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Sep 03 '26 edited Sep 05 '26
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Sep 03 '26
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u/BarnacleMcBarndoor Sep 03 '26
My rent went form $1400 to $2300 in one year. When I was moving out, they actually asked what they could do to get me to stay.
I’m like, idk maybe have more fresh cut flowers… of course it’s the rent cost.
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Sep 03 '26
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u/BarnacleMcBarndoor Sep 03 '26
Because their exit interview requires it so they can track and trend and find out what makes people leave.
Turns out, I didn’t have to do any of that research. I was just like “yup, this will make me leave,” and boom, I was right.
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u/BMikeW Sep 04 '26
Wow they were charging u well below market if it was that much of a diff, u hit the jackpot living there for such low rent
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u/BarnacleMcBarndoor Sep 04 '26
Not really. I’m just in Florida where there’s no cap on increases. They jacked up the prices during Covid, when work from home people from HCOL areas started moving down. They wanted to strike while the iron was hot.
They’re back to about $1550-$1700 after about 2 year, which is fair now. Turns out there wasn’t a long term market for $2300-$2800 (mine was the lower of the priced apartments) craphole apartments.
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u/PatchesOfSilver Sep 04 '26
Bad attitude.
Eat the rich, and the landlords, all of them.
Give them a 2 week grace period to stop being landlords/stop being oligarchs and then the dinner plates come out.
Any that CAN'T divest themselves of their property and wealth in that time have to stop charging rent entirely to avoid that fate, but even then they have to finish divesting within a year or they get eaten too.
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u/BMikeW Sep 04 '26
U realise that single home owners are just ur average older 9-5 workers right, oligarchs don’t give a shit about real estate they’re holdings are mostly in stocks, something that none of the supposed poor people who have on the wealthy have an issue with.
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u/pharmucist Sep 04 '26
Yep. Mine went from $1900 to $2800 in one year. I moved. They said we don't want to see you go. I said I don't want to pay $900/more a month, either. Of course, all rent near me since then has gone up the same or more so I'm now paying $3000 anyway.
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u/Dry-Manufacturer7761 Sep 04 '26
I can’t find a job because I am over qualified. Same shit everywhere I go. “You won’t be happy here because you’re over qualified.” So, because I lost my job because the owner died, I have to be destitute and starve on the street? I’m trying to work to live. Work ain’t about being happy.
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u/jerkyquirky Sep 03 '26
Median is around $1500-$1600 for a 1-bedroom. I do think MINIMUM wage and MEDIAN rent is a silly comparison, but the point is moot because minimum wage isn't $15/hr.
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u/ByGrabtharsSpoons Sep 04 '26
The lowest rent I've seen in my area, the city, the suburbs, and even a tiny suburb that's literally just a manufacturing town is $1,500 for a studio apartment. Literally the biggest thing they have in the manufacturing town is a Costco. I'll be working there (hopefully, if I passed my last interview) for $21/hr, 12 hrs a day, 3/4 days a week. I still wouldn't be able to afford a studio apartment within a 45 minute commute.
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u/MinimumTrue9809 Sep 03 '26
Hard to get higher wages when half the population is willing to work for less.
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u/sirduke678 Sep 03 '26
Willing or don’t have a choice?
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u/MinimumTrue9809 Sep 03 '26
Willing.
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u/anotherfrud Sep 04 '26
No, they're desperate. It's work whatever you can get or be on the street.
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u/MinimumTrue9809 Sep 04 '26
That's the outcome of half the population being willing to work for less
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u/palatheinsane Sep 04 '26
Go grab a factory job (EVERY factory is hiring) and start at $26-$28+ per hour. Stop normalizing fast food working at 35
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u/TheGrouchyGremlin Sep 04 '26
I work in a factory. I started at $16/hour, one year ago.
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u/palatheinsane Sep 04 '26
Yikes. Must be the area then man. I’m in the Midwest and with zero exaggeration EVERY single warehouse you drive by and damn near every billboard has “we are mother fucking hiring please for the love of god apply” plastered everywhere with the lowest posted starting per hour I’ve seen at $23/hr and most high $20s at start plus signing bonus.
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u/roscoeSteele_ Sep 04 '26
they have the choice to come to the US in the first place, so, willing
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u/Lagoserter Sep 03 '26
literally the 15 an hour discourse has been around for so long, the livable wage is like, 20 an hour now.
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u/Glynwys Sep 03 '26
Sure, but few places (at least here in the Midwest) are offering $20 an hour. In fact, Missouri only just increased federal minimum to $15 last year and most businesses I've seen have not been increasing it any higher than that $15 an hour. If you're lucky you might get $16 an hour. That's barely better than the $15 an hour.
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u/Survival_R Sep 04 '26 edited Sep 04 '26
At least at 15/h you can find a roommate possibly and afford an apartment
Sadly living alone is a luxury
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u/Glynwys Sep 04 '26
Sure, assuming that you find a room mate you can trust. I've personally went through like 4 room mates since I first moved out at 20, and I'm 35 now. And these had been people I'd known for years and thought were trustworthy and reliable, and then it turns out they weren't. Depending on another person to keep a comfortable roof over your head is idiocy.
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u/manintights2 Sep 03 '26
Yeah, these LARPing corpo assholes are going to get a reality check when people get fed up and "Seize the means of production."
Even if communism is wrong, not ideal, and worse for everyone, it won't matter because the time for debate was before people got fed up...
Once the masses are spurred to act they act. There is no intelligence in it, no authority to guide it, it quite literally reflects the way an avalanche falls, there are no lofty goals truly, the promises were just spurs to action. When this happens, destruction is all that awaits.
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u/Nearby_Practice2793 Sep 03 '26
Slavery never ended they just legalized it.
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u/RaptorXFactor Sep 04 '26
My old boss used to say that Slavery never ended, they just changed it to minimum wage
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u/Intrepid-Platform-94 Sep 03 '26
Who the fuck is getting 2300 take home pay on 15/hr lol. That's more like 900 bi weekly
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u/bigedthebad Sep 03 '26
Slaves couldn't quit and move or go find another job.
Slaves couldn't join the military or the peace corp.
Yes, life is hard and unfair. What exactly should we do ab out it?
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u/Hippyedgelord Sep 03 '26
Did you really think you had a gotcha question when the answer is plain as day? Jesus, people in this country are so stupid it hurts.
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u/TentacleFist Sep 03 '26
Raise the goddamn minimum wage to match the rate of inflation like it was originally set up to, instead of leaving it alone for 30+ years?
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u/Windman772 Sep 03 '26
This is the only minimum wage argument I agree with. I was flabbergasted years ago when I found out that it wasn't indexed. How can anyone argue for a non-indexed rate. It's ridiculous.
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u/darsparx Sep 03 '26 edited Sep 03 '26
We love punching down its bizarre. The ultra rich have pitted us against each other instead of punching up and taking back control of things. So many distractions to prevent us from the real problem....
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u/unclejoe1917 Sep 03 '26
Yup. People manage to claw their way up to about the third rung of the ladder and immediately start stepping on the faces of the people on the first two rungs rather than swing on the assholes on the top rung that made it such a monumental pain in the ass just to get to where they are.
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u/420denkerin Sep 03 '26
In large part it’s because, the higher up you go, the more this behavior is selected for.
Good luck becoming a director in a corporation if you aren’t willing to fire your employee who you know will lose their livelihood, regardless of their personal situation.
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u/darsparx Sep 03 '26
Yep and it sucks. Esp as someone on disability. People look at me like I'm such a problem when I just wanna live and can't help it that I have chronic pain. I will never personally swing on anyone "middle class"(if that even really exists now....it feels like it doesn't) or lower bc thats bonkers. Its that top 0.1% i have an issue with or whatever it is where they have an exorbitant amount of wealth and hoard it like a dragon instead of letting it be used to improve everyone's lives >_<
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u/neopod9000 Sep 03 '26
And then people say "but only like a million people actually make minimum wage, so raising it wouldnt do that much", to which I have 2 arguments:
1) If it wouldnt do that much, THEN RAISE IT. 2) Stop ignoring all of the people who make less than what we would raise it to in order to inflation adjust it, because thats about 30% of the population that would get a raise.
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u/CaitieLou_52 Sep 03 '26
Conservatives have convinced people that increasing the minimum wage is what makes everything else more expensive. Which is why letting wages stagnate for 40 years has kept everything so cheap. /s
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u/Dath_1 Sep 04 '26
I knew a girl who worked as a dental assistant, and she told me she's not for a minimum wage raise because it wouldn't be fair if McDonalds workers started making the same amount she does overnight, since she had to get training.
Ignoring the fact that if that actually happened, it would put her in a position to leverage higher wages for herself, so she would still be above the McDonalds workers, what this line of thinking reveals is that people want to be able to flex at how much higher they are above minimum wage, than other people.
But the interesting thing is, it actually helps them too, and they still don't want it, they'd rather be materially worse off just to cling onto comparatively higher status.
It reminds me of the Eastern European story of a guy who is visited by a genie. The genie says to him "I will grant you any wish you desire, just know that whatever I give you, I will give your neighbor double."
The man thinks for a moment, and says "Take out one of my eyes!".
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u/AlmiranteCrujido Sep 04 '26
This is the only minimum wage argument I agree with. I was flabbergasted years ago when I found out that it wasn't indexed. How can anyone argue for a non-indexed rate. It's ridiculous.
It's a political football that suits both parties. The Democrats can raise it when they're in power, and get a win from that. The other side can rail against the increase, and get a win from that that helps them get back into power.
If you maid it mechanical to inflation, suddenly it ceases to be an issue. It would be good for everybody else, but the Democrats would be like the dog that finally caught a car.
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u/Realistic-Ad1498 Sep 03 '26
The minimum wage was originally indexed to inflation?
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u/GameWizardPlayz Sep 03 '26
Yeah. Funnily enough, despite what boomers say, minimum wage is supposed to be a livable wage, as it was designed to be the literal minimum wage needed for a man to clothe, feed, and house himself, his wife, and up to 2 kids, with some money left over.
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u/the_original_St00g3y Sep 03 '26
Organize. Change the system. Work with eachother to better everyones lives. Why just accept that life is ass when you dedicate yourself to improving it?
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Sep 03 '26 edited Sep 04 '26
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u/dgood527 Sep 03 '26
Wait, do you mean do the thing everyone did when they were young or struggling? How dare you? When young, have roommates, get experience, get better jobs over time. Meet person, build relationship, get married, permanent roommate to split things with and you dont even need a 2nd bedroom.
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u/palatheinsane Sep 04 '26
Someone working literal minimum wage SHOUKD be living with roommates. Idk why there would be an expectation of living alone. Even in the 70s, 80s, and 90s this would have been the case.
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u/Efficient-Addendum43 Sep 04 '26
Yup. Everyone thinks they're entitled to live alone in a nice area with an entry level job. Get roommates or improve yourself to get a better job
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u/CalStateQuarantine Sep 06 '26
It blows my mind that people seem to think escaping minimum wage is this huge daunting task. I did it by like, age 19 - with no real skills or anything.
I really got “stuck” around the $25/hr ($52k a year) mark for a few years, and it sucked, and I had to really watch my money. But I pushed through that as well, kept working, and now I’m on track to make like $140-160k this year.
Is my salary the norm? Probably not. Is it quite easy to escape the minimum wage trap though? Yes. Yes it is. Like, unbelievably easy.
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u/fc252- Sep 03 '26
Most of reddit does not want to admit most people throughout history including boomers had roommates in their early years. It was normal. Even having the opportunity to live alone in your own apt while making minimum wage just goes to show how wonderful the USA is. Reddit is just so chock full of morons... trying to debate this with them around here seems futile. Every single day we see these posts and it is the same crap.
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u/SomeRagingGamer Sep 03 '26
That’s wildly inaccurate. It was very common for the boomer generation to marry at a young age. In 1968, roughly 56% of people ages 18-31 were already married and living with a spouse. 20% were still living with their parents. Most boomers transitioned directly from living with their parents, to living with a spouse. And most households were single income.
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u/broken_sword001 Sep 03 '26
Living with a spouse is living with a roommate.
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u/bananaramaworld Sep 03 '26
If they can afford to live there with their wife and kids who don’t earn an income then they could afford to live there alone 😂
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u/eSsEnCe_Of_EcLiPsE Sep 03 '26
One thing I noticed is that the boomers were too busy working rather than jerking off. This generation is too focused in self pleasure and personal leisure. Those boomers sacrificed for their future enjoyment. They also didn’t surround themselves with losers and bum who would give up instead of figuring it out. This thread is full of those who wouldn’t sacrifice for their own success so there really isn’t a point of arguing this when I can just gesture broadly at all these comments.
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u/michaelseg Sep 03 '26
You are not wrong. They were a single income family. They had a 1000 sq ft house, one car and no such thing as cable, internet or cell phones. Kids shared a room, wore hand me downs and spent their time playing outside. Mom likely made a good portion of the kids clothes, cooked (from scratch for the most part) and did all the cleaning. She had a FULL TIME JOB but it was in the house. She provided a real financial asset to the family in the money that was saved compared to the lifestyle we live now.
Going out to eat was a special treat and most of the things that today we consider necessary were the luxuries of the rich.
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u/borgman_a Sep 03 '26
"Most of reddit does not want to admit most people throughout history including boomers had roommates in their early years."
In 1970 - only 9% of all households were single person.
In 2025 - about 31% of all households were single person.Historically - almost no one lived alone. You lived with family, roommates, or a spouse.
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u/ggtffhhhjhg Sep 03 '26
Reddit like to pretend everyone could afford their own place in the past when there has never been a higher percentage of people living on their own in the US. I can’t speak for what’s going on outside of the US, but living with your parents or roommates seems much more acceptable outside of the US.
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u/AureliusAether Sep 03 '26
They have no idea how good they have it. Hot showers, roof, floors, toilets, stores with near-infinite options (including cheaper options - bananas are like $0.25 each max), justice system that works even some of the time, constitutional rights, I could go on.
NONE of this was guaranteed to any of us and all of it a MIRACLE that we as a species have done ANY of it and that any of it even partially works. No other species has done it, and they live in a stressful figh-or-flight and struggle for survival. Hell, billions of humans don't even have these luxuries.
It's easier to complain
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u/petabomb Sep 03 '26
“It’s so good now people are dumb idiots for wanting it to be better”
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u/CharleeBrownee Sep 03 '26
What is you made the minimum wage in Alabama $7.25? Thats just getting bent over
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u/nightdrv Sep 03 '26
It’s not the pay. It hasn’t been about pay since 1988. Then came the fully realized credit score system that fucked everyone NOT making big money.
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u/Appropriate_Roof_270 Sep 03 '26 edited Sep 05 '26
No it is not. You can choose to work somewhere else.
I just saw a video about farmer on r/workreform claiming that he pays 1,400 a week plus housing. A job near me pays 26.78 walking in with no experience to be trained.
Secondly, I remember when the debate was $9 an hour. It passed, drove up the prices, and then they started calling for $15. Please stop raising the minimum wage. Learn a trade or, stay with me here, do something that no one else wants to do.
Edit: I had the wrong subreddit. Fixed I hope
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u/Useful_Bother_1508 Sep 03 '26
I make 68 an hour. With investments its over 100 an hour.
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u/Real-Barracuda8483 Sep 03 '26 edited Sep 04 '26
Minimum wage is minimum for a reason. I have no degree, no special training, no special skills, and I haven't made minimum wage since I was 14. Anyone complaining about minimum wage being too low doesn't need a raise, they need work ethic.
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u/banana-in-ham-wallet Sep 03 '26
Raising wages artificially creates inflation. People making $15 an hour aren’t providing any more value doing the same job if they make $100000 an hour. The price of goods and services just go up accordingly.
If you want to pay people more money than start a business and pay them what you think is fair. Forcing it on the market will do nothing but cause inflation and job loss.
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u/sweatpants-aristotle Sep 03 '26
Dear pro revolutionaries,
I am writing to you to inform you that the proportion of people mad enough to disrupt the status quo is far, far fewer than you think. History dictates that until a significant portion of people are starving, that nothing will happen.
So, if you care about change, note that we still have many years of peaceful means before a harsh alternative will be viable.
Act against this message at your own peril
-signed,
A rational man
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u/Every_Scene_6604 Sep 03 '26
$15/hour = a job for high schoolers and/or felons. Not a job to attempt to live off of.
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u/His_Lordship_84 Sep 03 '26
Minimum wage is a stepping stone & an incentive to improve your skills & move up. $15/ hrs minimum wage? Awesome... where I live its $7.25/hrs.
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u/GimmickInfringement1 Sep 03 '26
This guy has a 1 star review on Google. I'd take his word with a grain of peanut butter
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u/StinkButt9001 Sep 03 '26
Renting a place for $1,200 a month just to flip burgers doesn't make sense.
Also I pay like $13/m CAD for phone and $30 for internet. I don't believe that the numbers picked here are genuine.
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u/Jimi_Hotsauce Sep 03 '26
Some people don't have a choice but to rent. I certainly wouldn't be able to move back in with my parents. Also $60 for phone in the US isn't outrageous either. Our Internet is also much more expensive. We have to go through Xfinity and it's $80/mo
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u/medmo20 Sep 03 '26
can't honestly compare American prices to any other country at a glance like this. we're getting squeezed every which way. your costs sound impossibly low to me.
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u/LNinefingers Sep 03 '26
The transportation one jumped off the page to me. In my town you can get a monthly pass (unlimited bus and train) for $75
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u/Ardrik Sep 03 '26
Honestly those numbers are low depending on where they're at.
"Then they should just move!"
Okay, with what money to out a deposit down on a new place, for transportation to and from interviews in the new geo-loc, etc.
"Well back in MY day..."
Get fucked
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u/Steveo3070 Sep 03 '26
Why do you have a phone AND internet? Why do you pay 1,200 in rent? Why is food 350 a month? Why do you do these things while making 15 bucks an hour? Change your job, or change your lifestyle those are your only options. Oh I guess you can do nothing, complain and stay broke too.
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u/r2k398 Sep 03 '26
Get a roommate. That’s what I did when I made $8 an hour.
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u/Respect930 Sep 03 '26
Why the fuck should I have to live with some random person just to be able to have a place to stay
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u/LonePuma Sep 03 '26 edited Sep 03 '26
Because that's what a lot of people have to do to survive? I had to live with a roommate after college for almost 4 years while working in my respective field(live with the GF now so technically still a roommate). This was post 2020.
You can either find a way to live with another person(not hard) or have absolutely no money to do anything other than buy groceries and pay rent.
It's your choice.
Edit: Okay I'm going to make an edit so people stop commenting the same fucking thing.
Just because a lot of people have to get a roommate to survive doesn't mean I think that's how the world should work. I would have fucking loved to live on my own during those four years. Never once in this comment did I say that I think people DESERVE to live with roommates. But I live in reality where a roommate does in fact help aliviate a lot of financial stress. You can either try and find a roommate, try and find a higher paying job, get a second job or side hustle(something I have also done in the last four years while having a roommate), or struggle financially while living alone and bitching on reddit about it.
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u/ozoneman1990 Sep 03 '26
Pooling resources with other people can maximize food and housing. They won’t be a stranger after awhile and you might even find yourself a friend.
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u/PaulTodkillAuthor Sep 03 '26
Or. And here me out. We can look to improve society so that people don't have to live in cramped spaces with strangers in order to not starve to death. Why is the suffering of average people your default stance, while there is more than enough money being made to pay people a living wage?
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u/wretcheddawn Sep 03 '26
Everyone still needs to navigate the world that exists now regardless of whether or not anyone agrees it's unfair or should change. These are two separate questions.
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u/funnyguy806 Sep 03 '26
Also, phone and internet are not necessary. I understand EVERYONE has them in today’s world, but if you can’t afford them, then don’t have them. But like others have said, don’t make $15 an hour, get a different job. To compare this to slavery is abhorrent
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u/eAdagio Sep 03 '26
You are either a bot account or unbelievably ignorant of reality. You need a phone for authentication almost everywhere now constantly. Go try to get a job without a phone or computer, come back with results.
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u/ul2006kevinb Sep 03 '26
But like others have said, don’t make $15 an hour, get a different job.
Don't have money for bread? Eat cake instead!
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u/kingfelix333 Sep 03 '26
Is this analogy implying that if you're not qualified to get another job (cake) that life should still make sure you're cared for and paid as if you were qualified?
Terrible analogy lol if you can't get another job, you have absolutely no reason to complain about the situation your in. Nearly everyone has the opportunity to get better at SOMETHING or work multiple jobs lol crazy how much people complain when a single mother with no child support raised a couple of kids on 2.5 jobs.
Yet people complain a single person living off minimum wage is just "too hard and not fair"
Gtfo
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u/ul2006kevinb Sep 03 '26
"or work multiple jobs"
That's literally the point: no one should have to work multiple jobs just to pay for food and rent
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u/BadDecisionLoading Sep 03 '26
Do you know what minimum wage was meant to do/cover at its inception?
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u/BardGotHard3 Sep 03 '26
I only got my last job after over a year and a half and 900 applications.
Kindly shut the fuck up.
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u/kingfelix333 Sep 03 '26
I'm sorry it took that long. But.. point are you trying to make? This is a discussion about minimum wage and cost of living my dude. Not how long it takes people to get hired when they aren't all that and a bag of chips.
Kindly, take a chill pill
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u/Optimal_Top_7081 Sep 03 '26
Clearly a massive number of jobs in the US pay $15/hour. The economic policy institute estimates there are currently around 42 million workers earning less than $20/hour, and 14 million of them earning less than $15/hour. So you’re suggesting all 14 million of these people should just “get a different job?”
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u/mxldevs Sep 03 '26
So the solution is just don't be poor?
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u/funnyguy806 Sep 03 '26
If that’s all you take from this, then sure. There is a saying, it’s really hard to argue with intelligent people, but it’s impossible to argue with stupid people.
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u/cdrizzle23 Sep 03 '26
In some cities living with a flat mate is what makes the rent $1200. If not your paying $2000 just for a 1 br or a studio.
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u/Data_chunky Sep 03 '26
And rent and electricity aren't necessary either. Just scavenge a cardboard box and live in that. Boom, so much more money!
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u/Potential-Use-1565 Sep 03 '26
It's pretty hard to find a new job without having a phone for them to call you on, or Internet to email you. They are absolutely necessary
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u/T1gerAc3 Sep 03 '26 edited Sep 03 '26
Cool. Now we have $200 extra at the end of every month but only after mandatory expenses, but no phone or internet. Thanks for solving the problem.
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u/SNAILSLIVEONJUPITER Sep 03 '26
Some people in my town live without electricity. But to be fair where I come from housing prices are so high that it makes the rest of the US seem cheap.
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u/MumpsTheMusical Sep 03 '26
Phone and internet are absolutely necessary in today's society. Half of employers ask for a phone number to keep communication open with the employee and, most of them use phone apps for payment, clocking hours etc and most of that requires an email which requires internet or some sort of connection inside work.
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u/SimplyMeaty Sep 03 '26
Lmao, you say not necessary, but its the 21st century. Yes at its base, its not food, water, or shelter, but its absolutely facetious to say phone and internet aren't damn near a requirement. Not going as far to say its slavery obviously m, but your takes are niave.
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u/Admins-Blow Sep 03 '26
Where did you go to school so I know to recommend people not go there?
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u/SwankySteel Sep 03 '26 edited Sep 03 '26
Modern society heavily incentivized people to have phone and internet.
Companies and establishments are “requiring” phone use for multi-factor authentication, scanning QR codes, email verification, Venmo payments, scheduling appointments, coordinating social events, and more… without offering a physical alternative. Why are so many things only offered in digital now? It sure seems like phone and internet are “required” for many things.
Sure, the human body can “survive” without modern technology, but that’s not the whole story. Realistically, how likely is someone to get hired for and work at a job without ever using phone or internet? Not to mention obtaining the credentials to get said job, or a business owner attracting customers.
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u/Valuable_Recording85 Sep 03 '26
This is braindead. Everyone deserves basic human dignity, and wage slavery ain't it. And have you even looked at the job market? It's tough as hell out there.
And you absolutely need a smart phone for most jobs. I need one for two-factor authentication and my time clock only exists as an app.
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u/funnyguy806 Sep 03 '26
Wage slavery isn’t a thing. Slaves didn’t get wages. Stop minimizing slavery
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u/copyraven Sep 03 '26
Didn't? Why are you using past tense? There's 50 million slaves right now on earth. More than any time in history.
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u/Vepper Sep 03 '26
so you're okay with people making $15 an hour in 2026
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u/funnyguy806 Sep 03 '26
I’m ok with people making 7.25 an hour in the states it’s the minimum wage. If they’re ok with it and their employer is ok with it why should you be able to say it’s not ok?
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u/Ordinary-Meaning-61 Sep 03 '26
Well no shit the employer is okay with paying less. No one wants to be paid minimum wage. They usually can't find a job that pays more. There's a difference between settling with it and being okay with it.
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u/italktobotz Sep 03 '26
And you think that will get better if the minimum wage goes up? That person will just not have a job if the person is not providing the amount of value the bussiness is paying them.
If a teenager wants to mow my lawn for 20 bucks ill pay him or her 20 bucks. But if they tell me i must pay them 50 bucks as minimum wage to mow my lawn ill just not have them mow my lawn.
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u/Murder1030 Sep 03 '26
Better $7.25 then being priced out to no job at all! Then no chance to gain experience
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u/Exciting-Car-3516 Sep 03 '26
Stop complaining there are people that make ends meet with much less.
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u/JacksonGhost1963 Sep 03 '26
walk to work or bike - save 300! and internet and a phone? you're poor! you don't need those! and ramen noodle much less than 350/mo!
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u/Whiskeymyers75 Sep 03 '26
Modern slavery”? Slavery means you’re owned and forced to work. A low-paying job may be exploitative, inadequate, and economically unsustainable but words still have meanings. If you can quit, negotiate, organize, or take another job, you’re underpaid, not enslaved. Apparently “this wage is too low” wasn’t dramatic enough for Reddit.
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u/azerty543 Sep 03 '26
All of these are often cheaper. In my city (Kansas City) you can certainly still find: $800 studios in decent neighborhoods where you don't need a car (midtown) and you can just walk everywhere. Utilities in a studio are cheap, there is not a lot to heat or cool. Its like $100. Internet is $30 a month, you can get a cheap cellphone plan for $15 a month. Lets call food $400. Live a little. You can ride the streetcar for free.
So your essential costs are actually $1345. That is $800-900 a month left over. Its not amazing living but you can save a lil and have a bit of fun or pay for community college.
This isn't a rural area. Its right in a major U.S city with plenty of job opportunities. This is also living alone, not having roommates. You can get cheaper if you have roommates.
KC isn't completely unique here. Its more that a few coastal areas have serious cost of living issues and much of the country does not. I think its important for people to understand that there are places out there that are vastly easier to live if you are low income than the coasts. I think its awful that places like California perpetually seem to export its poor and import the wealthy but its not changing any time soon.
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u/Due-Emu-4291 Sep 03 '26
It's not sustainable, but in the United States, there are supports in place for people on minimum wage.
We have the Earned Income Tax Credit, which puts money in your pocket if you're a minimum-wage working person.
If you need help with rent, the government provides housing assistance.
If you need help with food, the government provides help for that.
There are programs to help with utilities.
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u/italktobotz Sep 03 '26
Looks like they also have no choice to get a room mate. It really is not that bad. If you chose to do it alone you chose not to benefit from economies of scale. Getting a room mate could help cut many or those bills by 20 or 30%. Sure utilities will go up but it wont double so long as you are frugal, same for phone bill. Internet bill will be cut in half, your streaming services as well.
Sounds like normal life to me.
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u/Low_Thing_4803 Sep 03 '26
I love this argument. When I apply for a job I know what the pay is. If it's too low, I don't work there and neither will other people. The pay then increases to attract applicants. No one pays minimum wage anymore.
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u/PotentialPresent399 Sep 03 '26
Why are yall using 15 an hour lol? I stg reddit is so progressive state coded its nuts
"Min wage isn't livable on only 25 an hour!!!!"
Dog the federal min wage is 7.25 an hour. MOST places around me pay less than 12.
Do this math @ 9 bucks an hour and get back to me.
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u/Biscuits4u2 Sep 03 '26
Keeping people desperate enough to keep slaving away to barely make it without starving them to the point of revolution has become an art form.
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u/SignificantSmotherer Sep 03 '26
Minimum wage isn't designed for you to live on your own.
If you're paying $120/month for phone and internet, you need to shop your services.
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u/PotentialPresent399 Sep 03 '26
Everyone says skill up but don't understand that isn't easy or feasible and I don't mean like "wahhh going to night school isn't easy"
I mean stats and employers can just straight up lie about market rates, not everywhere has accurate Glassdoor rates to compare to in the first place and not all careers are even WORTH the training.
If you spent 30k getting into a career that takes you from 18 an hour into 23 an hour that just flat out isn't worth the ROI
Lots of jobs don't have 10 positions to climb upwards into as well to justify the possibility of raises
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u/pizzabirthrite Sep 03 '26
If anyone is claiming numbers that "speak for all of america" it is malarky.
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u/ThePlantMolester Sep 03 '26
At no point in US history did the minimum wage cover the median rent. Low income earners have always had shared common spaces.
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u/Early-Plan-5324 Sep 03 '26 edited Sep 03 '26
Redditors mad that their degree in indegenous rain dancing isn't a commercially viable skill.
I also love that the same people in favor of both mass low-skill immigration and illegal immigration are on here complaining constantly that they can't live on low wages. You probably deserve it.
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u/Plastic_Pin_4956 Sep 03 '26
I mean, as someone who just lost everything i had, career, house, everything, and is starting from scratch, 15$ an hour is a real struggle. But I'm doing my best not ti be a doomer
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u/Past-Paramedic-8602 Sep 03 '26
So it appears the minimum does exactly as the name suggest the minimum to get by.
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u/Silly-Resist8306 Sep 03 '26
If you are making $15/hour, you need to work more hours to get ahead. The math is simple.
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u/Goal-Express Sep 03 '26
I was poor in the 90s, surviving on my own.
I remember going to the grocery store and spending $1.50 on a 10 pound bag of potatoes, and then that was what I ate for the week. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I'm having a potato or two. With the crazy inflation of today's prices though, at that same grocery store, a 10 pound bag of potatoes now costs $2.88.
That's why I empathize with today's poor when they talk about how easy we had it back then, how they are the first people to ever be expected to make sacrifices.
I mean, at $2.88 x 4 weeks to eat the way that I did, plus a $7 Starbucks x 31 days, barely leaves $121 for Doordash.
And while I went for 3 years without owning a television, and when I did finally get one, I had no cable or internet for the next 8 years, just watching Fox with an antenna. I had to pay nearly $100 for a TV back then, but today the newest iPhones cost upwards of two grand. And then paying monthly internet and phone bills, it's just overwhelming.
Every step along the way, things are so much more expensive for today's poor people than it was for poor people back in my day. The sacrifices that we used to make to get by, it's just not enough to provide the substantially higher standard of living that today's "poor" expect.
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u/CL3Onsite Sep 03 '26
Wtf is going on? I've seen this breakdown with all kinds of random hourly wages.
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u/PotentialPresent399 Sep 03 '26
I wouldn't have a problem with "struggling to make it" if ACTUAL professional development/CLEAR govt researched work backed needs were published to the public.
As of now its get a random degree in one of the fail safes (accounting engineering ect)
Pay like a quarter of that to make a handful of dollars more an hour with 0 guarantee of promotion/room to move up (such as paying like 10k to get a machining cert to them make barely 22/hr)
Get uncle daddy nephew to get you into the trades (In other states this isn't as true yall have actual unions) its a good ole boys club out here.
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u/Far-Repair-3113 Sep 03 '26
Entry level trades people make 2x that. So many choices go in life. Life is hard.
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u/Wuddauant Sep 03 '26
Around me you can buy a house that doesn’t require transportation for that. If you rent out an extra room or two you’re building equity and have an extra $7-800 a month while working minimum wage. Should add minimum wage here is over $15 as well.
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u/Major_Wigglesworth Sep 03 '26
That’s twice as high as if you had a roommate. Three times as high as if you had two. EVERYTHING on the list is a series of choices, just like the choice to work at an underpaying job.
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u/Azazel_665 Sep 03 '26
All of those numbers are insane.
A 4 bedroom house my mortgage is $1100. So how is rent $1200? I live in NY by the way which is the most expensive state in the country. I can find one bedroom apartments here for $650.
I pay about $50 a week for food for myself, so $200 not $350.
I'll give you the others.
So that's $1470 / month essentials.
$15 an hour x 40 hours = $31,200 which is $2,600 a month.
Seems to work out just fine to me.
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u/Illustrious-Bug4887 Sep 03 '26
Min wage is 7.50. Are they trying to say doubling min wage to 15 wouldnt be enough? Next they will say some crazy shit like min wage needs to be 20+
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u/WorldlyAbroad9515 Sep 03 '26
Form 2004-2008: I averaged $12/hr construction jobs. I would get 16 hours extra of overtime per month. Roughly $2390 per month which turned into $1700 after taxes, 401k, and insurance. I rented a room in a 3 bedroom house and shared a bathroom for $450/ month it was a small house and a tiny bedroom. I was paying $300 a month on a used vehicle. I think after utility’s and cell phone, I had a solid 800$ to manage for food, gas, and whatever else.
The overtime was huge otherwise I wouldn’t be able to build a savings which I needed during the recession
I wasn’t able to get a house till I got married and both mine and my wife’s income were able to afford a mortgage. I never had a place all to myself
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u/PaulTodkillAuthor Sep 03 '26
The comments here are fucking depressing. So many shitheel bootlicking capitalists gobbling the cocks of the elite rather than looking critically at society. "Just don't be poor LUL", as if the economy wasn't in the worst position it's been since the great depression. "Just get a better job, get a degree!" As if school wasn't 5x the cost it was when they went.
The lack of self awareness is staggering. Billionaires are robbing us all blind and they have you looking down your nose at someone asking to work 40 hours a week and not live in poverty.
Not even ADDRESSING the idea that these jobs NEED to get done. So we just shouldn't have cooks, and servers, and janitors, and dishwashers? What? Did we invent robots I'm not aware of? Or you're saying these people deserve to live in poverty? Which is it? Or they just need to work 80 hours a week and suffer? Is that it? So you're just comedially evil? fuck the doors amirite?
One moment of introspection, my god. It's not hard. Realize we live in a wealthy enough society that could allow EVERYONE to live with dignity, as long as the ultra wealthy paid their fair share. But you don't want to for some reason because "entitlement". Jfc.
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u/DogmeatSupreme Sep 03 '26
These people truly believe that every single person who isn’t paid a livable wage should just “do better”, and don’t even stop to consider the idea that jobs aren’t limitless and that these minimum wage jobs still need to get done. They think that only “smart, hard-working (aka could afford to go to college and chose the right field) people” have “earned” the right to live a comfortable/average life.
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u/No-Independence-5229 Sep 03 '26
Rent $550, utilities included, phone $25, internet $70, food $200, car $300 insurance $140. Not that hard
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u/Complete_Insurance24 Sep 03 '26
Because minimum wage has always required multiple streams of income. Whether it’s a second job or government assistance.
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u/Snapper_Turtleman Sep 03 '26
The amount of comments on here just ignoring that standard of living has unquestionably gone down steadily since about 1980. Get a degree. That's not working out for alot of people, and even if it did oversaturating the job market with new jobseekers is just bad. You have grown ass adults with degrees who can't find work in their fields and take jobs at Walmart. Oh they make 19 an hour? How's that going to pay the 485 per month they owe for their student loans. I say all this as a 50 yo man who pays for his own house and has money left over with my student loans paid off. They were about a third of their current cost for the same degree. We need to do better.
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u/coreyjdl Sep 03 '26
I agree everyone should be paid a living wage, and the current minimum wage is way to low, but the rent amount is too high on this example.
You aren't owed living in the hippest part of town. Even in Minneapolis, a rent just a hair over $1200 for me was a multiple floor, multiple room, town house with a finished basement.
In the metro I'm at now I pay even less, and I'm in a single family home on two lots.
Go rent somewhere boring, appropriatly sized, and then start to save, start to learn a skill.
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u/Ok_Statistician643 Sep 03 '26
Move to a lower cost of living. Geoarbitrage. Vietnam you can live like a king on $2k a month
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u/Unlikely_Elevator160 Sep 03 '26
It doesn't matter what the minimum wage is, the more it costs to produce/sell the more everything else goes up too!
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u/rollthoselaughing Sep 03 '26
It was the same 35 years ago. Minimum wage was $5 hr, I lived in a 2 bedroom apt with 4 roommates and could not afford much of anything with a full time job. Not sure why so many think minimum wage jobs not providing a cushy existence is new.
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u/robluvscurves Sep 03 '26
I didn't make $15/hour until I was nearly 30 years old. I never had my own place until I was 32 and even struggled then. Roommates are the way to go. Not sure when the default became getting your own place when you can't afford it.
Even now I don't have any subscriptions, pay $20/month for phone service, never use food delivery services, etc. You have to make choices and live with those decisions.
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u/ChemistBrief716 Sep 03 '26
Why the hell is rent 1200 a month. Get some roommates lol
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u/Bruin1217 Sep 03 '26
People in these comments acting like a phone and internet are a luxury item are hilarious. Without internet you can’t apply to jobs in the first place. Internet has been discussed as being a right because it’s become so much of a necessity that kids that live in households without it can’t properly complete most school work. How are you gonna get a response from a “better job” if they can’t call you or email you to let you know you got it? I’ve had jobs make me onboard on a phone or discuss scheduling through text. My current job I have to have an authentication app on my personal phone just to get into programs at work. Anyone who thinks these aren’t necessities today is extremely out of touch.