Hi everyone. So i've been seeing the term 'living wage' bandied about for quite some time. With it being election season in the US i hear it more and more, especially with Bernie Sanders in the race. Since i see it mentioned on this forum i just thought i would ask some questions about what a living wage means to you. This isn't meant to be me arguing for or against it, although i'm sure this thread will devolve into dumb arguments. I just want to hear your perspective. What constitutes a living wage? What should I be able to afford & own for my wage to be considered living? Who sets the standards for living wage? Should small/family owned businesses with few employees be exempted? I hear people calling $15/hour a living wage. Would you agree with this? In my state, that is not going to be a living wage. With the high state income taxes, high cost of living, high housing costs, property taxes on cars, and a greedy state government,, $15/hour is pretty dopey. I know i could read articles but i would prefer it to be in your own words. Thanks!
I know I could live on 15 dollars an hour, provided that I got at least 35 hours per week. It would be tight, but I could survive on my own with a job like that. Get a roommate, get a food budget going, etc. Wouldn't have a ton of pocket change, but I could go see a concert every now and then.
If a $15 living wage becomes the minimum wage, then everything will go up in price accordingly. A $15 an hour job won't be what it is today. Sent from my XT1028 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
wouldn't that kind of muck up the whole idea of a living wage? i could live on that too. i could live on less. that's why i was curious to know what exactly about one's wage turned it from a non-living wage to a living wage.
Where do you live?! I make $10 an hour and I have my own house and I still have a little extra every month
Are you able to pay for your own health insurance, your car insurance and gas, your own food, utilities, house payment, your phone, and still put some money away for your retirement? I don't know how you manage it, I didn't think that was possible. You must be really organized.
Something to chew on: There a zero states where minimum wage, at 40 hours a week, is enough to support a family of four. And of course, having both parents work minimum-wage jobs doesn't make sense, as child-care generally costs more than minimum wage earns.
I'm calling BS on this one. How much did your house cost? Did you buy the house on that wage, was it handed to you by some external financing?
i don't think it would be a good idea to have two kids if you can't afford them. it wouldn't be fair to the kids.
This is given. The crux of the problem is this: What is minimum wage supposed to do? Should it be sufficient for two people to raise a family? If not, why even have one?
that's a good question. that's what i am trying to find out as it relates to the term "livable wage". if wages are all about raising families then i would be wondering about all the people such as myself who are just living to support themselves. and for anyone who supports a living wage please come in answer my questions so i can know where you're coming from
What the fuck?! Yea that is inconceivable. No where in America can you support a family in a house with that alone. Does your wife help too? Sent from my SM-G900R4 using Tapatalk
well, that takes it back to the OP as to what defines a liveable wage. split income, one person can make a liveable wage at $10 if the other partner makes more i suppose.
What constitutes a living wage? I feel it has less to do with wage and more with lifestyle. What you should be able to afford is a home. An apartment/condo/house with a "living wage" because after all you...live there. It ought to "be" yours. We can certainly live off very little.....and as a society should embrace that in these times of materialism (I feel that will be a trend at some point). Anyway, actually pertaining to the topic. I'd say $18 an hour here in canada is iiiight. I mean, you can pay off rent, eat confortably, go out during the weekends and still save a little bit. I like Australia's model of an increased minimum with age...dunno how well it actually works tho.
That is very subjective and will vary case to case. That's why the broad brush of beurocratic bullshit is just that, bullshit. A living wage for a single person in a small studio apartment in a low cost of living area is not even remotely the same for a family of 4 with a mortgage on a house and a ton of the bills that go with that. As with everything, government is NOT the answer and never will be.
the reason i am asking is because here in the US politicians are wanting to legislate what is called a "living wage". except, from what i've seen, it hasn't been well-defined. that's why i want to know what it means to have a living wage. what is the threshold? the magic number seems to be $15 an hour and while i'm sure many people can live on that, it's not a living wage for all places, and in many situations.
I make right around 15 an hour and no, it's not liveable in Illinois. My only amenity is my cellphone which is 45mo. Antenna tv, no Netflix, no internet. Cheap car, rent a trailer. As I have said elsewhere, it's not about the amount of money per se, especially considering the diminishing purchasing power of the US Dollar. The value of the currency should be directly proportional to the value produced. Instead, the Fed print money that has no produced value behind it, thus stealing value from the money we all hold. For analogy, say in a game of monopoly you have half the total money. Then I come along with all the money from another monopoly game and enter your game, I have just devalued your money from 50% to 25% Or, in the case of debt, people are willing to sell a huge portion of the next 30years of their working life to buy a home for 100,000 dollars @ 3.92% interest over 30years, it ends up costing over 170,000 dollars. So for a person like me, who doesn't play the bankers game, I would have to save up 100,000 dollars up front since the next asshole promises the bank that it's worth 170k to him, but agrees to pay it over his lifetime. Same shit with cars loans, credit cards, student loans etc. All you fuckers buying things with debt artificially increases the value of the items you purchase (by increasing demand) and devalues my money at the same time. Feds pumping out money is not real money, it's IOU's with our names as the collateral.