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Wage Required to Afford a 2-Bedroom Rental in Every State

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posted on Jun, 1 2015 @ 05:13 AM
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a reply to: mOjOm

And what ratio do you say is adequate? 7?



posted on Jun, 1 2015 @ 08:50 AM
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I'll carry on my discussion here then shall I?

Thread closed...?

Great work.



posted on Jun, 1 2015 @ 09:44 AM
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a reply to: BuzzyWigs

Meh. I've looked at getting a place in one of the "red" zones, and I was fully prepared to do it (and could afford to do it) without making 20 bucks an hour.

As for the minimum wage, you do realize that waging the minimum wage will likely result in people getting laid off? Then they won't be able to rent anything.

The solution is simple: find a roommate. Or work more. Forty hours a week is a luxury, historically.



posted on Jun, 1 2015 @ 10:08 AM
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When I left the United States in 2005, a basic 1 bedroom apartment cost me about $350.00 monthly. That was almost 10 years ago. Looking at apartment prices now the same apartment in the very same complex is $650.00

In 2005 Minimum wage was 5.15. Adjusted for inflation that's about 6.15 today. So rent prices have nearly doubled in that time frame, and yet the wage has increased by (adjusted for inflation, of course) about ONE dollar more per hour than ten years ago.

In those ten years, Rent prices have nearly doubled, gas prices have nearly tripled (though it's come down recently), food prices have gone up, basically everything is much more expensive than it used to be. Yet the wages have gone up one measly dollar per hour.

And then people have the gall to suggest the problem is with people "not applying themselves". Look, it's NOT an issue of whether or not you APPLY yourself. In the past, if someone worked an honest 40 hours flipping burgers at minimum wage, you could afford to live on that, even if it was minimum wage. Sure, you wouldn't be rich, but you could LIVE. Now, that SAME honest 40 won't go nearly as far as it used to, and many workers in the minimum wage bracket can't even WORK a full 40 because so many places do the "part time, no benefits" scam of hiring MORE workers for less hours just so they don't have to offer benefits.

Back in the day, an unskilled worker could afford to at least live and feed themselves. Now, you need to work longer, harder, for less pay, just to be able to make rent and bills, and then you're probably on food stamps to try to feed yourself. I remember growing up my mom was raising four kids alone on minimum wage. She had to get food stamps to help feed us, and I remember the look of absolute humiliation and sadness on her face when she went to pay with food stamps. She felt less than human, and I could see it on her face, it broke her heart. Honest hardworking people shouldn't have to rely on government assistance just to make ends meet if they work an honest 40 hours a week.

Yet, more and more this is the norm, and you're told to just accept it as the way things are.

What a sad country I left. I really feel for you guys. Not that it's better in Japan. God housing costs are outrageous here, but thankfully I make enough to support myself and live fairly comfortably.



posted on Jun, 1 2015 @ 10:19 AM
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You were never meant to live off min wage...period.
It is a starting place, to go gain the life lessons to do better.
I was meant for high school kids make a few $$ to put gas in a car to hang out with buddy's.
I was never meant to be a life long profession. If you think flippin burgers is a career and should pay you $15 per hr....
You have just failed at life...try again.
Also and I quote,...not sure who by:
"A Poor Man Never gave me a JOB"

Unions had there time and place, for the most part they are now un-needed.

/flame on



posted on Jun, 1 2015 @ 11:55 AM
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a reply to: ScientificRailgun

So what's your point?

Burger flipping and sidewalk sweeping should NOT be a comfortable living. It should be a constant struggle, and heaven forbid you have kids, it should be extremely difficult.

You are paid in proportion to the value you create for your employer. That's it. Almost anybody can flip patties.



edit on pam630463204 by Pants3204 because: (no reason given)

edit on pam630173204 by Pants3204 because: (no reason given)



posted on Jun, 1 2015 @ 12:08 PM
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a reply to: Pants3204

Firstly, its not just burger flippers that get minimum wage. There's low level factory workers, customer services workers, general labourers and farm workers, just to name a few.

Secondly, everyone should have the right to a livable wage and should not be expected to work there hands to the bone for more than 38 hours a week and still not be able to afford housing and basic necessities.

It's about the right to a basic quality of life!
edit on 1-6-2015 by Subaeruginosa because: (no reason given)



posted on Jun, 1 2015 @ 12:11 PM
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a reply to: ScientificRailgun

Right, we're being told by the wealthy/rich/elite to work harder and apply ourselves more. People are buying into the brain washing, and passing on that tiresome rhetoric. Eventually there will be only so much blood than can be squeezed from the stone.

People worship the wealthy in this country instead of holding them accountable. Soon, all the wealth will have accumulated at the very top of the pyramid. When that happens, companies won't have any customers and the whole system will collapse.

When these things happen it usually bears very badly for the people on the bottom. Usually, these people end up more enslaved after the system collapse than before.
edit on 1-6-2015 by MystikMushroom because: (no reason given)



posted on Jun, 1 2015 @ 12:12 PM
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originally posted by: Pants3204
a reply to: ScientificRailgun

So what's your point?

Burger flipping and sidewalk sweeping should NOT be a comfortable living. It should be a constant struggle, and heaven forbid you have kids, it should be extremely difficult.

You are paid in proportion to the value you create for your employer. That's it. Almost anybody can flip patties.


I never said that a minimum wage employee should be able to live comfortably. I said they should be able to afford BASIC living without government assistance. Did you actually read my post, or did you see that I had views that didn't align with your own and jump to conclusions? A minimum wage job should be enough for a single person to afford rent on a studio apartment, pay the basic bills, and afford groceries. But today, it's not. It's not even close.



posted on Jun, 1 2015 @ 12:19 PM
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a reply to: Pants3204

Everyone should be able to work 8 hours a day and feed/clothe/house themselves and have a basic level of medical care to keep them healthy and working. They wouldn't have any sorts of luxuries or vacations, but their basic human needs would be satisfied.

There are always going to be crappy jobs.

Someone has to flip burgers because people want burgers. Someone has to clean toilets, and someone has to mop floors. These are human beings doing these jobs.

By denying someone a living wage, you are essentially saying that these people are less than human -- they don't deserve to be treated as a human being and that their basic needs aren't important.

Not everyone is smart enough to be a doctor, engineer, or a CEO. There are 6.5 billion people on the Earth, and there simply aren't enough highly skilled technical jobs for all these people. We depend on trash collectors, floor moppers, and burger flippers to supply us with the things we demand.

Why can't we all agree that if we all lighten our ballasts a little, we can ALL float a little higher than we are right now? Good lord this "I GOTZ MINEZ" self-centered, selfish attitude belongs in the past. Can't we evolve and move forward?

I think shunning the poor and the minimum wage workers should be on par and equal to discrimination based on race. That's right -- if you look down upon the poor with disdain and think they just need to work harder -- you're no better than a racist in my book, the same kind of arrogance and hate swims in your heart.
edit on 1-6-2015 by MystikMushroom because: (no reason given)



posted on Jun, 1 2015 @ 12:26 PM
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So, do y'all wonder where the inflation went. TPTB did a magnificent job manipulating that little ole part of the economy. Just keep voting against your interests or just don't participate /s. No one else to blame but ourselves.



posted on Jun, 1 2015 @ 12:35 PM
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a reply to: MystikMushroom

Much love Mystik.

Well said and very true.



posted on Jun, 1 2015 @ 12:37 PM
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a reply to: ScientificRailgun
The reason this is an issue in the first place is because global integration and automation have taken so many jobs out of the market that the labor supply far outweighs that of available opportunities devaluing the worth of the labor that's currently needed. This causes a decrease in the wages of the majority of what's left meaning that profit margins are increasing while the actual available amount of money left in the economy gets lower and lower.



posted on Jun, 1 2015 @ 12:41 PM
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a reply to: Pants3204

Your idea is crazy you don't understand macro economics.

Their value is in the service they provide. Don't agree?

Try grocery shopping without a grocery store. Oh mopping floors isn't valuable? Have you ever gone to a public restroom that hasn't been cleaned in a few weeks?

Guess you just take all that for granted. When people stop running these business how do you plan on getting food? Do you grow your own food?



posted on Jun, 1 2015 @ 12:43 PM
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originally posted by: DogMeat
You were never meant to live off min wage...period.
It is a starting place, to go gain the life lessons to do better.
I was meant for high school kids make a few $$ to put gas in a car to hang out with buddy's.
I was never meant to be a life long profession. If you think flippin burgers is a career and should pay you $15 per hr....
You have just failed at life...try again.
Also and I quote,...not sure who by:
"A Poor Man Never gave me a JOB"

Unions had there time and place, for the most part they are now un-needed.

/flame on


Actually your opinion is in direct conflict with Roosevelt who said exactly that it was meant to be a living wage.

The idea behind this was nationalistic in perspective, the idea that everyone in America deserves a good life and a chance no matter what.



posted on Jun, 1 2015 @ 12:44 PM
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a reply to: onequestion

I agree that outsource much of the U.S. manufacturing to developing countries is a HUGE part of why this income inequality exists. Trickle down economics worked when the goods and services being made and sold in the U.S. were actually MADE in the U.S., because a significant percentage of an employer's profits would go to wages of U.S. citizens. Instead, the Trickle Down is happening from the U.S. to these developing countries, and skipping the average U.S. citizen in the process.

The problem comes from the 1% insisting trickle down still works. It sure does, but it's trickling into foreign hands.



posted on Jun, 1 2015 @ 12:56 PM
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originally posted by: mOjOm

originally posted by: SkepticOverlord

There are lots of arguments for alternatives, and some countries do it better, but there are no economically viable fixes here in the US without systemic changes in other areas of the federal budget.


I respectfully disagree that there are no viable alternatives to the minimum wage issue. There is an alternative and why nobody ever brings it up is beyond me. It's calledMaximum Ratio and this is a great page that explains the difference between the minimum wage and maximum ratio.


Maximum ratio is clearly the best answer.



posted on Jun, 1 2015 @ 01:09 PM
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I've been saying this for years, every employed human being deserves a wage that they can at least live a decent life on. Shelter, food, clothing and transportation. Too many people act like raising wages just a little bit would be this catastrophic even to the already wealthy. As if all of sudden they could no longer afford the newest high tech yacht but instead only last years model, OH THE HORROR!!

I worked as security at social services in Baltimore for a little while and I'll tell you that I've have seen instances of both the down on their luck individual or family that just needs a little help getting by and those that leech off and abuse the system. I also noticed while I was there almost everybody was a self-proclaimed entrepreneur to varying degrees of success. I feel like a lot did this not because it paid better than an actual job but because it allowed them to maintain their dignity and sense of self worth. As opposed to being an indentured servant that is trying but will not ever be able to save enough for their freedom.

I'l also add that was a potentially hazardous job that trusted me with a firearm and the safety of others, a role I've gladly played before. I felt that I was not fairly paid for my stress and threats to my person, I didn't get full benefits just vision and dental. Gee thanks I guess my company wanted me to be able to see straight if I ever had to shoot someone. The high end of the domestic private security field is about $16.00 p/hr and let me tell you that is squat. Your existence at that point is to eat(and poorly at that), sleep, and serve the company that is all you are meant to do.

I was saying to someone just yesterday that the professional sports players and meaningless entertainers are paid disgustingly in contrast to that of say firefighters (a lot of which are volunteers anyway) or anyone else who actually contributes in a meaningful way. Nope that already blessed specimen of a 6'5" strapping human being deserves millions to entertain us by playing a game and help your corporation sell beer and t-shirts.

I know that was kind of a ramble/rant but this subject pisses me off, it's sad and disgusting what this world is becoming.
edit on CDTMon, 01 Jun 2015 13:11:29 -0500pmppAmerica/Chicago01-05:00Mon, 01 Jun 2015 13:11:29 -050011 by TrappedPrincess because: (no reason given)



posted on Jun, 1 2015 @ 01:23 PM
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When these types of issues come up, I'm reminded of that movie "Fight Club". There's a scene where Brad Pitt's character has the police chief (or some ranking official) hog tied in a bathroom.

He essentially tells the guy that you can't crap on the little people. The people that mop your floors, cook your meals, change your oil -- all of these people are important cogs in the giant machine of society -- even if we don't see them.

I always try my hardest to treat people in these positions with a much respect as possible. I, for one, know that it wouldn't take much to find myself in their shoes. I've done manual labor. I've mopped floors. I've served food to people -- and I know that if circumstances went south for me, I could wind up back there again.

The interesting thing? Some of the poorest people, the people slaving away to get by are oftentimes the happiest people I've ever met. At Christmas I'll drive around and notice that the poorer neighborhoods are decorated much more elaborately than the rich neighborhoods. I would have assumed that being rich that the folks in the huge houses would have paid someone to string lights for them...nope.

I like this from the Tao Te Ching, #66 specifically:

All streams flow to the sea
because it lies below them.
Humility gives it its power.

If you want to govern the people,
you must place yourself below them.
If you want to lead the people,
you must learn to follow them.

The people will not feel burdened
if a wise person is in a position of power.
The people will not feel manipulated
if a wise person is in front as their leader.
The whole world will be grateful to her.
Because she competes with no one,
no one can compete with her.




posted on Jun, 1 2015 @ 01:54 PM
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a reply to: TrappedPrincess


the professional sports players and meaningless entertainers are paid disgustingly in contrast to that of say firefighters (a lot of which are volunteers anyway) or anyone else who actually contributes in a meaningful way.

Yep! Gag-worthy, indeed.




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