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The last time I made minimum wage was back in the late 1960s, when it was $1.75/hr and I was in high school.
Just think, from 1967 when minimum wage was $1.75 to 2014, when it is $7.25 (I think). There must have been a few raises in the minimum wage over that period of time. Did our economy fall apart each and every time?
After I married in 1969, I believe the minimum wage had gone up to $1.95/hr. I remember going to the grocery store to buy a week's worth of food for myself and husband. I paid $20 for that week of food and it included a few steaks.
Our apartment rent was $70/month.
Without taxes being taken out, the $1.95 wage brought in $312/month. Say taxes were $50/month, so that would make take-home $262/month.
Food: $80/month
Rent: $70/month
equals $150 for the basics; food and shelter.
That still left $112/month for miscellaneous things. Utilities and such.
And even enough to SAVE a little every month.
(did I mention that my husband worked; I didn't at that time)
Now at the current $7.25/hr minimum wage the gross monthly would be $1,160. Taxes? No clue. Let's say $200/month.
That leaves $960/month for food and shelter. In the Northeast at least, a couple would be hard-pressed to find a safe, decent apartment for less than $800/month. Maybe they can share an apartment. So, $400/month for shelter. That leaves $560/month for all the rest.
However, not everyone can share a place to live, or find a suitable room-mate, so it's back up to $800/month, leaving $160/mo for food and utilities.
It just doesn't compute; it doesn't compare AT ALL with the minimum wage of the 1960s.
The Poor: They spend every penny they get. They whine, complain and blame but refuse to look at themselves as the problem.
The Middle Class: As they become more successful they tend to buy liabilities. They use credit, tomorrows earnings to buy more liabilities. They think their house is an asset and have used it as a bank and we see what happened with that.
The Rich: They buy assets that produce a cash flow that pays for their liabilities.
True, and that's why the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. BTW, a large percent of the "working poor" don't have full time jobs so that's another reason they are poor.
I'm sure you have a guaranteed way that someone making $27,000/year can buy assets.
A lot of lower income people are bad with money, but a big chunk of American families are raking in < $40,000/year and that doesn't allow for much beyond food and housing in most parts of the country.
Particularly after they buy smart phones and pay for cable TV.
Many workers fault globalization for the decline of decent-paying middle-class jobs, since big companies have moved many manufacturing plants and other types of operations overseas, where labor is cheaper. But the Dallas Fed sees that as a small factor in the loss of middle-skill jobs. A much bigger factor is the automation that has come with the digital revolution, since computers and other machines can now do many of the jobs once performed by humans."
Correct. Which makes it even more important for people to learn valuable skills.
Particularly after they buy smart phones and pay for cable TV.
OMG and when the working poor in the 1980's had TV's, cable, and telephones....smartphones didn't exist, but telephone lines were expensive.
Suddenly you are all OK for our standard of living to go BACKWARDS while our GDP goes up! Dont you see a issue with that? Why do you want our country to get worse for people, while the actual total income is going up? Oh because the rich deserve it, not the working folks....
Correct. Which makes it even more important for people to learn valuable skills.
I work as a software engineer. 90% of the population is just not capable of doing it or anything really complex like this. Until we can manipulate their DNA and their brains, thats not going to change. And thats true for a LOT of the skills that will be valuable in the future.
Its a problem, and I don't know the answer to it. I do know its not to tell these folks "go do it". they just aren't smart enough.
Invest in brain mapping, and genetic manipulation? Im not joking either, im being serious. We need to start considering modifying people at this level to be productive and keep pace with the technology.
OMG and when the working poor in the 1980's had TV's, cable, and telephones....smartphones didn't exist, but telephone lines were expensive.
Suddenly you are all OK for our standard of living to go BACKWARDS while our GDP goes up! Dont you see a issue with that? Why do you want our country to get worse for people, while the actual total income is going up? Oh because the rich deserve it, not the working folks....
Well if people can't afford the lifestyle duh! I can't afford the houses celebrities can should I started crying I want one and demand someone buy it for me?
Oh that's right, you want people like me to pay for it.
Well if people can't afford the lifestyle duh! I can't afford the houses celebrities can should I started crying I want one and demand someone buy it for me?
Oh that's right, you want people like me to pay for it.
People like you? What exactly do you mean? Last I noticed we were both citizens of this country, and from your comments we both have decent incomes.
Look heres my point, our country is richer then ever, and your argument is that our people deserve to be poorer. The type of country you are arguing for is called a plutocracy.
People like you? What exactly do you mean? Last I noticed we were both citizens of this country, and from your comments we both have decent incomes.
Look heres my point, our country is richer then ever, and your argument is that our people deserve to be poorer. The type of country you are arguing for is called a plutocracy.
If all people want to do is cry and blame others, how can anyone expect that to work? They made choices in their lives, I had nothing to do with their choices. Do they think the solution is to cry and moan and expect government to take from people to give to them and then call that fair. BS!
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