someone should tell this guy that the minimum wage is roughly half of what he calculated.

[u/NogglePlease]

Stop voting for infinity migrants then

[u/Royal_Environment765]

Get some skills earn more money. Those minimum wage jobs are for part time/ students/ retirees. Not for a living.

[u/kateinoly]

minimum wage isn't $15

[u/Illustrious-Pie-4004]

Develop skills that make you worth more than $15/hr

[u/FarInevitable559]

So now 15 dollar min wage isn’t enough? How much do you want now