CA = Not a state for the working poor (apartments, condo)

[Numbah1Stunnah]

Try getting a full time manufacturing or factory job that pays $11-12 to start with advancement opportunities to make up to 25 dollars an hr where you get a fair shake and fair trial period.

Try not going to college nowadays and try to start at the bottom to get bigger.

Try going to college and actually being guaranteed a job.

But for those who don't choose to go to college or even the college grads who expect to be guaranteed a job, this state is one of the worst.

Discuss.

[Ceece]

Try finding any place, anywhere that guarantees a job to college graduates.

The COL is high in many parts of CA, where the jobs are. Where the COL is low there are fewer job opportunities. So yes, it's hard to be poor in a high COL area.

[chuckmann]

I feel your pain. And I recognize things are different now than they were in 1978, when I stopped being a hippie and began the work that led me to a decent life making good money, marrying, and raising a family.

That said, I worked a minimum wage job, was able to pay for my modest apartment, enroll at the local community college, and start the road to someplace wonderful.

Yes it hurt when the Community College raised their prices fro 10 bucks a unit to 15 bucks a unit. Yeah it hurt when the bus company raised the fare 25 cents per ride. Thank gawd for the Reagan tax cuts for the rich, which put an extra 5 bucks a week into my take home.

I feel great sympathy for folks of today. Too many jobs have been outsourced. Apple, for example, used to manufacture their products in country. They move manufacturing offshore 25 years ago. As did many manufacturers in the 80's and going forward. The result has been tough times indeed for the working poor.

For those who say "well, the working poor can move elsewhere" think about it. Who has the money to move? Duh!

Besides, anyplace you move there is an underclass. Those people manage to survive, no matter where they are.

[Numbah1Stunnah]

Originally Posted by chuckmann

I feel your pain. And I recognize things are different now than they were in 1978, when I stopped being a hippie and began the work that led me to a decent life making good money, marrying, and raising a family.

That said, I worked a minimum wage job, was able to pay for my modest apartment, enroll at the local community college, and start the road to someplace wonderful.

Yes it hurt when the Community College raised their prices fro 10 bucks a unit to 15 bucks a unit. Yeah it hurt when the bus company raised the fare 25 cents per ride. Thank gawd for the Reagan tax cuts for the rich, which put an extra 5 bucks a week into my take home.

I feel great sympathy for folks of today. Too many jobs have been outsourced. Apple, for example, used to manufacture their products in country. They move manufacturing offshore 25 years ago. As did many manufacturers in the 80's and going forward. The result has been tough times indeed for the working poor.

For those who say "well, the working poor can move elsewhere" think about it. Who has the money to move? Duh!

Besides, anyplace you move there is an underclass. Those people manage to survive, no matter where they are.

That's all a shame and too bad it can't be like the past anymore in that regard.. As far as leaving CA, I got to find the right chance. It might not be for 6-7 months, maybe a year but I think I will eventually.

[T.Winter2001]

Welcome to California = Extreme Rich and Extreme Poor.

NO middle class. Poor and uneducated undocumented immigrants living 5-10 in small apartments. INSANE traffic, rude, even vulgar people, filthy inner cities, polluted air, snooty and snobby Hollywood types, Hollywood Wanna Be's and everyone believing in the Wizard of Oz, not to mention all the crazy and bored liberals with nothing to do so they think up new laws to help lazy poor people, hard core drug addicts, bums, vandals, vagrants, illegals, and the list goes on and on ....

My condolences and sympathies to young people starting out in life in CA ... GOOD LUCK.

[sacite]

Originally Posted by Numbah1Stunnah

Try getting a full time manufacturing or factory job that pays $11-12 to start with advancement opportunities to make up to 25 dollars an hr where you get a fair shake and fair trial period.

Try not going to college nowadays and try to start at the bottom to get bigger.

Try going to college and actually being guaranteed a job.

But for those who don't choose to go to college or even the college grads who expect to be guaranteed a job, this state is one of the worst.

Discuss.

Lol I don't want to try any of those things. Scratch them all off the list. Try researching a promising career and then going after the education to land that job. They do still exist. Nothing in life is easy though and yes, this is a tough place to make a go. But you have to shoot higher than a manufacturing job if you want a truly good quality of life.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by sacite

Lol I don't want to try any of those things. Scratch them all off the list. Try researching a promising career and then going after the education to land that job. They do still exist. Nothing in life is easy though and yes, this is a tough place to make a go. But you have to shoot higher than a manufacturing job if you want a truly good quality of life.

Define Quality of Life.
Oh, you mean lots of Money, right?

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Well, your OP says you're looking for a job that starts out at $11/hour with opportunity for advancement. The minimum wage in CA is $9.00/hour. Plenty starting jobs at minimum wage with room for advancement out there. You could work at any number of retailers or even fast food places, restaurant chains, that offer training for management positions, etc.

Plus, keep in mind that in most areas in CA, your utilities will be low - especially for heating and cooling.

And, state colleges and universities for residents, are cheap here.

You might want to look into a career in the casinos here. They actually pay amazingly well for people with no skills or education, and there are lots of advancement opportunities.

I don't see why you are only looking at manufacturing jobs. Those jobs end up with lay-offs, quite often, like working for Boeing. Great pay, but not a lot of job security, and you end up with a job skill that doesn't transfer to a different type of employment.

[Malloric]

Originally Posted by Numbah1Stunnah

Try getting a full time manufacturing or factory job that pays $11-12 to start with advancement opportunities to make up to 25 dollars an hr where you get a fair shake and fair trial period.

Try not going to college nowadays and try to start at the bottom to get bigger.

Try going to college and actually being guaranteed a job.

But for those who don't choose to go to college or even the college grads who expect to be guaranteed a job, this state is one of the worst.

Discuss.

No thanks. I make more than $25/hour now, not something I'd be interested in.

Did that, don't really like the corporate world.

I don't use my degree now, doing fine. Thanks for asking.

[mrsltd]

Originally Posted by T.Winter2001

Welcome to California = Extreme Rich and Extreme Poor.

NO middle class. Poor and uneducated undocumented immigrants living 5-10 in small apartments. INSANE traffic, rude, even vulgar people, filthy inner cities, polluted air, snooty and snobby Hollywood types, Hollywood Wanna Be's and everyone believing in the Wizard of Oz, not to mention all the crazy and bored liberals with nothing to do so they think up new laws to help lazy poor people, hard core drug addicts, bums, vandals, vagrants, illegals, and the list goes on and on ....

My condolences and sympathies to young people starting out in life in CA ... GOOD LUCK.

Way to go! You win hands down in the "Broad Brush Strokes Olympics" when characterizing a state.

It would be like my saying:

Welcome to Monatna = Where everyone's a cowboy. (This is where the quoted poster is.)

NO life whatsoever. Poor and uneducated folks that live off the land, living 5-10 on about as many acres.
INSANE traffic (drat to those deer and cows; how dare they!); rude, even vulgar people (what do you expect, with so much space, it must be between their ears as well!), filthy little ex-mining towns, snooty 4th and 5th generation types in those little towns, Montanan Wanna-Bes (usually ex-Southern Californians) and everyone believing in higher property values, not to mention all the crazy and bored (at least during winter) liberals with nothing to do so they harp on the plain orignal folk, etc......

I have family in Montana (Billings and Red Lodge, at that!) so the above is tongue-in-cheek, my having visited and only knowing some of the above. However, THAT state has its own issues for young people starting out.

Anyway, boo-hoo to the original point of this thread. The working poor very often don't remain that way, and those that do very often can look in the mirror to find out the reason. (Yes, even in California).