30 Days on minimum wage

[Trigg]

I was wondering if anyone here watched the show last night and what you thought.

When I was younger and going to school my husband and I were in that position so I understand the struggles. Of course he was trying to make the point that 2 adults can't live on minimum wage without it being a horrible daily struggle with one of them working 2 jobs.

I sat there and calculated that with both working 40 hours and making $7 an hour together they made $14 so at the end of the month they made around $2000. Not bad considering the rent was only around $400.

Anyway your thoughts.

 

[Shattered]

I was wondering if anyone here watched the show last night and what you thought.

When I was younger and going to school my husband and I were in that position so I understand the struggles. Of course he was trying to make the point that 2 adults can't live on minimum wage without it being a horrible daily struggle with one of them working 2 jobs.

I sat there and calculated that with both working 40 hours and making $7 an hour together they made $14 so at the end of the month they made around $2000. Not bad considering the rent was only around $400.

Anyway your thoughts.

At $7 an hour, their net pay would have been approx. $210 per week- That's about $1680 per month - If rent is $400 per month, that's 1/4 of their total income - they're not going to do so hot, and each of them needs to pick up a second part time job. In any event, what they make now would leave NO money for emergencies, no money for entertainment, no savings account of any kind, which means if anything whatsoever happens, they're screwed.. I'd say that's pretty stressful.

 

[007]

I was wondering if anyone here watched the show last night and what you thought.

When I was younger and going to school my husband and I were in that position so I understand the struggles. Of course he was trying to make the point that 2 adults can't live on minimum wage without it being a horrible daily struggle with one of them working 2 jobs.

I sat there and calculated that with both working 40 hours and making $7 an hour together they made $14 so at the end of the month they made around $2000. Not bad considering the rent was only around $400.

Anyway your thoughts.

I made $7 an hour thirty years ago. I make considerably more now, but I've had years of college. Rotten thing is, my son, not even out of college yet, makes more money than I do when he free lances. At least I'm doing something I truely love.

$7 an hour right now wouldn't even pay my rent.

 

[5stringJeff]

There are some things that one can do, if faced with such a situation:

1. Cut back on living expenses. Most Americans think they are entitled to cable, a cell phone that rings at 110 dB, a pimped out car, etc. Most people could go a very long way by cutting such living expenses to stay within their monthly budget.

2. Realize that minimum wage (which is $7.53/hr in WA) is NOT designed to be that wage you earn forever. People are supposed to work their way up as they gain experience and skills. So if you can live on two minimum wage jobs, as each wage earner gets increases in salary, they can afford things like entertainment, savings, nicer cars, etc. etc.

 

[Trigg]

At $7 an hour, their net pay would have been approx. $210 per week- That's about $1680 per month - If rent is $400 per month, that's 1/4 of their total income - they're not going to do so hot, and each of them needs to pick up a second part time job. In any event, what they make now would leave NO money for emergencies, no money for entertainment, no savings account of any kind, which means if anything whatsoever happens, they're screwed.. I'd say that's pretty stressful.

Minimum wage was never meant to be a living wage and most people aren't trying to live on it. People start these low wage jobs to get experience.

I'm not talking about single women trying to raise kids on this income. I'm talking about healthy adults or teenagers taking these jobs and getting the experience to move up. Or taking these jobs because of the flexibility and going to school.

They exagerated (which was the point) and tried to make it seem impossible for 2 adults to live on this income for more than a month. It's not impossible I did it for 2 years and ya, it was tough not having extra money for movies or dinner.

Just because someone doesn't have a collage degree doesn't mean that person is going to be stuck at minimum wage for the rest of their lives. I don't have a degree, I took typing classes and moved up. My husband was the first in his extended family to go to collage they all raised kids, have houses and their kids are getting married and going to school. These family members didn't stay at minimum they got experience and moved up.