Wage Theft is a Bigger Problem Than Other Forms of Theft (2014)

Re:Wage Theft is a Bigger Problem Than Other Forms of Theft ... by rayiner on Saturday June 02, 2018 @07:32PM (#17217001)

> 60k should be about minimum wage in reality, and there's no reason why that can't be done except for greedy ceos and shareholders.

$60k is way beyond the minimum in most of the US. It’s a good living even in major cities like Atlanta. Also, paying $60k to all 125 million full time workers would basically eat up all US wage income. The income range would have to be $60-70k.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Wage Theft is a Bigger Problem Than Other Forms of Theft ... by giggles_giggles on Saturday June 02, 2018 @07:49PM (#17217065)

$60k is well beyond the minimum needed in rural areas. Hell, I went to college hoping to get a wage around $60k. I have a friend in the Indianapolis area who is supporting a wife and two children and owns a house and I would be shocked to discover that he is making more than that these days. It's always sort of funny to me how distorted the idea of a 'living wage' in flyover country is to those that live on the coasts in big cities. My sister's husband made $40k in the mountains of western NC (about 2 years ago) and was able to just barely support my sister and their three children. Now, that was a pretty untenable situation, so that's probably about as low as you can scrape (at least with a bunch of kids), but even they managed to buy a small house on that single (!) income. They were certainly on the poverty line at the time, but they were able to survive until he found something better.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Wage Theft is a Bigger Problem Than Other Forms of Theft ... by paulcole on Saturday June 02, 2018 @08:10PM (#17217141)

> Hell, I went to college hoping to get a wage around $60k

In the sake of full disclosure, what year did you graduate college?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Wage Theft is a Bigger Problem Than Other Forms of Theft ... by giggles_giggles on Saturday June 02, 2018 @08:13PM (#17217154)

I got hilariously lucky and dropped out in 2013 with an awesome offer in hand, but I was aiming for a graduation in 2014. My hopes were calibrated by the salaries I was seeing my friends get (in the midwest) with mediocre grades similar to my own.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Wage Theft is a Bigger Problem Than Other Forms of Theft ... by knuththetruth on Saturday June 02, 2018 @07:52PM (#17217079)

It depends on if that 60k also comes with good health insurance though. Medical debt is a huge cause of bankruptcy and financial distress in the US, even for those who ARE insured:

https://www.fool.com/retirement/2017/05/01/this-is-the-no-1-...

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/06/upshot/lost-jobs-houses-s...

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Wage Theft is a Bigger Problem Than Other Forms of Theft ... by paulcole on Saturday June 02, 2018 @08:12PM (#17217149)

You’ve been downvoted and I have no idea why.

I make around that and without health insurance my chronic illness would be a disaster financially. Fortunately with decent insurance it’s just a disaster physically and emotionally.

[ Parent | on HN ]