“This Is Literally Only Enough Money Not To Be Homeless”: People Are Validating This MIT Report By Sharing How Much The Basic Necessities Actually Cost
Not everyone strives to become a billionaire; most just try to make ends meet. But the dire reality of the federal minimum hourly wage in the US makes it a daunting mission. Failing to keep up with the times, the amount of $7.25 per hour has remained glued since 2009. No wonder people still fall short when covering their basic expenses, right? As Americans continue to live paycheck to paycheck, activists have been fighting to raise the national wage floor to a $15 threshold, something that most workers see as a living wage.
But as it turns out, $15 per hour just won’t cut it anymore. As researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who developed the Living Wage Calculator, stated, “families and individuals working in low-wage jobs make insufficient income to meet minimum standards given the local cost of living.” So they created this tool to help people better understand the pay required to meet bare minimum standards of living in their region.
Recently, New York-based Redditor 6inchsubstrate came across a report from MIT and shared some illuminating statistics with the AntiWork community. Raising awareness about today’s financial situation, the post immediately sparked an important debate about living wages in the comments. Scroll down to read the user’s post, as well as the reactions it received from people online, and be sure to weigh in on the discussion in the comments.
Recently, a Redditor sparked a debate about living wages after sharing an MIT report, saying the minimum wage should be $26
Image credits: Alexander Mils (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Alex Kotliarskyi (not the actual photo)
Source: MIT
The user urged readers to check their region’s living wage using the calculator (providing links to the mentioned New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY and Bronx County, New York areas), as well as to take a look at the amount they should be spending on rent in the Fair Market Rent Documentation System. They also raised awareness that the current economic downturn, coupled with soaring inflation, can make people fall behind on paying their landlords. “If you use the inflation calculator and this data and compare it with this, you can see rent has outpaced inflation.”
In the MIT report shared by the user, the researchers stressed that “the living wage is the basic income standard that, if met, draws a very fine line between the financial independence of the working poor and the need to seek out public assistance or suffer consistent and severe housing and food insecurity. In light of this fact, the living wage is perhaps better defined as a minimum subsistence wage for persons living in the United States.”
The user also mentioned that the Living Wage Calculator is the same one used by “The Fight for $15”, a global movement that started in 2012 demanding a pay boost and union rights. “We are fast-food workers, home health aides, child care teachers, airport workers, adjunct professors, retail employees — and underpaid workers everywhere,” it states on their website. Struggling to survive, the activists organized and fought for what they “knew was right”. “We’ve already won raises for 26 million people across the country — with 10 states at or on their way to $15/hr — all because workers came together and acted like a union.”
But, according to Judy Conti, government affairs director at the National Employment Law Project, a worker advocacy group, “When people are screaming [that a $15 minimum wage] is such a radical proposition, the radical thing about it is, quite frankly, how low it would actually be.”
See, if the minimum wage had kept pace with gains in the economy’s productivity since its value peaked in 1968, it would be nearly $23 an hour today, or an annual income of $46,000, economist Dean Baker wrote in a blog post for Center for Economic and Policy Research.
“Having the minimum wage track productivity growth is not a crazy idea. The national minimum wage did, in fact, keep pace with productivity growth for the first 30 years after a national minimum wage first came into existence in 1938,” Baker explained. “While [$23 an hour] is hardly a luxurious standard of living, it is certainly enough to support a middle-class lifestyle. For a two-earner couple, this would be $110,000 a year. Imagine this is what people at the very bottom of the labor force could reasonably expect when they are in their thirties and forties.”
As the Redditor explained in the post, increasing the hourly minimum wage to an amount that would allow families and individuals to cover their basic expenses is “the barest of the bare minimums.” Do you agree with their insights, dear readers? We’d love to hear your thoughts on this matter, so be sure to share them with us in the comments below.
People immediately jumped to the comment section to share their insights, here’s what they had to say
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If you’re working full time and still can’t afford food, healthcare, a roof over your head then the system is at fault - I fail to see how it can be otherwise. The people who argue against a minimum wage or raise increase tend to be those who also argue against benefits of any kind and are invested in there being someone they can look down on and judge. And given the ridiculous pay of CEOs and shareholder profits a firm can easily afford to divert the money back to the staff.
Hear, hear. So many people at the top are taking the absolute p!ss. I don't mind them getting paid very well but I do mind it at the cost of those at the bottom and their customers. Too many refuse to accept that wages need to increase. There is always the argument that they'll charge customers more. Hah. Shouldn't - that's the excuse they have used to keep you acquiescent. What they should do, if they had an ounce of decency, is stop taking massive bonuses, bloated salaries and paying their shareholders vast payouts and making themselves obscenely rich. Most of them would still be extremely rich on a lot less! The system is failing the majority.
Load More Replies...
I wonder when the masses in the US will awaken to the fact that corporate greed has made them into the modern version of slaves. The "no job, no helathcare" system is just extortion and blackmail, what you call minimum wage is does not cover the minimum of keeping yourself alive (nevermind going on vacation once in while to recharge). The american dream has become a nightmare, it's about time you wake the f**k up and REALLY make america great again. The money/wealth is there, they just don't give it to you. The 1% effectively made your democracy into a pseudo-feudalistic system where the rich buy the power, including senators and presidents.
Articles like this show we are waking up. Revolutions take time.
Load More Replies...
What the people against a decent minimum wage don't seem to understabd, is that by raising the available income of the lowest paid workers, you actually inject that money directly in the economy. All that money is spent on goods and services and mostly on local stuff, increasing the baseline of the local economy.
Yes. I've never understood the argument "Poor people will just waste the money buying stupid stuff." You mean stimulate the economy by paying their bills and splurging on luxuries like real cheese and fancy soap?
Load More Replies... I make substantially more than my dad did at my age. He had a great house, 2 nice cars, 2 kids, and we went on overseas vacations most years. I have to take on a little more debt every month because my rent is roughly 46% of my take-home. My pay is considered pretty high for the area where I live.
I wanna know if her information is only for the northeast area of the U.S.? I live in the south and for me to get about $26/hour would be if I got a pay raise of over 100%!
There's a link to the calculator in the article: https://livingwage.mit.edu/
Load More Replies...
"In January 1914, Henry Ford started paying his auto workers a remarkable $5 a day. Doubling the average wage helped ensure a stable workforce and likely boosted sales since the workers could now afford to buy the cars they were making...." = NPR.org Henry Ford, American hero.
I'm middle-aged and have been low-balled all my life by employers. Spent all my life making corporations a lot of money. I live in an expensive city and moving isn't an option. No savings. When I'm too old to work, I guess I'm just supposed to become homeless again? Hope something better happens that I can contribute to.. It's sad when you're hoping your meager bank account outlives you.
The national average rent in the US is $2000 a month. Financial experts say you should never spend more than 25% of your NET household income on rent. So you need to have a net income of $8000 a month, or $96,000 a year (about $115,000 gross) to afford the average apartment. How many people make that? The median household income in the US is $67,000. Every dollar that is spent on rent cannot be spent on other things. That's bad for the economy.
Single father at age 38 and my son is now turning twenty soon, he is at university which costs a lot every semester but we make it work. I joined the military at 17 when I found out he was coming. It was a one night situation but I was raised to make it work. I collect my pension already from the army, also started and built a business in that time sold it last year so I have ten years of consulting pay coming in too... My job now is to clean up after idiots who can somehow justify $3500 a month for 1200sqft. It's fine with me just understand the guy who comes and changes your lightbulb might only make $20 an hour but his a*s is bringing home $137k annual because he planned....just saying
The hustler that smiles and is quiet always makes more than anyone else in the room...my boss almost lost her s**t when she came to my house warming party
Load More Replies...
Companies are recording record profits when their employees aren't even living pay day to payday and are going in to debt. It's the reason why unions aren't wide spread and discussing wages isn't allowed ( nor legal but they still do it ) mom anf pop places struggle while big companies flourish because the employees of the big places can't afford to support the little places. They drive up prices and blame inflation and pit workers against each other . A person working a 40 hour week at any job needs to have enough of an income to afford to live and have a family if they want.
The main difference between these times and slavery times, is that today's workers get to pay for their own food, shelter and clothing...if they can...
All the focus tends to be on the lowest and highest earners. While I agree that the lowest earners should be able to afford the bare necessities, I would live to see ideas on how to boost and grow middle earners. The lowest earners should be as few in number as the highest earners and a large robust middle class should be a norm, a class that can afford needs, easily handle minor emergencies like car repair, appliance replacement and afford the occasional luxury as well as save for the future.
Probably going to get some hate for this but absolutely think this is why abortion is now going to carry a prison term in a lot of places. It's not about babies "being killed" it's about less and less people paying taxes while the elderly thst have paid taxes all theor lives meet to be supported by the government and the medical care they will need. Not enough people to ensure that their won't be a labor shortage and a smaller number of individuals paying taxes. Everything is connected and when people can't to do anything but to work and sleep it collapses everything.
I am part owner of a small computer shop. Here is the downside of a high minimum wage. If my workers cost me more, I must pass that extra cost onto the customer. This works on all business. So, then the cost of goods and services increase. The rise of minimum wage is then negated by the rising of all other costs. There are other factors at play to help fight the issue. Why does it cost so much money to rent or buy a house? How do you lower those prices? Why does my rent cost more than a mortgage, but I don’t qualify for a house? Why does it cost so much to own a reliable car? There are several factors that most people don’ think about, as all everyone ever wants is higher minimum wage. But that does not fix the issues. It just band aid fixes it for a few months, before the rest of the economy catches up with their higher prices.
You know though, not everyone who pays employees is rich and making bank. While I agree the economy is messed up in lots of ways and things are getting really unbalanced, where I live there are a whole lot of small independently owned businesses which are not giant corporations and where owners are working the same jobs as their employees right along side them. If minimum wage suddenly jumped to $26/hr a lot of those businesses would simply close and we'd be left with just going to McDonalds, Starbucks, and Walmart instead of little local diners, coffee shops, and general stores. Or else they'd have to insanely raise their prices and the cost of living would increase again anyway. I'm not saying people shouldn't be paid a living wage though. I really don't know what the answer is! Maybe like someone else said if some of the cost of living could be regulated better somehow. Rent, health insurance/healthcare, etc. are ridiculous. Just a thought on the other side of the equation.
I make $21/hour working with previously incarcerated women, helping them reintegrate into society. I believe my job is doing an important service for my community. But I live paycheck to paycheck. I'm currently waiting until my next paycheck in 2 weeks just so I can take my dog to the vet and get an oil change. This is b*llsh*t. I'm doing a lot of personal work to not live with a bitter, cynical mindset, but man, our government doesn't give a sh*t about our wellbeing. It's disheartening.
Capitalism exploits the poor and crushes them underfoot.
Load More Replies...
If you’re working full time and still can’t afford food, healthcare, a roof over your head then the system is at fault - I fail to see how it can be otherwise. The people who argue against a minimum wage or raise increase tend to be those who also argue against benefits of any kind and are invested in there being someone they can look down on and judge. And given the ridiculous pay of CEOs and shareholder profits a firm can easily afford to divert the money back to the staff.
Hear, hear. So many people at the top are taking the absolute p!ss. I don't mind them getting paid very well but I do mind it at the cost of those at the bottom and their customers. Too many refuse to accept that wages need to increase. There is always the argument that they'll charge customers more. Hah. Shouldn't - that's the excuse they have used to keep you acquiescent. What they should do, if they had an ounce of decency, is stop taking massive bonuses, bloated salaries and paying their shareholders vast payouts and making themselves obscenely rich. Most of them would still be extremely rich on a lot less! The system is failing the majority.
Load More Replies... I wonder when the masses in the US will awaken to the fact that corporate greed has made them into the modern version of slaves. The "no job, no helathcare" system is just extortion and blackmail, what you call minimum wage is does not cover the minimum of keeping yourself alive (nevermind going on vacation once in while to recharge). The american dream has become a nightmare, it's about time you wake the f**k up and REALLY make america great again. The money/wealth is there, they just don't give it to you. The 1% effectively made your democracy into a pseudo-feudalistic system where the rich buy the power, including senators and presidents.
Articles like this show we are waking up. Revolutions take time.
Load More Replies... What the people against a decent minimum wage don't seem to understabd, is that by raising the available income of the lowest paid workers, you actually inject that money directly in the economy. All that money is spent on goods and services and mostly on local stuff, increasing the baseline of the local economy.
Yes. I've never understood the argument "Poor people will just waste the money buying stupid stuff." You mean stimulate the economy by paying their bills and splurging on luxuries like real cheese and fancy soap?
Load More Replies... I make substantially more than my dad did at my age. He had a great house, 2 nice cars, 2 kids, and we went on overseas vacations most years. I have to take on a little more debt every month because my rent is roughly 46% of my take-home. My pay is considered pretty high for the area where I live.
I wanna know if her information is only for the northeast area of the U.S.? I live in the south and for me to get about $26/hour would be if I got a pay raise of over 100%!
There's a link to the calculator in the article: https://livingwage.mit.edu/
Load More Replies... "In January 1914, Henry Ford started paying his auto workers a remarkable $5 a day. Doubling the average wage helped ensure a stable workforce and likely boosted sales since the workers could now afford to buy the cars they were making...." = NPR.org Henry Ford, American hero.
I'm middle-aged and have been low-balled all my life by employers. Spent all my life making corporations a lot of money. I live in an expensive city and moving isn't an option. No savings. When I'm too old to work, I guess I'm just supposed to become homeless again? Hope something better happens that I can contribute to.. It's sad when you're hoping your meager bank account outlives you.
The national average rent in the US is $2000 a month. Financial experts say you should never spend more than 25% of your NET household income on rent. So you need to have a net income of $8000 a month, or $96,000 a year (about $115,000 gross) to afford the average apartment. How many people make that? The median household income in the US is $67,000. Every dollar that is spent on rent cannot be spent on other things. That's bad for the economy.
Single father at age 38 and my son is now turning twenty soon, he is at university which costs a lot every semester but we make it work. I joined the military at 17 when I found out he was coming. It was a one night situation but I was raised to make it work. I collect my pension already from the army, also started and built a business in that time sold it last year so I have ten years of consulting pay coming in too... My job now is to clean up after idiots who can somehow justify $3500 a month for 1200sqft. It's fine with me just understand the guy who comes and changes your lightbulb might only make $20 an hour but his a*s is bringing home $137k annual because he planned....just saying
The hustler that smiles and is quiet always makes more than anyone else in the room...my boss almost lost her s**t when she came to my house warming party
Load More Replies... Companies are recording record profits when their employees aren't even living pay day to payday and are going in to debt. It's the reason why unions aren't wide spread and discussing wages isn't allowed ( nor legal but they still do it ) mom anf pop places struggle while big companies flourish because the employees of the big places can't afford to support the little places. They drive up prices and blame inflation and pit workers against each other . A person working a 40 hour week at any job needs to have enough of an income to afford to live and have a family if they want.
The main difference between these times and slavery times, is that today's workers get to pay for their own food, shelter and clothing...if they can...
All the focus tends to be on the lowest and highest earners. While I agree that the lowest earners should be able to afford the bare necessities, I would live to see ideas on how to boost and grow middle earners. The lowest earners should be as few in number as the highest earners and a large robust middle class should be a norm, a class that can afford needs, easily handle minor emergencies like car repair, appliance replacement and afford the occasional luxury as well as save for the future.
Probably going to get some hate for this but absolutely think this is why abortion is now going to carry a prison term in a lot of places. It's not about babies "being killed" it's about less and less people paying taxes while the elderly thst have paid taxes all theor lives meet to be supported by the government and the medical care they will need. Not enough people to ensure that their won't be a labor shortage and a smaller number of individuals paying taxes. Everything is connected and when people can't to do anything but to work and sleep it collapses everything.
I am part owner of a small computer shop. Here is the downside of a high minimum wage. If my workers cost me more, I must pass that extra cost onto the customer. This works on all business. So, then the cost of goods and services increase. The rise of minimum wage is then negated by the rising of all other costs. There are other factors at play to help fight the issue. Why does it cost so much money to rent or buy a house? How do you lower those prices? Why does my rent cost more than a mortgage, but I don’t qualify for a house? Why does it cost so much to own a reliable car? There are several factors that most people don’ think about, as all everyone ever wants is higher minimum wage. But that does not fix the issues. It just band aid fixes it for a few months, before the rest of the economy catches up with their higher prices.
You know though, not everyone who pays employees is rich and making bank. While I agree the economy is messed up in lots of ways and things are getting really unbalanced, where I live there are a whole lot of small independently owned businesses which are not giant corporations and where owners are working the same jobs as their employees right along side them. If minimum wage suddenly jumped to $26/hr a lot of those businesses would simply close and we'd be left with just going to McDonalds, Starbucks, and Walmart instead of little local diners, coffee shops, and general stores. Or else they'd have to insanely raise their prices and the cost of living would increase again anyway. I'm not saying people shouldn't be paid a living wage though. I really don't know what the answer is! Maybe like someone else said if some of the cost of living could be regulated better somehow. Rent, health insurance/healthcare, etc. are ridiculous. Just a thought on the other side of the equation.
I make $21/hour working with previously incarcerated women, helping them reintegrate into society. I believe my job is doing an important service for my community. But I live paycheck to paycheck. I'm currently waiting until my next paycheck in 2 weeks just so I can take my dog to the vet and get an oil change. This is b*llsh*t. I'm doing a lot of personal work to not live with a bitter, cynical mindset, but man, our government doesn't give a sh*t about our wellbeing. It's disheartening.
Capitalism exploits the poor and crushes them underfoot.
Load More Replies...
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