Re:What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?
by ctoth on Sunday April 17, 2022 @02:17PM
(#31062937)
> The national median rent was $1,792 last month, up 17% from a year ago, according to a report from Realtor.com. Rent for studio apartments, one bedrooms and two bedrooms all saw double-digit increases over the past year[0].
[0]: https://abc7.com/rent-prices-apartments-cost-of-realtorcom/1...
Re:What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?
by fshbbdssbbgdd on Sunday April 17, 2022 @02:35PM
(#31063085)
Why should we expect the minimum wage to afford the median rent?
Re:What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?
by wonderwonder on Sunday April 17, 2022 @03:32PM
(#31063627)
To be fair, minimum wage is not the $15 an hour that Amazon pays, its half that.
Re:What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?
by lolinder on Sunday April 17, 2022 @04:08PM
(#31063979)
But $15/hr isn't the median household income either. In 2020, the median was $67k.
https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2021/demo/p60-27...
Re:What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?
by wonderwonder on Sunday April 17, 2022 @04:19PM
(#31064074)
Very true, but individual income in the US is being discussed.
$15 an hour translates to ~31,200 a year. A household consisting of a married couple or just 2 people living together both earning $15 an hour is $62,400. Pretty close to the median.
Re:What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?
by lolinder on Sunday April 17, 2022 @05:59PM
(#31064881)
Yes, but households by definition don't need to pay two rents, which means if you can afford average rent on $67k, the median household can in fact afford the median rent.
Re:What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?
by wonderwonder on Sunday April 17, 2022 @06:46PM
(#31065260)
I think you are probably right, median household income likely can afford the median rent. Median rent is ~$1100. After taxes 2 people making $15 an hour are going to bring home $3,900 a month, so after rent that leaves $2,800. Probably a livable amount. To be honest I am not really sure where we were going with this conversation but I agree with all your points :)
Re:What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?
by nradov on Sunday April 17, 2022 @08:05PM
(#31065796)
Yes the eviction moratorium really drove up rents.
Re:What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?
by jemfinch on Sunday April 17, 2022 @01:33PM
(#31062558)
> You are approaching this subject as if living in an area where rents are $2500 is a right and not a privilege
And you're approaching this subject as if Amazon warehouses are uniformly distributed throughout the country, such that median rents _matter_. They aren't, and they don't. Amazon warehouses are typically just outside of (or even within) population centers, where rents exceed median, often substantially.
How far should a person commute for a $15/hr warehouse job? How far _can_ they commute?
Re:What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?
by pc86 on Sunday April 17, 2022 @01:55PM
(#31062750)
Let's assume for the sake of argument that you're right an Amazon warehouses are nearly all located in areas where rents exceed the median by a meaningful amount. So what? Living right next to your employer is as much as right as anything discussed here. Ignore Amazon for a second. There are gas stations in areas like Malibu that have bad traffic and extremely expensive real estate. The people working there are obviously not living anywhere close, and I'm thinking they probably get paid less than Amazon warehouse workers in the same state (and have much worse, if any, benefits).
Re:What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?
by ModernMech on Sunday April 17, 2022 @01:45PM
(#31062669)
edit: I just thought it might be fun to calculate and shared my calculation. Sorry it wasn't welcome but I'm outside of the delete window so I'll just remove the numbers and leave this apology.
What would you define as the bottom of the barrel then? There has to be a sensible threshold that delineates between 1) "I encountered a lot of bad luck but I am motivated and want to get myself out of this situation and 2) I simply don't care. Most of the physically able that fall under 1) can get a job at an Amazon warehouse. For those in poor health, I will agree that the US is no match for other countries.
> 42k is a joke when your rent is close to $2500
You are approaching this subject as if living in an area where rents are $2500 is a right and not a privilege (the median rent in the US is $1,104 [0]). You might be shocked to hear that even in the most socialist countries in the world, there are gated neighborhoods and areas that are off limits to the poor (I experienced this first-hand living in a country that's often used as a socialist success story). I understand that not living in high-income areas leads to bad schools and a ton of other factors, but this is not a US-only phenomenon. Taking the necessary steps to remove the variations in rent is a strong step towards full-blown communism, which comes with its own set of downsides.
> and you get no benefits.
Nonsense, Amazon has surprisingly good benefits [1]. I am all for bashing Amazon's various horrible practices (eg: launching white-label brands that steal data from their own customers, total disregard for trademarks in their paid search bidding, etc), but when it comes to benefits, it will be hard to find a warehouse job with better perks.
[0] https://ipropertymanagement.com/research/average-rent-by-yea... [1] https://hiring.amazon.com/why-amazon/benefits#/