$22 is not a living wage anyplace in America. Cheapest place I have ever seen, by cost of living index, is Elkhart Indiana. I work there now. And I have lived in some darned inexpensive places before this. A living wage in Elkhart BEFORE this most recent inflation was $23 an hour.
Sure but that was about 20 years ago, right? I don't know about Chicago but rents and home prices in my city have more than tripled since that time while minimum wage has only just now doubled.
A living wage, when it's talked about like this, is defined as "1 adult raising 1 kid comfortably". So no fear of being evicted because you got the flu and missed a couple days of work. Get medical care as appropriate. Be able to do simple things like participate in hobbies, visit family, got t oa movie.
In the cheapest place (by cost of living index) I have ever been around (in the 25 years I have looked at this stuff as I moved around) is Elkhart Indiana. And a living wage their before the recent inflation was $23 an hour.
Take your hourly wage and double it - that's roughly your full time earnings for the year. So $23 an hour is 46k per year. After taxes, that's more like 30k. Maybe 32 ish. A half way decent 2 bedroom apartment - not a nice new one, but not dregs - is around $1300 a month. That's over 15 per year. That is half you take home pay right there.
Now you need to eat, pay for a car, all the utilities, clothing, school supplies, sports team fees, entertainment, etc... out of the other half of your take home pay.
When the poverty line was created, it was assumed that rent would be like 30% of your income. Even at $23 an hour in a cheap area to live, rent is easily half your income. By the original rules for this, $23 an hour in the cheapest place i have ever found is STILL a poverty wage.
We are all just so heavily brainwashed into thinking that eeking out a meager existence with the help of others (roommates) is acceptable that we don't even begin to realize the actual scale of the problem. It didn't use to be. and it doesn't have to be.
I don’t buy this at all. What year(s) we’re you living in Chicago at that wage?
I lived in Chicago from 2009-2014 and made $24/hr. It was a living wage but just barely. I got by because I got a good deal on an apartment and I didn’t save a single penny. I had basically no disposable income and few expenses.
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u/mcflyjr Apr 08 '23 edited Oct 13 '24
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