Minimum wage can no longer afford an 2 bedroom apartment anywhere in the US. - Sensationalist Headlines

survivorship bias Minwage doesn't have much to do with this since even back in the day, adjusted for inflation, it wasn't that high. And there are other factors like prices of goods being much lower nowadays. There's quite a few aspects to this issue but the largest seems to be two kinds of inequality, one between the 1% and erry1 else, and one between different workers. Things are pretty great for skilled workers, not so much for low-skill workers as well-paying low skill jobs don't exist like they used to due to automation. There's a reason most European countries with good welfare systems have very high marginal rates on everyone on top of THICC vats.

It gets worse than that. 40+ hours per-week means over-time, right? Well, with their bi-weekly pay-period, they just scooch the over-time hours from one week into a week where you didn't have full hours. So you could work 46 hours one week, but if you worked only 30 hours the next week, no over-time. It's incredibly sheisty. Even the "tiny homes" sell for pretty outrageous prices, I've noticed.

Yeah, it wasn't that easy for everyone back then. We are worse now though. I don't think you have an argument to suggest it is better now for the average worker, than it was then. There's too many things that have changed to work against the working class.

You are aware they cannot legally do that right? OT occurs when you hit past 40 hours a week, not a paycheck. They still have to pay your ot for that week.

It's not legal by any means, no. But yet they somehow get away with it.

We really aren't talking average worker, because the average case is pretty good. More the bottom quartile or so who are fucked. When it comes to standard of living, we are undoubtedly much better off than people 50 years ago. The prices of almost everything are cheaper or at least provides a higher quality good, and there are measurements such as health we can look at as well. There are other aspects that are very difficult to quantify from back then too that complicates things, such as the decrease in domestic production over time (women didn't do nothing.)

lmao where I live it's actually substantially cheaper to buy an acre of land on the open plains, build your own custom house, and then say "fuck all homeowner associations" as you build a go-kart track in your backyard around the pool.

I don't know how to respond to this. The problem exists no matter how much you downplay it. I guess it's all great and we should stop worrying?

I never said there aren't problems, I even hinted at what could be done earlier by bringing up european welfare systems providing a strong safety net for the people at the bottom.

Except that first chart is family income, not single income. So if we are going by that and saying a single adult makes ~35k thats still lower than the median income of the 1970s which was 7k or 46k inflated to today's rate. If it was two adults that would be 92k a year which makes the 70k look even worse.

Reagan told the middle/lower class that the wealth would trickle down. Turns out the wealthy just bought some fancy straws and started sucking even more wealth up top.

All of these threads about basic living affordability make me want to deep fry my own leg.

Real Median Household Income in the United States | FRED | St. L.. Real Median Personal Income in the United States | FRED | St. Lo.. You can take household or personal income instead. Most people aren't individuals. Also again, not all work was counted back then, fewer adults worked normal jobs (and made it up via domestic labor.) As well, you're neglecting average household size. Sure, that is a new cost that we didn't have back then.

Here in Seattle, a micro studio apartment with no kitchen can run up to $1,200 monthly.

I make only $8 USD an hour and only can get part-time work at my job, which works for me atm due to being in college and living with my family. However, this is still not good. Why? I have multiple older coworkers who work for the same hourly wage who have to work other part-time, low-wage jobs to make ends meet, and a couple who have had to walk to work in 90+ degree heat and high humidity just to show up on-time or late to work. Meanwhile, my store's management is all salaried and works decent hours for their jobs, and has been regularly cutting the hours of workers throughout the store under the pressure of the corporate office to bring in even higher profits. Fuck this culture and economy.

people voting against their self interest for decades. every union guy that voted trump deserves to have to negotiate their own contract.

I am not saying that capitalism is inherently bad or that private property is bad, but the current stereotypical capitalistic mindset needs to change into something a bit more humanitarian. We have to stop being a situation where the only people who are in charge of other people are those who do not care about them.

late capitalism, pretty much

If this is late capitalism what is the next stage called?

data deficient

I myself have been looking around since I got my AA degree. A friend and I agreed that we'd share an apartment near my college if we could afford it. He's a substitute teacher ( don't know how much that is) and I'm currently part-time at a recreational center (I got a raise a year ago so that's around 15 an hour). Spending is as low as I can go under $200 adding to entertainment and food my parents won't touch. I'm lucky my rent is $50 with them because I think they are aware the house market is bullshit and I'm not 100% ready to pay for rent/gas/water/etc just yet. My friend was outright lucky to find a place under $700 because the owner is a nice person who likes to be entertained (bringing consoles was a requirement lol). We sadly had to turn it down because it was too far from my college and I am still working for my permit hours to take the driver's test. Nearest complex that I could take a free student bus to college? $1600. And the search continues...

Thats still lower than the 70s when adjusted to inflation. Cost of living is higher due to new costs. Internet and cellphone are new, but in the 70s you weren't required to pay for say car insurance. Also a lot of rentals back then covered your utilities, now they barely cover them if at all.

"Just work 3 full time jobs you lazy fucking millennials." - Republicans probably

One of which should be professional grave digging in order to safe us the work for when you collapse from exhaustion, enjoy being given birth by us fuckers!

Currently working at $20/hr for about 17-20 hours a week and I'm still in the market for a full time opportunity on top of that in order to make enough to afford a place on my own. Shit really sucks. I would've been out of my parents' house a long time ago if rent were more affordable.

First chart doesn't go back that far. Second one pretty clearly says that it is higher. Do you have evidence that utilities were provided under rent more often back then, by a significant amount? Also, "utilities money" doesn't spring out of the void. It's just rolled into your rent. The car insurance depends on where you live, some states had them up until the 70s where it became necessary in pretty much all states (except one outlier, NH. This continues today.) Also not having insurance doesn't free you from spending, if you do get into an accident you still have liabilities, and we can see that based on the fact that most people in NH choose to buy it, it's worthwhile.

that's called socialism

It does not have anything to do with socialism.

I'm one of the fortunate ones to earn enough to afford living on my own, but before that I rented rooms to get by. $5-600/mo with utilities included isn't too uncommon in San Diego if you find the right people. But even a studio is going to run you 1200-1400, making it impossible on minimum wage. Hell, when I got my first apartment, 2 bedroom with 1800sq/ft, I had a roommate paying me $600, utilities included, and I could barely cover rent and utilities with my 70k/year salary at the time after my car payment, insurance, phone, loans, etc. I was scraping by at 70k a year just to have that apartment, it's insane. 70k anywhere else would have bought me a house.

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/229956/02468326-06db-41d9-92cb-5992981b8359/Screenshot-2018-6-14 Minimum wage can no longer afford an 2 bedroom apartment anywhere in the US - Sensationalist Headlines.png You thought I was poor, and I was awaiting the trickle-down of your coins, but behold, I am bourgeois: https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/229956/2b9da8c2-0328-4462-8a86-13b4ff3a6f27/wangerer.png You have been, once again, Rused by the Capitalist Cruise!