Life on $7.50 an Hour

[Economy 52,842]

8 minutes ago, Bad Monster Kid said:

I get cost of living in rural vs urban areas but even the people living in rural areas can’t survive on $10 or less an hour. I grew up in a small town in west central to llinois. When I go back It’s sad to see friends and neighbors  struggling to pay bills and put proper food on the table. $12 minimum is needed across the board in my opinion. 

As long as the minimum isn't too high for the poorest cheapest regions then I guess it can't be harmful

 

But the more expensive regions would have to not get comfortable relying on Federal minimum wage and continue to set it higher like they have in Washington

 

In my Province it got raised to $14/h and next year is due to go up to $15/h (thats around $12.50 in US conversion)

 

People lost their jobs due to cost cutting but long term I think it's beneficial to raise it. People who keep their jobs get a better living wage and people who lost job won't stay unemployed forever and will eventually find another job to be useful to economy in and they will have higher wage than before! This definitely helps economic productivity

 

Of course it can't be set too high or else that creates problems too for businesses and job growth

 

But I think $11 to $12 an hour like u said for most of America is fine. The most expensive regions need to be higher tho

 

In my Province $14/h is ok in most areas because there's also additional tax credits low income earners get and they pay very low taxes too not to mention most of health care is free here

 

But say in the Toronto area specifically u struggle even make $20/h just cuz housing is so dam expensive

 

I think large expensive cities like LA, New York, Toronto etc should have their own minimum wages set higher

 

Boundaries could be an issue tho. Businesses would wanna open right outside the road boundaries of the city to avoid the higher minimum wage

[KURUSHITOVSKA 20,451]

6 hours ago, Blake said:

Because your area, living situation, personal life as the video is the same clearly? Also the Euro is higher than USD so again, not the same at all. 

How do you know how's my life? I've got a car, a high end phone, clothes, and I'm completely independent, I pay my mortgage since my mother died and I have money left to spend on dinners whenever i want to lol and € vs $ difference isn't that big, they earn 6,5€, one less than me. Maybe people think they can live over their expectatives

[Yuuri 21,636]

4 hours ago, KURUSHITOVSKA said:

How do you know how's my life? I've got a car, a high end phone, clothes, and I'm completely independent, I pay my mortgage since my mother died and I have money left to spend on dinners whenever i want to lol and € vs $ difference isn't that big, they earn 6,5€, one less than me. Maybe people think they can live over their expectatives

She has a kid, and you likely don't.

[Bio 23,538]

Girl in Brasil minimum wage is 1.80 US dollars an hour lol. 

[SissyFromSpace 20,884]

20 hours ago, Economy said:

Devastating

 

And pulling a tooth out because $300 root canal was too expensive

 

And those cost figures for the food stamps and child care etc... Compare that to the $700 Billion military budget

 

Why is the military budget so much? Is it needed?

[Whispering 18,865]

7 hours ago, KURUSHITOVSKA said:

How do you know how's my life? I've got a car, a high end phone, clothes, and I'm completely independent, I pay my mortgage since my mother died and I have money left to spend on dinners whenever i want to lol and € vs $ difference isn't that big, they earn 6,5€, one less than me. Maybe people think they can live over their expectatives

Maybe it depends on where you live:

Rent Prices in United States are 75.72% higher than in Spain

Restaurant Prices in United States are 21.56% higher than in Spain

Groceries Prices in United States are 52.24% higher than in Spain

 

Also, you have Universal Healthcare. The woman in the video also has a child. That's an extra mouth to feed, person to clothe, healthcare to provide, and childcare to pay for while you work. $7.50 may be sufficient where you live, but in the US, it is WAY below poverty level for this woman with a small child...and that's why she needs government assistance. 

[CommonWhiteGirl 1,039]

I'm going to say something controversial, but I honestly don't really think that low income is the leading problem... I think taxes are. Income taxes for really any income bracket are insanely high in the US (idk about other countries). Where I live (Indiana) the income tax rate is 3.3% without any other taxes such as social security and Medicare and exemptions and etc. Let's say I make $300 bi-weekly. After taxes, I only bring home $251.59. And depending on how I filled out my tax forms, I could bring home even less. 

Now, I understand that taxes are important and they pay for the hundreds of billions of dollars that we spend on government assistance, but some taxes (like freaking Social Security) are wayyyyy too high and they take out a HUGE chunk of our paychecks. And if you're around my age (19 btw) statistics are saying that we might not even have Social Security when we retire, so we're basically just throwing our hard earned money at the older generations that caused these extreme taxes and spending in the first place  

And honestly the higher income you earn the more money you contribute to taxes, so unless you're the 1% it's pretty difficult to live a posh life and not have to worry about taxes and living paycheck to paycheck. 

[littlepotter 76,610]

i make 7.5$/h teaching high school. i used to make literally 1.5$/h when i worked as a barback. lucky for me i depend on my parents still but i can't imagine the horrors of living on these wages alone