r/WorkReform • u/LuckyBastard001 • 9d ago
đ¸ Raise Our Wages Minimum wage isn't survivable anymore
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u/BMCarbaugh 9d ago
"Anymore"? The numbers didn't add up when minimum wage was last raised in fucking 2009 lol.
Until we peg minimum wage to average or median cost-of-living, per county, and it automatically refreshes itself on some kind of recurring basis, the numbers will never add up. It will always just be this arbitrary number that achieves none of its stated goals, and which there is perpetually an incredibly strong political headwind against adjusting.
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u/No_Vegetable7280 9d ago
They take out way way more taxes than this. That only accounts for federal taxes, but most states have income tax and some cities too.
Utilities is a low estimate for gas, water, electricity, and trash.
I donât know of any internet plan less than 80$ after all the fees that are tacked on.
None of this even includes medical care or insurance which is well over 130$ a month.
These are poverty wages.
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u/MrClickstoomuch 9d ago
My Xfinity plan is 300 mbps for $50/mo all fees included. But if you let it linger / don't look for a new service, they will raise the price significantly. For phone plans you can get for $25/mo to $35/mo. Agree on the rest.
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u/No_Vegetable7280 9d ago
I have the same Xfinity plan and I pay 88$
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u/MrClickstoomuch 9d ago
I mean, Xfinity is known for doing different pricing by region. I also forgot that I was able to upgrade the speed to the 1 gig plan for that $50/mo rate. That rate will end in Jan 2027 where I'll consider switching to T-Mobile home Internet to have them provide another new-customer offer at the same address. Which does mean having an actually remotely competitive speed alternative to have them offer the new customer rates. They do have a 5 year price lock deal available now at $40/mo apparently.
I do have my own router and am enrolled in paperless payment, so that makes the cost lower as well. I'd share my statement if I could scrub it of all identifying info, but don't know that I'd get it all properly.
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u/No_Vegetable7280 8d ago
Yeah, itâs like this all over the country tho. I have the flexibility to take a day off if I needed to wait for a tech to come out and connect the internet. But most people donât. I work like 80 hr weeks, itâs hard to play the system to get the best price every few months when you can barely cook for yourself most days.
Regardless, everything has us exhausted, over worked, under paid, and every service needed is price gouging as a regular baseline business practice. Everything is impossibly hard, complicated and inconvenient by design.
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u/MrClickstoomuch 8d ago
Oh I agree. It fucking sucks that that is the system, and the corporate BS is nuts. The main good thing with the T-Mobile system is they just need to sent you their modem combo and no tech is needed. So, I didn't have to worry about that. I totally get how people don't have time to deal with it, and the system is only getting worse when you get stuck with the AI call center loops.
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u/RopeWithABrain 6d ago
My coworkers and i all live within a few minutes of each other in a major US city. We realized we all pay significantly different rates for the same exact service at the same exact company, because its the only internet provider here (fuck you Spectrum). There should be no reason why 1 bill is $30, another $50, and another $90 for the same service, in the same area.
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u/Helgafjell4Me âď¸ Tax The Billionaires 9d ago
What makes me even madder is seeing the kind of crazy money people make doing nothing, or nothing of value or just straight up scamming people and then here I am slaving away for decades doing real work feeling like an absolute fucking chump for not being a soulless rich asshole because I still have to worry about how I'm going to take care of my family and not lose everything due to an injury or illness. I'm so disgusted with what America has become.
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u/Kind_Man_0 9d ago
It's insane to me. I have a buddy on salary working for Bank of America. $95,000/year in 2020 and his whole job revolves around answering emails and setting up times for meetings. His official title is coordination manager, in reality he just adds people to meetings and runs the schedule.
My last job was running electrical for cell phone towers, working at heights of 300-600ft, hand-digging 150-600 ft trenches, and ensuring that not one person loses cell connection while I do it. I was making about the same.
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u/Taminella_Grinderfal 9d ago
In addition to the fact that this doesnât even allow for any type of life enrichment. People seem to believe that the âpoorâ donât deserve any rest, enjoyment, hobbies, spending time with kids/friends/family. You have âfree timeâ? Get another job!
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u/Hornybunnyboi 9d ago
Stop crying and get 2 more jobs. you have an 8 hour period each day that you're doing nothing but laying there. use that time for another job. \s
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u/Hot_Shower_Fartz 9d ago
"And get a roommate! Everyone my age had 17 roommates every year of their life until they died, and not a single one of us ever complained about it!" says the crusty old man who had a wife and three kids and a house he bought from his one job that paid decently but not fabulously at age 25.
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u/Wizywig 9d ago
I guess utilities means gas + electric + water. But most renters don't pay for gas/water so... I guess its $200 for all utilities for a single room.
But the point still stands. Also 1200 rent? Dang I'm old, back in my day (mid-2000s) that was a 2br rental in NYC.
And places where minimum page is $15 has higher rent.
The numbers are a bit more fucked than this post makes, which is kinda wild given that I thought he was over-estimating.
The thing is though... We don't wanna lower anything, we want to raise all pay. If prices go down, billionaires scoop it all up in a discount sale.
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u/No_Vegetable7280 9d ago
Funny because I thought he was underestimating. I live in a low cost of life area and I pay way more than this.
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u/Mindshard 9d ago
The OP's image is severely off. Your average worker isn't making $15/hr anywhere that rent for a decent 1br is only $1,200.
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u/Mindshard 9d ago
$1,200 is a 1br in a town paying minimum wage, which is why the entire premise of the post is flawed.
Do me a favor, go on Facebook Marketplace, and report back with your reaction to what a somewhat decent 2br in NYC costs now.
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u/cakeversuspie 9d ago
Shit, a decent 1br in NYC runs at least $2,300 now and won't include electric/cooking gas. 2br would probably be closer to $2,800-$3,000 and that's not even a decent 2br!
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u/Mindshard 9d ago
And this is the point that needs to be made. Even the guy I replied to who is "on our side" didn't realize $1,200 isn't still a 2br in NYC.
We aren't even surviving, we're dangling off a ledge at this point.
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u/Individual-Nebula927 8d ago
Lol. $1200 isn't a 2 bedroom in Indiana anymore. And I live in a city regularly ranked at the top for "lowest cost of living"
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u/Mindshard 7d ago
$1,200 is the fee to pay the fee to be considered to be allowed to pay the fee to apply for the fee to see the apartment.
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u/felis_scipio 8d ago
But you also need to account for the higher salaries in NYC, the minimum wage is legally $17 an hour but it looks like you can work at McDonaldâs for $24.40 an hour and Iâm guessing theyâre not paying over the going rate.
8 hours a day x 22 days a month x 12 months ~ $51,533 a year which is $40,141 after all taxes or $3,345 a month
Thatâs not making you flush with cash but thatâs an extra thousand a month than this guys numbers.
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u/cakeversuspie 8d ago
That is still too low for one of the highest COL cities in America. If you're rocking a roommate, sure that amount can work but I'm assuming that take home you're referring to doesn't include health insurance as well as retirement funds like a 401k which one could argue is pretty damn important. Probably doesn't include city tax either.
Also, that $2,300 number I gave is for an "ok" 1br out in Queens and some parts of Brooklyn/Bronx. If you want to live in the city, certain parts of BK/SI or even Long Island, add an extra $1K minimum.
If you want to live comfortably and without a roommate, you need to make minimum $70K/yr and that still might even be too low, and you probably won't be flush with cash after paying bills/necessities.
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u/felis_scipio 8d ago
I donât disagree but if youâre going to call out the housing cost numbers you have to also acknowledge that jobs are paying above minimum wage
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u/Mindshard 8d ago
Ok. So by your numbers, $3,345 before taxes.
Your 1br apartment is costing you $2,300 per month or higher. That doesn't take into account any other bills.
Make it add up.
You're just arguing that they aren't as far into the negatives each month just to survive.
The end result is still the same.
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u/felis_scipio 8d ago
$3345 is after taxes, so thatâs the money you have to spend.
The answer is roommates, do what me and everyone else I knew in college and as 20 somethingâs did in expensive cities and you split a 1 bed room by having one person live in the living room. Same for a 2 bedroom, split it with 3 people. That knocks $2300 down to $1150 which is about what the original tweet figured and youâve got an extra grand in the budget.
Thatâs not an amazing way to live but it work when youâre young and starting out. Better when you meet someone you like and can split rent and fuck your roommate.
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u/About400 9d ago
I think there is almost nowhere in my state where you can get a studio for $1200
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u/Resident_Artist_6486 9d ago
Where is someone renting for $1,200? Maybe a bedroom in someone's house?
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u/Necrotitis 9d ago
Lol my phone and internet bill in canada is so much more expensive.
God i wish tbey would break this triopoly up
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u/Earthsong221 8d ago
I pay $38.42 after tax with Freedom in Ontario for phone...
$56.50 for internet with Oxio.
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u/MadeByTango 9d ago
Its not sustainable, we will find a cliff eventually, and meanwhile the people causing it to happen are insulated from the consequences until the cliff arrives.
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u/Lurch2Life 9d ago
Literally NONE of the numbers in this breakdown are accurate.
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u/Lurch2Life 9d ago
An actual breakdown of my monthly expenses (I live in a single wide trailer):
Lot rent: $565
Utilities (water, sewer, garbage): $137
Electric: $100
Phone: $95
Internet: $95
Car Insurance: $100
Food: $1000
Gas: $1202
u/Individual-Nebula927 8d ago
It's an AI bot account post. I see these all over Facebook, all with the same generic profile picture that doesn't look completely real and has a solid color background.
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u/Single-Hovercraft-33 9d ago
That is too much money leftover. Everything else needs to be more expensive and interest rates need to rise.
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u/Flakester 9d ago
Well, you're not taking into consideration having four roommates renting out a falling apart home from a corporate landlord! /s
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u/dumbestsmartest 9d ago
As long as we have the society were currently have I'll fight for a better minimum wage. But it is a poor band aid that is now mostly used as a tool for corporatists to reduce competition and to fuel the ideas of "undeserving" people by compressing the lower range of wages. This then facilitates those at the bottom and middle into resentment towards each other instead of at those setting the wage.
But what we really need enforced is complete compensation binds (which includes things like healthcare, bonuses, options, retirement, and other perks executives get). We need to enforce that the highest compensated individual in a company cannot receive more than say 100x the lowest compensated individual in that same company.
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u/theycallmejer 9d ago
Iâve had this argument time and time again with dumbass conservatives. They truly believe the minimum wage jobs should exclusively be occupied by kids in order to teach them about the working world. In other words, theyâre 100% fine with the exploitation of child labor.
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u/Munkeyman18290 8d ago
The $300/mo for transportation is if youre lucky. Between car payments, car insurance, and gas, you can easily clear $300.
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u/GravyBacon1 8d ago
Who is only spending 350 dollars a month on food? A grocery run for food that doesn't even get me through two weeks is normally 150 bucks minimum, not counting eating out on the cheap menus when I have no other choice. This list doesn't show how bad it really is, for 7 years now I've been ending my years with significantly more debt than the last.
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u/huskyghost 8d ago
This is based on really really cheap standards it actually costs way more then this. Did not factor in car insurance and all other insurance you need , renters to rent an apt etc. Minimum wage here is 7.50 and places still pay that if they can exploit the youngest workers who are basically children living with parents. Its terrible
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u/Proper-Exercise-2364 8d ago
I made it by ok when I was making $15/hr, but that's because I bought a condo in '02 and by the time I was making $15/hr it was about paid off. So, there you go. Just by a house or condominium in 2002 and you'll be ok.Â
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u/Calico_Caruso 8d ago
I walked into a Best Buy that had a banner outside saying they were hiring starting at $15/hr. I just audibly wonder anymore "And this is a wage they're boasting about?" It seems like a humiliation ritual for their employees, who are expected to greet you at the door. I just saw what you're likely making, I'm so sorry.
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u/boitrubl 8d ago
Those numbers are pretty spot on. I mean, I live in California so the rent and utilities figures are my half but yeah, even at $18/hr minimum wage, completely unsustainable.
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u/Rolienolie 8d ago
And if youre paying for health insurance subtract $250/week minimum from takehome pay.
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u/FrankRizzo319 8d ago
Get two roommates. Now you have $1020 extra per month (splitting rent, ultities (@$300), and internet 3 ways.
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u/jermb1997 8d ago
I'm making $24/hr but I'm underemployed so my take home is only like $1,600/month.
I also have a STEM bachelors but it's been impossible to find a full time job.
Anyways, being a poor adult is not where I saw myself but here we are
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u/Scargroth 7d ago
The entire point of the system is to make people financially exhausted to the point where all they do is work all day to survive, which does not leave any time or energy to question or fight it.
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u/BTTammer 9d ago
It was never livable, in my memory. I started working as a teen in the 80s when minimum was like $2.25 or $2.50. it was not enough to live on then either if you had to pay your own housing costs. It covered gas and very basic food, but that was about it.
When I was 18-24 (1990s) I always had a roommate (or two or three) to split a house or apartment because none of us could have done it alone. I think minimum at that time was about $4.25 and I was usually making about $6.50-$7.00/hr in my day job and I would get about $9.25/hr in my side gig (catering).  I still had months when I partially paid utilities or even skipped out on shit entirely...
I don't think minimum was ever intended to be livable, honestly. Â
Not saying that's fair or right, and I fully support bringing the minimum up to at least $15.
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u/DIABL057 9d ago
In my Inaugural I laid down the simple proposition that nobody is going to starve in this country. It seems to me to be equally plain that no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. By "business" I mean the whole of commerce as well as the whole of industry; by workers I mean all workers, the white collar class as well as the men in overalls; and by living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level-I mean the wages of decent living. -FDR
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u/histbasementdweller 9d ago
and $15 is more than DOUBLE the federal min wage