How many hours must minimum-wage earners work to afford rent?

[Noomi]

Rent in Australia is almost 50% higher than here.

$700 per month here is $1,050 there or $350 more

At $15.00 per hour you work 23.3 hours per month just to pay the difference?

And that's just rent

Source:

Cost Of Living Comparison Between United States And Australia

We get paid more, that is why it seems we pay more for everything. It would work out around the same. You earn less, you pay less.

No. You pay more because it costs more. That your minimum is more only means you'll spend more for the same goods. They got you and you don't even know it. On one hand your proud you make 18 an hour on the other you're still only a minimum wage earner.

But if I was working a 40 hour week on that minimum wage, I could afford rent.

 

[Pop23]

We get paid more, that is why it seems we pay more for everything. It would work out around the same. You earn less, you pay less.

No. You pay more because it costs more. That your minimum is more only means you'll spend more for the same goods. They got you and you don't even know it. On one hand your proud you make 18 an hour on the other you're still only a minimum wage earner.

But if I was working a 40 hour week on that minimum wage, I could afford rent.

All costs increase when wages increase. That's the point. It's a net zero gain

 

[Spiderman]

The more Democratic leaning states that are always championing a higher minimum wage also tend to be the least affordable places for minimum wage workers to live. On the flip side, the Republican leaning states who generally oppose increasing the minimum wage consequently are the most affordable places for that demographic to live.

How many hours must minimum-wage earners work to afford rent?

That's if you assume every minimum wage worker needs a 2 bedroom apartment.

When I was 17 I was working for minimum wage and I rented a single room with a hot plate a fridge and a shared bathroom.

And there's this revolutionary new concept called a roommate and the formula

where N is the number of roommates
Rent divided by N equals housing cost

And I would like to take the time to mention again that only about 3% of workers earn minimum wage

 

[Spiderman]

We get paid more, that is why it seems we pay more for everything. It would work out around the same. You earn less, you pay less.

No. You pay more because it costs more. That your minimum is more only means you'll spend more for the same goods. They got you and you don't even know it. On one hand your proud you make 18 an hour on the other you're still only a minimum wage earner.

But if I was working a 40 hour week on that minimum wage, I could afford rent.

What's so sacred about only working 40 hours a week?

Anyone who ever made anything of their lives never worked only 40 hours a week

 

[R.D.]

We get paid more, that is why it seems we pay more for everything. It would work out around the same. You earn less, you pay less.

No. You pay more because it costs more. That your minimum is more only means you'll spend more for the same goods. They got you and you don't even know it. On one hand your proud you make 18 an hour on the other you're still only a minimum wage earner.

But if I was working a 40 hour week on that minimum wage, I could afford rent.

According to the chart provided by Pogo, same here. The op link is rather agenda driven because living in areas that are less desireable to bigger earners seems to have been omitted. Quality of life is more than rent payments , that's why most don't settle for minimum wage or a 40 hour work week.

Working hard to provide the best you can for yourself and your loved ones is a good thing, not a punishment. Working just enough to be able to party and get by is, well, the minimum one could do for themselves.

 

[editec]

Real Median Income is not the same thing as Real Dollars.

It is when you're making claims on income in real dollars for the typical worker.

The chart I attached showed median individual income (typical worker) income in constant 2001 dollars, and it is much higher now than in the 1970s.

That's probably because your "median" incomes includes the top 20% who have enjoyed real inome increases based on stable dollars.

The bottom 60% have been losing purchasing power in real terms.

WHITE MEN are the class that have lost the greatest purchasaing power of all classes, FYI

Read em an weap, citizens

State of Working America

 

[SteadyMercury]

And there's this revolutionary new concept called a roommate and the formula

where N is the number of roommates
Rent divided by N equals housing cost

Yup, when younger I shared a 3BR apartment with two other guys and my (future) wife. Rent divided four ways was how could afford living expenses while going to school and working for low wage jobs.

It wasn't something I wanted to do for the rest of my life, but then again very few people stay at min wage forever.

 

[SteadyMercury]

A degree doesn't necessarily mean you will get a job. Half the time they are not worth the paper they are written on. You can have a degree but still be a total deadshit.

This might be true, but surely you concede the glaring difference in average lifetime wages between college degree and high school degree?

 

[SteadyMercury]

That's probably because your "median" incomes includes the top 20% who have enjoyed real inome increases based on stable dollars.

The bottom 60% have been losing purchasing power in real terms.

Yep, he said "typical worker" and median is exactly that. The worker where half the people make more and half the people make less.

If you want to look at breakdown of quintiles from kiwi's chart, I still don't see this big loss of purchasing power you guys keep harping about. Bottom two look fairly flat, middle looks slightly up, where is the big loss in purchasing power?

 

[dblack]

Umm that's why they are pushing for more money.

So they can charge higher rents and make even more money bleeding poor folks? Huh? Is that how it works?

 

[Noomi]

A degree doesn't necessarily mean you will get a job. Half the time they are not worth the paper they are written on. You can have a degree but still be a total deadshit.

This might be true, but surely you concede the glaring difference in average lifetime wages between college degree and high school degree?

Actually no. We have tons of students here who have graduated university but still struggle to find work in the area they are qualified in.

 

[alan1]

You do understand that millions of people lost everything from the Great Recession and many of those jobs aren't coming back. They have either been shipped off shore or robotics took their job. Most people didn't plan their families knowing about how shaky our economy really was. Our government never admitted our economy was in big trouble until October 2007. Up till then we were told our economy was solid.
Quit blaming the working class. I get so fucking sick of that shit.

Just pointing out how ridiculous the claims are.
It's not like some family with an $80k income is suddenly on minimum wage jobs. It's people that already had minimum wage jobs then created a family that are sniveling about poor wages. They created their situation, not me, not some supposedly evil corporation and not government, they did it to themselves.
If yer "so fucking sick of that shit", feel free to offer your own assistance to help them out. I won't stand in your way.

I already do. I do volunteer work work for Goodwill and Catholic Charities in the Twin Cites, eight to ten hours a week. Plus my wife and our neighbors put together a block rummage sale and all proceeds go to the Salvation Army and Food Shelves.
I was brought up in a Christian home that followed the Bible's teachings about helping the poor. I've been doing it ever since.

So, yer not paying the rent or buying groceries or buying clothes for a poor family. Yer volunteering time, not money. A family that needs housing, or clothes or food needs money, not time.
You come across as one of those people that gets a feel good from donating time to your chosen charity rather than one that actually helps people in need.
Just saying.

 

[alan1]

The more Democratic leaning states that are always championing a higher minimum wage also tend to be the least affordable places for minimum wage workers to live. On the flip side, the Republican leaning states who generally oppose increasing the minimum wage consequently are the most affordable places for that demographic to live.

How many hours must minimum-wage earners work to afford rent?

That's if you assume every minimum wage worker needs a 2 bedroom apartment.

When I was 17 I was working for minimum wage and I rented a single room with a hot plate a fridge and a shared bathroom.

And there's this revolutionary new concept called a roommate and the formula

where N is the number of roommates
Rent divided by N equals housing cost

And I would like to take the time to mention again that only about 3% of workers earn minimum wage

And of those 3%, virtually none of them are trying to support a family. Sure, there are a few, but the vast majority are single people, and of that vast majority, many are high school or college students simply working for a few extra bucks.

 

[Uncensored2008]

Depends on how much mom charges for rent, doesn't it?

 

[alan1]

A degree doesn't necessarily mean you will get a job. Half the time they are not worth the paper they are written on. You can have a degree but still be a total deadshit.

This might be true, but surely you concede the glaring difference in average lifetime wages between college degree and high school degree?

Actually no. We have tons of students here who have graduated university but still struggle to find work in the area they are qualified in.

We have that here also.
Seems there aren't a lot of jobs in majors like sociology, history, English, anthropology, humanities. <-- Foolish people degrees
Seems there are a lot of jobs in majors like science, medicine, computers, robotics, engineering. <-- Thinking people degrees

 

[SteadyMercury]

This might be true, but surely you concede the glaring difference in average lifetime wages between college degree and high school degree?

Actually no. We have tons of students here who have graduated university but still struggle to find work in the area they are qualified in.

The existence of students struggling to find work doesn't preclude the fact the average lifetime earnings for someone with college degree are much higher than someone with just a high school diploma.

 

[BobPlumb]

Minimum wage jobs = minimum work done by employees. One works as hard as they are paid for. Minimum wage = minimum work. Pretty simple math.

And that is the attitude of someone who stays at minimum wage.

 

[BobPlumb]

This might be true, but surely you concede the glaring difference in average lifetime wages between college degree and high school degree?

Actually no. We have tons of students here who have graduated university but still struggle to find work in the area they are qualified in.

The existence of students struggling to find work doesn't preclude the fact the average lifetime earnings for someone with college degree are much higher than someone with just a high school diploma.

Is it the degree that causes the increase earnings or is if that the individuals that earn the degrees tend to be smarter and/or work harder than those that don't?

 

[Noomi]

This might be true, but surely you concede the glaring difference in average lifetime wages between college degree and high school degree?

Actually no. We have tons of students here who have graduated university but still struggle to find work in the area they are qualified in.

The existence of students struggling to find work doesn't preclude the fact the average lifetime earnings for someone with college degree are much higher than someone with just a high school diploma.

I have only been working for eight years, and at the age of 30, and not graduating High School, my life earnings so far are at least $200,000.

I don't think that is too bad?

 

[Politico]

Please stop arguing with her lol.