For America's lowest-paid workers, working full-time isn't enough.
There isn't a state in the country where it is possible to afford a two-bedroom apartment at fair market rent working 40 hours a week at minimum wage, according to a report on rent affordability. Even in Arkansas and West Virginia, which boast the nation's most affordable rent, a person with a minimum wage job would have to work 63 hours a week to rent a two-bedroom. In California, Maryland, Washington D.C., New Jersey and New York, a person would have to work at least 130 hours. In Hawaii, they'd have to work 175 hours. In New York, which is in the midst of a fight over raising the minimum wage, two individuals would need to work 68 hours a week each to manage the rent on a two-bedroom unit. If they have kids, the 70 percent of their paychecks left after rent won’t get them very far.
The federal minimum wage, which is $7.25, hasn't changed since 2009. During his 2008 campaign, President Barack Obama promised to increas the minimum wage to $9.50 by 2011. In real terms, America's lowest-paid workers make less than they did in 1968. With an annual income of $15,080, a full-time minimum wage worker's salary is just under the 2012 federal poverty threshold of $15,130 for a family of two. It falls well below the poverty threshold for a family of three, which is $19,090.
Whenever raising taxes on the rich is brought up, the accusation of so-called class warfare is made, ignoring the real class warfare that has seen the rich get richer at the expense of the rest of us. Yet the working class continues to vote against their self-interests.
Source
There isn't a state in the country where it is possible to afford a two-bedroom apartment at fair market rent working 40 hours a week at minimum wage, according to a report on rent affordability. Even in Arkansas and West Virginia, which boast the nation's most affordable rent, a person with a minimum wage job would have to work 63 hours a week to rent a two-bedroom. In California, Maryland, Washington D.C., New Jersey and New York, a person would have to work at least 130 hours. In Hawaii, they'd have to work 175 hours. In New York, which is in the midst of a fight over raising the minimum wage, two individuals would need to work 68 hours a week each to manage the rent on a two-bedroom unit. If they have kids, the 70 percent of their paychecks left after rent won’t get them very far.
The federal minimum wage, which is $7.25, hasn't changed since 2009. During his 2008 campaign, President Barack Obama promised to increas the minimum wage to $9.50 by 2011. In real terms, America's lowest-paid workers make less than they did in 1968. With an annual income of $15,080, a full-time minimum wage worker's salary is just under the 2012 federal poverty threshold of $15,130 for a family of two. It falls well below the poverty threshold for a family of three, which is $19,090.
Whenever raising taxes on the rich is brought up, the accusation of so-called class warfare is made, ignoring the real class warfare that has seen the rich get richer at the expense of the rest of us. Yet the working class continues to vote against their self-interests.
Source
No comments:
Post a Comment