You won’t believe how little $8.25 an hour buys

[Billy000]

Here's an idea: get some education and training so you're not stuck at the bottom!
Gee, that wasnt hard.

You are so fucking dumb. Many people can't afford education and training and these higher wage jobs are extremely competitive since theater jobs of this wage largely outnumber higher wage jobs. This is an issue of population.

 

[Billy000]

You won t believe how little 8.25 an hour buys Oxfam America First Person Blog
Disgusting that this is possible in the "richest country in the world"

Cleaning the movie theater is part of my daughter's duties. But does her job actually pay enough to live on? Photo: Mary Babic/Oxfam America
27Tweet

54Like

1+1

For my hard-working family and friends who earn just above the US minimum wage, a paycheck doesn’t go very far.

My daughter struck it lucky when she landed a job for $8.25 an hour at the local movie theater. They pay 25 cents more than the Massachusetts minimum wage (which is already 75 cents more than the federal wage); they don’t charge her for the monogrammed black polo shirt that constitutes her uniform (unlike some businesses); they let her know her hours a few days ahead; and they are, simply put, nice people: film nerds who enjoy keeping an independent theater alive, who don’t mind if she reads a book while sitting in the box office and waiting for the next rush.

Still, it’s a business. Her hours each week never mount up to the point where they’d be responsible for her healthcare (30 hours a week or more); her schedule varies widely; when it’s slow, they let her go (and it’s been a slow year for movies). And, to reiterate: they pay $8.25 an hour.

You can’t blame them; they’re generous at paying more than the legally required wage. But it is, even for my daughter, a measly wage. She lives at home, but she’s scraping together savings for college, living very simply, contributing to the household.

So what her earnings really translate to? I wondered, after seeing this helpful and harrowing piece on What Life Really Costs at $7.25 an Hour.

First, there’s transportation. After taxes, she brings home $7.62 an hour. Last week, after working for 27 hours (and commuting for about 8 hours), she got a check for $205.71. Just to get there and back: Slice the bus fare off the top (2.10 each way; 4.20 round trip; times four): 205.71 – 16.80 = 188.91.

A sandwich = one hour’s work. Some days, when her shift stretches longer than eight hours, she gets a plain chicken sandwich at the place next door: 7.43 (with tax). So she works a full hour to buy a sandwich. Without a drink.

A book = three hours. She loves books and music, and we visit the library every week. But sometimes she likes to buy the ones she loves the very most. Her favorite graphic novelist, Emily Carroll, just published a beautiful new book, Through the Woods. On Amazon, discounted, it’s $18.10. So she worked almost three hours to buy it.

Work shoes cost a day’s pay. We do most of our shopping at Goodwill, but every once in a while, she indulges. She really needed a good pair of shoes as she stands most of the time at work. She got a cheap pair of Nikes at around $50: Basically, a day’s pay.

And what about college tuition? Again, she got lucky: Smith College offered her a whopping scholarship, covering about half the cost. Which left her with a bill of (only) $24,000 for a year, not counting books, art supplies, etc.

So if she wants to cover one year of college – at this deeply discounted price – she’s going to work 3150 hours. Or 61 hours a week for a year. If she wants to go for the full four years… it would take 12,598 hours. Of course, she couldn’t eat. Or pay rent, take the bus, buy shoes, or get her hair cut. At least she can go to the movies…

So she’s lucky in some ways. But so many workers do not enjoy her luck. In fact, the vast majority of low-wage workers do not match this “Poster Child” profile of the minimum wage worker.

Source: the Economic Policy Institute.
Indeed, the average age of low-wage workers is 35. A third have dependent children at home. In our (extremely fortunate)Congressional district, 34,000 working families are using food stamps, and 71,000 are living below the poverty line .

The Causes of Poverty

The experts: "it is a complex sociological and economical issue with many contributing factors."

Republicans: "They are lazy!"

 

[Wyatt earp]

You won t believe how little 8.25 an hour buys Oxfam America First Person Blog
Disgusting that this is possible in the "richest country in the world"

Cleaning the movie theater is part of my daughter's duties. But does her job actually pay enough to live on? Photo: Mary Babic/Oxfam America
27Tweet

54Like

1+1

For my hard-working family and friends who earn just above the US minimum wage, a paycheck doesn’t go very far.

My daughter struck it lucky when she landed a job for $8.25 an hour at the local movie theater. They pay 25 cents more than the Massachusetts minimum wage (which is already 75 cents more than the federal wage); they don’t charge her for the monogrammed black polo shirt that constitutes her uniform (unlike some businesses); they let her know her hours a few days ahead; and they are, simply put, nice people: film nerds who enjoy keeping an independent theater alive, who don’t mind if she reads a book while sitting in the box office and waiting for the next rush.

Still, it’s a business. Her hours each week never mount up to the point where they’d be responsible for her healthcare (30 hours a week or more); her schedule varies widely; when it’s slow, they let her go (and it’s been a slow year for movies). And, to reiterate: they pay $8.25 an hour.

You can’t blame them; they’re generous at paying more than the legally required wage. But it is, even for my daughter, a measly wage. She lives at home, but she’s scraping together savings for college, living very simply, contributing to the household.

So what her earnings really translate to? I wondered, after seeing this helpful and harrowing piece on What Life Really Costs at $7.25 an Hour.

First, there’s transportation. After taxes, she brings home $7.62 an hour. Last week, after working for 27 hours (and commuting for about 8 hours), she got a check for $205.71. Just to get there and back: Slice the bus fare off the top (2.10 each way; 4.20 round trip; times four): 205.71 – 16.80 = 188.91.

A sandwich = one hour’s work. Some days, when her shift stretches longer than eight hours, she gets a plain chicken sandwich at the place next door: 7.43 (with tax). So she works a full hour to buy a sandwich. Without a drink.

A book = three hours. She loves books and music, and we visit the library every week. But sometimes she likes to buy the ones she loves the very most. Her favorite graphic novelist, Emily Carroll, just published a beautiful new book, Through the Woods. On Amazon, discounted, it’s $18.10. So she worked almost three hours to buy it.

Work shoes cost a day’s pay. We do most of our shopping at Goodwill, but every once in a while, she indulges. She really needed a good pair of shoes as she stands most of the time at work. She got a cheap pair of Nikes at around $50: Basically, a day’s pay.

And what about college tuition? Again, she got lucky: Smith College offered her a whopping scholarship, covering about half the cost. Which left her with a bill of (only) $24,000 for a year, not counting books, art supplies, etc.

So if she wants to cover one year of college – at this deeply discounted price – she’s going to work 3150 hours. Or 61 hours a week for a year. If she wants to go for the full four years… it would take 12,598 hours. Of course, she couldn’t eat. Or pay rent, take the bus, buy shoes, or get her hair cut. At least she can go to the movies…

So she’s lucky in some ways. But so many workers do not enjoy her luck. In fact, the vast majority of low-wage workers do not match this “Poster Child” profile of the minimum wage worker.

Source: the Economic Policy Institute.
Indeed, the average age of low-wage workers is 35. A third have dependent children at home. In our (extremely fortunate)Congressional district, 34,000 working families are using food stamps, and 71,000 are living below the poverty line .

The Causes of Poverty

The experts: "it is a complex sociological and economical issue with many contributing factors."

Republicans: "They are lazy!"

Republicans are right, the experts just tow the pc police crap.

 

[Billy000]

You won t believe how little 8.25 an hour buys Oxfam America First Person Blog
Disgusting that this is possible in the "richest country in the world"

Cleaning the movie theater is part of my daughter's duties. But does her job actually pay enough to live on? Photo: Mary Babic/Oxfam America
27Tweet

54Like

1+1

For my hard-working family and friends who earn just above the US minimum wage, a paycheck doesn’t go very far.

My daughter struck it lucky when she landed a job for $8.25 an hour at the local movie theater. They pay 25 cents more than the Massachusetts minimum wage (which is already 75 cents more than the federal wage); they don’t charge her for the monogrammed black polo shirt that constitutes her uniform (unlike some businesses); they let her know her hours a few days ahead; and they are, simply put, nice people: film nerds who enjoy keeping an independent theater alive, who don’t mind if she reads a book while sitting in the box office and waiting for the next rush.

Still, it’s a business. Her hours each week never mount up to the point where they’d be responsible for her healthcare (30 hours a week or more); her schedule varies widely; when it’s slow, they let her go (and it’s been a slow year for movies). And, to reiterate: they pay $8.25 an hour.

You can’t blame them; they’re generous at paying more than the legally required wage. But it is, even for my daughter, a measly wage. She lives at home, but she’s scraping together savings for college, living very simply, contributing to the household.

So what her earnings really translate to? I wondered, after seeing this helpful and harrowing piece on What Life Really Costs at $7.25 an Hour.

First, there’s transportation. After taxes, she brings home $7.62 an hour. Last week, after working for 27 hours (and commuting for about 8 hours), she got a check for $205.71. Just to get there and back: Slice the bus fare off the top (2.10 each way; 4.20 round trip; times four): 205.71 – 16.80 = 188.91.

A sandwich = one hour’s work. Some days, when her shift stretches longer than eight hours, she gets a plain chicken sandwich at the place next door: 7.43 (with tax). So she works a full hour to buy a sandwich. Without a drink.

A book = three hours. She loves books and music, and we visit the library every week. But sometimes she likes to buy the ones she loves the very most. Her favorite graphic novelist, Emily Carroll, just published a beautiful new book, Through the Woods. On Amazon, discounted, it’s $18.10. So she worked almost three hours to buy it.

Work shoes cost a day’s pay. We do most of our shopping at Goodwill, but every once in a while, she indulges. She really needed a good pair of shoes as she stands most of the time at work. She got a cheap pair of Nikes at around $50: Basically, a day’s pay.

And what about college tuition? Again, she got lucky: Smith College offered her a whopping scholarship, covering about half the cost. Which left her with a bill of (only) $24,000 for a year, not counting books, art supplies, etc.

So if she wants to cover one year of college – at this deeply discounted price – she’s going to work 3150 hours. Or 61 hours a week for a year. If she wants to go for the full four years… it would take 12,598 hours. Of course, she couldn’t eat. Or pay rent, take the bus, buy shoes, or get her hair cut. At least she can go to the movies…

So she’s lucky in some ways. But so many workers do not enjoy her luck. In fact, the vast majority of low-wage workers do not match this “Poster Child” profile of the minimum wage worker.

Source: the Economic Policy Institute.
Indeed, the average age of low-wage workers is 35. A third have dependent children at home. In our (extremely fortunate)Congressional district, 34,000 working families are using food stamps, and 71,000 are living below the poverty line .

The Causes of Poverty

The experts: "it is a complex sociological and economical issue with many contributing factors."

Republicans: "They are lazy!"

Republicans are right, the experts just tow the pc police crap.

Why would the experts care about being PC but the republicans do not? Poverty is a complex issue. Whether or not you are smart enough to understand that doesn't change anything. Of course the experts will tell you laziness plays a role in poverty, they are just smart enough to point out it is far from the only cause. Republicans aren't. They are fucking stupid.

Tell me would republicans EVER criticize corporations? No. Obviously they should considering corporations are wealthier than they have ever been before while child poverty in this country is the worst out of any other developed nation on Earth. How about corporate crime? Most of it goes unprosecuted. Where is the republican outrage? It doesn't exist because they would lose their precious mega donors.

 

[Politico]

You won’t believe how little $8.25 an hour buys

http://firstperson.oxfamamerica.org/2014/09/wont-believe-little-8-25-hour-buys/
Yes I would.

 

[bedowin62]

$8.25 buys a 40-oz bottle of liberal phony crocodile tears, and comes in a paper bag

 

[bedowin62]

You won t believe how little 8.25 an hour buys Oxfam America First Person Blog
Disgusting that this is possible in the "richest country in the world"

Cleaning the movie theater is part of my daughter's duties. But does her job actually pay enough to live on? Photo: Mary Babic/Oxfam America
27Tweet

54Like

1+1

For my hard-working family and friends who earn just above the US minimum wage, a paycheck doesn’t go very far.

My daughter struck it lucky when she landed a job for $8.25 an hour at the local movie theater. They pay 25 cents more than the Massachusetts minimum wage (which is already 75 cents more than the federal wage); they don’t charge her for the monogrammed black polo shirt that constitutes her uniform (unlike some businesses); they let her know her hours a few days ahead; and they are, simply put, nice people: film nerds who enjoy keeping an independent theater alive, who don’t mind if she reads a book while sitting in the box office and waiting for the next rush.

Still, it’s a business. Her hours each week never mount up to the point where they’d be responsible for her healthcare (30 hours a week or more); her schedule varies widely; when it’s slow, they let her go (and it’s been a slow year for movies). And, to reiterate: they pay $8.25 an hour.

You can’t blame them; they’re generous at paying more than the legally required wage. But it is, even for my daughter, a measly wage. She lives at home, but she’s scraping together savings for college, living very simply, contributing to the household.

So what her earnings really translate to? I wondered, after seeing this helpful and harrowing piece on What Life Really Costs at $7.25 an Hour.

First, there’s transportation. After taxes, she brings home $7.62 an hour. Last week, after working for 27 hours (and commuting for about 8 hours), she got a check for $205.71. Just to get there and back: Slice the bus fare off the top (2.10 each way; 4.20 round trip; times four): 205.71 – 16.80 = 188.91.

A sandwich = one hour’s work. Some days, when her shift stretches longer than eight hours, she gets a plain chicken sandwich at the place next door: 7.43 (with tax). So she works a full hour to buy a sandwich. Without a drink.

A book = three hours. She loves books and music, and we visit the library every week. But sometimes she likes to buy the ones she loves the very most. Her favorite graphic novelist, Emily Carroll, just published a beautiful new book, Through the Woods. On Amazon, discounted, it’s $18.10. So she worked almost three hours to buy it.

Work shoes cost a day’s pay. We do most of our shopping at Goodwill, but every once in a while, she indulges. She really needed a good pair of shoes as she stands most of the time at work. She got a cheap pair of Nikes at around $50: Basically, a day’s pay.

And what about college tuition? Again, she got lucky: Smith College offered her a whopping scholarship, covering about half the cost. Which left her with a bill of (only) $24,000 for a year, not counting books, art supplies, etc.

So if she wants to cover one year of college – at this deeply discounted price – she’s going to work 3150 hours. Or 61 hours a week for a year. If she wants to go for the full four years… it would take 12,598 hours. Of course, she couldn’t eat. Or pay rent, take the bus, buy shoes, or get her hair cut. At least she can go to the movies…

So she’s lucky in some ways. But so many workers do not enjoy her luck. In fact, the vast majority of low-wage workers do not match this “Poster Child” profile of the minimum wage worker.

Source: the Economic Policy Institute.
Indeed, the average age of low-wage workers is 35. A third have dependent children at home. In our (extremely fortunate)Congressional district, 34,000 working families are using food stamps, and 71,000 are living below the poverty line .

The Causes of Poverty

The experts: "it is a complex sociological and economical issue with many contributing factors."

Republicans: "They are lazy!"

Republicans are right, the experts just tow the pc police crap.

Why would the experts care about being PC but the republicans do not? Poverty is a complex issue. Whether or not you are smart enough to understand that doesn't change anything. Of course the experts will tell you laziness plays a role in poverty, they are just smart enough to point out it is far from the only cause. Republicans aren't. They are fucking stupid.

Tell me would republicans EVER criticize corporations? No. Obviously they should considering corporations are wealthier than they have ever been before while child poverty in this country is the worst out of any other developed nation on Earth. How about corporate crime? Most of it goes unprosecuted. Where is the republican outrage? It doesn't exist because they would lose their precious mega donors.

you're simply an angry loser. show me one Republican, here on this board, or on any other board; where a Repblican said laziness is the ONLY cause of poverty. What doesnt change anything is the phony sanctimonious rants of angry, smarmy, smug and butthurt left-wing nutjobs. Poverty has gotten worse on the Progressive watch, and not only that but the VERY RICHEST GOT RICHER. And with every PROGRESSIVE FAILURE despite your best intentions your frustration level grows, the projection of your own left-wing ineptitude manifests itself with cries that others are "fucking stupid". Your pathetic excuses on the Left are along the lines of how a bunch of "fucking stupid" right-wingers, in smaller numbers no less, managed to foil the best and brightest Progressive minds, and your caring and empathetic mindsets, your good intentions, your vision of Utopia, your "progress", your "change", your alleged enlightement, your high education, and all your best efforts.

you are simply a clown

 

[Wyatt earp]

You won t believe how little 8.25 an hour buys Oxfam America First Person Blog
Disgusting that this is possible in the "richest country in the world"

Cleaning the movie theater is part of my daughter's duties. But does her job actually pay enough to live on? Photo: Mary Babic/Oxfam America
27Tweet

54Like

1+1

For my hard-working family and friends who earn just above the US minimum wage, a paycheck doesn’t go very far.

My daughter struck it lucky when she landed a job for $8.25 an hour at the local movie theater. They pay 25 cents more than the Massachusetts minimum wage (which is already 75 cents more than the federal wage); they don’t charge her for the monogrammed black polo shirt that constitutes her uniform (unlike some businesses); they let her know her hours a few days ahead; and they are, simply put, nice people: film nerds who enjoy keeping an independent theater alive, who don’t mind if she reads a book while sitting in the box office and waiting for the next rush.

Still, it’s a business. Her hours each week never mount up to the point where they’d be responsible for her healthcare (30 hours a week or more); her schedule varies widely; when it’s slow, they let her go (and it’s been a slow year for movies). And, to reiterate: they pay $8.25 an hour.

You can’t blame them; they’re generous at paying more than the legally required wage. But it is, even for my daughter, a measly wage. She lives at home, but she’s scraping together savings for college, living very simply, contributing to the household.

So what her earnings really translate to? I wondered, after seeing this helpful and harrowing piece on What Life Really Costs at $7.25 an Hour.

First, there’s transportation. After taxes, she brings home $7.62 an hour. Last week, after working for 27 hours (and commuting for about 8 hours), she got a check for $205.71. Just to get there and back: Slice the bus fare off the top (2.10 each way; 4.20 round trip; times four): 205.71 – 16.80 = 188.91.

A sandwich = one hour’s work. Some days, when her shift stretches longer than eight hours, she gets a plain chicken sandwich at the place next door: 7.43 (with tax). So she works a full hour to buy a sandwich. Without a drink.

A book = three hours. She loves books and music, and we visit the library every week. But sometimes she likes to buy the ones she loves the very most. Her favorite graphic novelist, Emily Carroll, just published a beautiful new book, Through the Woods. On Amazon, discounted, it’s $18.10. So she worked almost three hours to buy it.

Work shoes cost a day’s pay. We do most of our shopping at Goodwill, but every once in a while, she indulges. She really needed a good pair of shoes as she stands most of the time at work. She got a cheap pair of Nikes at around $50: Basically, a day’s pay.

And what about college tuition? Again, she got lucky: Smith College offered her a whopping scholarship, covering about half the cost. Which left her with a bill of (only) $24,000 for a year, not counting books, art supplies, etc.

So if she wants to cover one year of college – at this deeply discounted price – she’s going to work 3150 hours. Or 61 hours a week for a year. If she wants to go for the full four years… it would take 12,598 hours. Of course, she couldn’t eat. Or pay rent, take the bus, buy shoes, or get her hair cut. At least she can go to the movies…

So she’s lucky in some ways. But so many workers do not enjoy her luck. In fact, the vast majority of low-wage workers do not match this “Poster Child” profile of the minimum wage worker.

Source: the Economic Policy Institute.
Indeed, the average age of low-wage workers is 35. A third have dependent children at home. In our (extremely fortunate)Congressional district, 34,000 working families are using food stamps, and 71,000 are living below the poverty line .

The Causes of Poverty

The experts: "it is a complex sociological and economical issue with many contributing factors."

Republicans: "They are lazy!"

Republicans are right, the experts just tow the pc police crap.

Why would the experts care about being PC but the republicans do not? Poverty is a complex issue. Whether or not you are smart enough to understand that doesn't change anything. Of course the experts will tell you laziness plays a role in poverty, they are just smart enough to point out it is far from the only cause. Republicans aren't. They are fucking stupid.

Tell me would republicans EVER criticize corporations? No. Obviously they should considering corporations are wealthier than they have ever been before while child poverty in this country is the worst out of any other developed nation on Earth. How about corporate crime? Most of it goes unprosecuted. Where is the republican outrage? It doesn't exist because they would lose their precious mega donors.

Mathew you are ignorant, read my thread

Republicans ending cooperate welfare... at least till September. US Message Board - Political Discussion Forum

The Republicans shut down the import-export bank where most corporate welfare comes from and GE and Boineg is pissed off. so quit spreading lies.

 

[SwimExpert]

but it would not be possible to live on 7.25 per hour no matter how hard one tried. IMPOSSIBLE.

Quite true. The solution is: Don't work for $7.25/hr.

People always have to fill these jobs, and how do you expect people to move up if they can barely get by? Idiot.

Straw man. I never suggested that the jobs were not necessary. That has nothing to do with people working for $7.25/hr. If $7.25/hr is not enough for you to live off of, then don't work for $7.25/hr. Jobs and compensation are a two way agreement. Idiot.

 

[paulitician]

I think it's safe to say American Workers can't count on greedy hateful white Republican guy to help em out. Greedy white Republican guy only cares about himself. The GOP isn't giving American Workers any reason to support it. All it's giving American Workers is... Paying em the lowest wages possible, Outsourcing their jobs whenever possible, and replacing them with Illegal Slave Labor. An American Worker would be crazy voting Republican at this point. They'd only be voting against their own best interests.

The Democrats should have the Worker-vote locked up at this point. Republicans need to rethink all their hate & hostility towards American Workers. If they don't, it may become impossible for them to win National Elections. They may not see the White House again for many many years. The choice is theirs. I guess we'll see what they decide.

 

[M14 Shooter]

I think it's safe to say American Workers can't count on greedy hateful white Republican guy to help em out.

They can, however, count on greedy, hateful Democrats to sell them out.

 

[Redfish]

MW jobs are for teens making pocket money and learning how to work. They are not a lifetime career path unless you have absolutely no skills or education or are too lazy to get any.

The "war on poverty" has been going on for 50 years, trillions have been wasted on it, and the poverty rate is higher now than when LBJ started it.

A government cannot spend a nation into prosperity or increase the value of unskilled labor.

Sorry, but if your only skill is using your back to carry things, then you probably will never own a mercedes.

LIfe ain't fair, the govt cannot make it fair. Some wild pigs get eaten by lions and some survive to reproduce. Should the govt make lions stop eating?

The MW rate impacts a lot of people, not just those making min wage. It basically impacts all of the retail jobs that are out there.

Governments can do plenty to impact labor markets. Our own labor market is impacted significantly by China's government.

MW affects people making MW. It also affects people who buy products produced or delivered by MW earners. Raising the MW will put many MW earners out of work and will impact those who buy products because prices will go up. Its already happening in the blue city of Seattle. Fast food joints have reduced staff and raised prices----------------so tell us, who is benefitting from this increase?

As to China, jobs have gone to china for several reasons, a couple of them are US corporate taxes, unions, and regulations.

Are you happy that GE and GM are building their products in china and mexico?

 

[Redfish]

I think it's safe to say American Workers can't count on greedy hateful white Republican guy to help em out. Greedy white Republican guy only cares about himself. The GOP isn't giving American Workers any reason to support it. All it's giving American Workers is... Paying em the lowest wages possible, Outsourcing their jobs whenever possible, and replacing them with Illegal Slave Labor. An American Worker would be crazy voting Republican at this point. They'd only be voting against their own best interests.

The Democrats should have the Worker-vote locked up at this point. Republicans need to rethink all their hate & hostility towards American Workers. If they don't, it may become impossible for them to win National Elections. They may not see the White House again for many many years. The choice is theirs. I guess we'll see what they decide.

what a pile of steaming horseshit.

 

[Redfish]

Here's an idea: get some education and training so you're not stuck at the bottom!
Gee, that wasnt hard.

You are so fucking dumb. Many people can't afford education and training and these higher wage jobs are extremely competitive since theater jobs of this wage largely outnumber higher wage jobs. This is an issue of population.

So what? the constitution does not guarantee every citizen financial security. What you achieve is up to you.

Life isn't fair----------------grow up and accept that reality.

 

[Darkwind]

You won t believe how little 8.25 an hour buys Oxfam America First Person Blog
Disgusting that this is possible in the "richest country in the world"

Cleaning the movie theater is part of my daughter's duties. But does her job actually pay enough to live on? Photo: Mary Babic/Oxfam America
27Tweet

54Like

1+1

For my hard-working family and friends who earn just above the US minimum wage, a paycheck doesn’t go very far.

My daughter struck it lucky when she landed a job for $8.25 an hour at the local movie theater. They pay 25 cents more than the Massachusetts minimum wage (which is already 75 cents more than the federal wage); they don’t charge her for the monogrammed black polo shirt that constitutes her uniform (unlike some businesses); they let her know her hours a few days ahead; and they are, simply put, nice people: film nerds who enjoy keeping an independent theater alive, who don’t mind if she reads a book while sitting in the box office and waiting for the next rush.

Still, it’s a business. Her hours each week never mount up to the point where they’d be responsible for her healthcare (30 hours a week or more); her schedule varies widely; when it’s slow, they let her go (and it’s been a slow year for movies). And, to reiterate: they pay $8.25 an hour.

You can’t blame them; they’re generous at paying more than the legally required wage. But it is, even for my daughter, a measly wage. She lives at home, but she’s scraping together savings for college, living very simply, contributing to the household.

So what her earnings really translate to? I wondered, after seeing this helpful and harrowing piece on What Life Really Costs at $7.25 an Hour.

First, there’s transportation. After taxes, she brings home $7.62 an hour. Last week, after working for 27 hours (and commuting for about 8 hours), she got a check for $205.71. Just to get there and back: Slice the bus fare off the top (2.10 each way; 4.20 round trip; times four): 205.71 – 16.80 = 188.91.

A sandwich = one hour’s work. Some days, when her shift stretches longer than eight hours, she gets a plain chicken sandwich at the place next door: 7.43 (with tax). So she works a full hour to buy a sandwich. Without a drink.

A book = three hours. She loves books and music, and we visit the library every week. But sometimes she likes to buy the ones she loves the very most. Her favorite graphic novelist, Emily Carroll, just published a beautiful new book, Through the Woods. On Amazon, discounted, it’s $18.10. So she worked almost three hours to buy it.

Work shoes cost a day’s pay. We do most of our shopping at Goodwill, but every once in a while, she indulges. She really needed a good pair of shoes as she stands most of the time at work. She got a cheap pair of Nikes at around $50: Basically, a day’s pay.

And what about college tuition? Again, she got lucky: Smith College offered her a whopping scholarship, covering about half the cost. Which left her with a bill of (only) $24,000 for a year, not counting books, art supplies, etc.

So if she wants to cover one year of college – at this deeply discounted price – she’s going to work 3150 hours. Or 61 hours a week for a year. If she wants to go for the full four years… it would take 12,598 hours. Of course, she couldn’t eat. Or pay rent, take the bus, buy shoes, or get her hair cut. At least she can go to the movies…

So she’s lucky in some ways. But so many workers do not enjoy her luck. In fact, the vast majority of low-wage workers do not match this “Poster Child” profile of the minimum wage worker.

Source: the Economic Policy Institute.
Indeed, the average age of low-wage workers is 35. A third have dependent children at home. In our (extremely fortunate)Congressional district, 34,000 working families are using food stamps, and 71,000 are living below the poverty line .

YOu know what else is hard to believe? I started working on the books in 1977 for $2.30 an hour (the minimum wage then) and by 1980 I was making $9.......

I haven't had to survive on $8.25 an hour...because I have been worth more than that for nearly 4 decades.....

 

[M14 Shooter]

Here's an idea: get some education and training so you're not stuck at the bottom!
Gee, that wasnt hard.

You are so fucking dumb. Many people can't afford education and training and these higher wage jobs are extremely competitive since theater jobs of this wage largely outnumber higher wage jobs. This is an issue of population.

You have the right to pursue happiness.
It's up to you, and no one else, to catch it.

 

[Redfish]

Here's an idea: get some education and training so you're not stuck at the bottom!
Gee, that wasnt hard.

You are so fucking dumb. Many people can't afford education and training and these higher wage jobs are extremely competitive since theater jobs of this wage largely outnumber higher wage jobs. This is an issue of population.

You have the right to pursue happiness.
It's up to you, and no one else, to catch it.

Correct, but the libtardians want the govt to guarantee it to them.

liberalism is a mental disease.

 

[M14 Shooter]

Here's an idea: get some education and training so you're not stuck at the bottom!
Gee, that wasnt hard.

You are so fucking dumb. Many people can't afford education and training and these higher wage jobs are extremely competitive since theater jobs of this wage largely outnumber higher wage jobs. This is an issue of population.

You have the right to pursue happiness.
It's up to you, and no one else, to catch it.

Correct, but the libtardians want the govt to guarantee it to them.

More correctly:
The libtards what those that caught it to provide it to others.

 

[paulitician]

Pay a Worker the shittiest wage possible, Outsource their job whenever possible, and replace em with Illegal Slave Labor.

Gee, helluva platform there Republicans. I wonder why American Workers are rushing to vote for the other Party. The GOP needs to get a clue. The greedy angry white dude thing is a real turnoff to most voters. Time for the Party to evolve.

 

[Redfish]

Here's an idea: get some education and training so you're not stuck at the bottom!
Gee, that wasnt hard.

You are so fucking dumb. Many people can't afford education and training and these higher wage jobs are extremely competitive since theater jobs of this wage largely outnumber higher wage jobs. This is an issue of population.

You have the right to pursue happiness.
It's up to you, and no one else, to catch it.

Correct, but the libtardians want the govt to guarantee it to them.

More correctly:
The libtards what those that caught it to provide it to others.

right----------punish success and reward failure---------its the socialist way.