News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on The labor share of income in the US is at its lowest post-war level. Parent comment

Re:The labor share of income in the US is at its lowest post... by digitaltrees on Tuesday June 30, 2026 @12:43PM (#48735361)
If you’re only complaint is the word “abject”, I encourage you to try to live on anywhere from $7 to $15 an hour, in a part-time job that doesn’t guarantee week to week how many hours you’ll get.

That is a very common reality.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The labor share of income in the US is at its lowest post... by cityofdelusion on Tuesday June 30, 2026 @01:06PM (#48735755)
My room mates all lived on slightly above minimum wage with part time hours. They were not in abject poverty. They were just plain poor. They still had cars, phones, video games, food, water, shelter. They each had an ACA plan heavily subsidized and probably were eligible for other welfare but didn’t use it as far as I am aware.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The labor share of income in the US is at its lowest post... by digitaltrees on Tuesday June 30, 2026 @06:28PM (#48740090)
Do that for your entire life with no advancement. Do that with kids. Do that with elderly parents. Do that until you can’t physically work.

The range of human experience is longer and broader than being a 20 something single young person

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The labor share of income in the US is at its lowest post... by marcusverus on Tuesday June 30, 2026 @03:27PM (#48738018)
If you remove the word abject, the argument is:

> half of the US is living in poverty

This statement is also false.

> I encourage you to try to live on anywhere from $7 to $15 an hour

That's the bottom quintile, not the bottom half. The Median household income is $83,730, which would be more like $41.50.

[ Parent | on HN ]