• 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 ℹ️@yiffit.net
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    1 year ago

    $15/hour minimum wage in California. $31,200/year before taxes if working 40 hours a week. I haven’t seen anything I could feasibly get hired for that pays more than $18/hour ($37,440/year).

    I seriously have zero motivation to work 40 hours a week and still be fucking homeless.

    • LeadSoldier@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I’m a disabled veteran in California. I hear you. The government chooses my quality of life and they have chosen poverty.

      “Thank you for your service!”

      • Cosmonauticus@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        If there’s one thing I’ve learned from the pandemic is Americans calls ppl heros when they don’t want to actually pay them. See teachers, retail workers, nurses, doctors, EMTs, soldiers, first responders, mail carriers, delivery drivers, I can keep going

    • Ubettawerk
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      1 year ago

      If you have some cash handling experience, you can work for a bank and many typically pay around $20-23/hr in CA. Great benefits, paid holidays, Sundays off, hardly any mandatory OT.

  • Bonskreeskreeskree@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Articles like these are better served split up between metro city areas, burbs and rural. Vastly different numbers that are otherwise hidden by averages. 50k ain’t getting you shit inside atlanta and most of the burbs. If you wanna live 2 hours out in the sticks? Sure, maybe

  • SokathHisEyesOpen@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    This can’t be defined at the state level. It costs a hell of a lot more to live in San Francisco, than to live in Tulare, CA. Most states have high and low cost areas.

      • Sanctus@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I also have 1 parent staying at home to care for the kids. So technically I need to double mine, which is rather unsavory.

    • PatFusty@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Name 1 job title that actually makes federal minimum wage. I dont mean service or gig workers either because that can vary wildly

      • Chocrates@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I made minimum wage at Shopko and had lots of coworkers that were adults with no other prospects.

        • PatFusty@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          When was this and what state? I inherently dont believe anyone is making federal minimum wage in 2023 other than slave workers aka prisoners or bracero type field workers

          • SquirtleHermit@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Well, according to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report, 1.6 million workers are at or below the federal minimum wadge. And I could break down the groups for you to show you it’s more than prisoners and field workers. But seeing as you could have just googled it yourself instead of incredulously asking internet strangers for anecdotal evidence, I’ll assume doing so would be a waste of my time.

            Still, if you are genuinely curious, here is the report I mentioned.

      • insanitycentral@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 year ago

        Store associate. Though the ones you’ve mentioned only “vary wildly” because the scam that is tipping culture (no offense to those that have those jobs but all companies should pay fair wages and not impose on their customers/patrons) and gig work are short/niche/temporary work to fill a need or gaps in industries.

  • noqturn@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    I make more than the article listed for my state, but it’s unlikely I could actually get by on my own, at least not without sacrificing some comforts like a well maintained apartment, eating every day, and paying my bills on time. Granted, I do live in the city. If I lived in the middle of nowhere my CoL would be lower, but then I’d be unemployed.

    • RaoulDook@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      The people who live outside the city are able to find employment too. It’s a myth that jobs are only in the cities. Especially so if you work in tech and can do remote work.

      That’s what brings these cost of living averages down - the people not living in big cities whose expenses are less.

      • noqturn@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        I do work in tech, but a lot of what I do now is physical setup. I could not do my current role fully remote, and these jobs only exist in cities or in fairly large companies. Eventually I’d love to move away from the city and work remotely, but that’s not possible right now. I wasn’t trying to generalize to the population as a whole, I was making a comment on my specific experience.

  • Naura@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    This is a really good source of information by county:

    https://livingwage.mit.edu/

    One thing that people forget is that minimum wage is a factor as well. In texas a living wage is $14 and living wage of $25 in california. so you’d think you’d have a better cost of living in texas. However if you compare the minimum wage texas is $7.25 and california is $15.50.

    For the amount you work, california is a better deal. However that makes it harder for people to come move to california obviously.

    • Bartsbigbugbag@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Lol it says living wage for my area is $20/hr. At $1,400 median cost for a 1 bedroom, closer to $2000+ typically due to prioritization of luxury condos and apartments, there’s no way in hell anyone is making a living wage at $20/hr.

      • PigsInClover@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Yeah everyone references this and I’m glad the tool exists, but I don’t think it’s been able to keep up with the insane inflation and rent hikes of the last two years.

        It says $17.50 for a single person in my area, but there’s maybe two cockroach-infested, 600 sq ft apartments in my whole city that you could qualify for on that wage.

        I also live in one of the more affordable cities in my county, so I really don’t know how they got that number for 2023 to begin with.

  • phej@reddthat.com
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    1 year ago

    Why is “getting by” the goal? Shouldn’t the goal be to thrive? American exceptionalism my ass

  • Lung@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    While couples can usually find some cost savings by splitting mortgage or rent costs, there is no such discount for single people

    Hilarious that the author hasn’t heard of roomates

      • ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        Is this a common sentiment? I had roommates until I was 27 and to me it was the normal way for young, single people to live. I never thought of my roommates as a burden or considered living without them a high priority. Even when I could have gotten my own studio apartment, I preferred to split a much nicer apartment with a couple other people.

        • elephantium@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          **preferred **to split a much nicer apartment

          That’s a valid tradeoff so long as that crappy studio is actually affordable. When even the studio is north of $2k/month, though…

    • snooggums@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Or OnlyFans!

      Clearly people need to do things other than live on their regular wages or the author didn’t think of it!

  • Dracocide@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    The cost of living minimum is $40,000+. The most I’ve made in a year is ≈$20,000. Something’s not adding up.

    • chatokun@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 year ago

      They say single, so I assume they also mean living alone. Being able to pay rent etc on your own without roommates. Still, while I skimmed the article I didn’t read all the nuance so I might have missed where they specified their parameters.

      Edit: found it:

      In Hawaii, the living wage for single workers is $112,411 — the highest in the U.S. — according to an analysis by personal finance website GOBankingRates.com. To determine the living wage in each state, GOBankingRates calculated the minimum amount a single person would need to follow the 50/30/20 budget, using data from Bureau of Labor Statistics.

      Following this outline, 50% of income is used to cover necessities, such as housing and utility costs, 30% goes toward discretionary spending, and 20% is left for savings or investments.

  • Captain Jimmy T Kirk@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    These are significantly higher than they used to be, but nowhere near some of the most out of touch numbers I’ve seen people claim online.

  • ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    I call bullshit on a definition of “living wage” which claims that someone making $100,000 a year is earning less than a living wage (even in Hawaii).

    • saruwatarikooji@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      It looks like it is assuming paying for a mortgage and allowing like 20% for savings. They are definitely not looking at just a living wage, they are assuming home buyers that are actively saving money.

      • mayo@lemmy.today
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        1 year ago

        20% savings would be nice. That would be like 1500-2000 extra per month. That’s comfortable.

    • Deralax@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Can confirm that these figures are very inflated. I currently live in Hawaii on half of that “living wage”. Have a nice (by Hawaii standards) 2 bedroom apartment and still have over 1000 in excess income after rent\utils\groceries\gas each month.

      112k is around what i would need to be making to afford a house\mortgage, but its possible to “live” without.