5 ms·

Can we please end this charade of pretending a $14 wage is kingly anywhere? I mean even the whole idea of 'banjo-playing areas'? Come on. I find it really gross

Can we please end this charade of pretending a $14 wage is kingly anywhere? I mean even the whole idea of 'banjo-playing areas'? Come on. I find it really gross the way people that have good jobs and have never left urban/suburban environments typecast the rest of the country.

sol_remmy 9y ago
> I find it gross that.. Can you leave the mock disgust behind? You probably live in an urban/suburban area just like the rest of us, yet your lecturing us. $14 an hour is not as bad as you think. Median nursing salary in England = 23000 pounds = 32300 usd. So the median amazon warehouse worker makes 82.5% of what the median nurse makes in the U.K. Is that really so bad?
- deadmetheny 9y ago
  I do live in a rural area of the USA, and I can verify that making $14/hr is enough to live a modest lower middle class lifestyle around here. Is that good enough for you? A lot of people here have preconceived notions about the living conditions of non-coastal areas and, to be frank, it gets old. OP is correct to lecture people because they are completely fucking correct in most cases.
- thirdsun 9y ago
  You can't compare absolute wages between the US and europe. This kind of money will buy you a way better life in europe if you consider health care, social security and overall working conditions.
epicureanideal 9y ago
Yeah, even in the cheapest parts of the US, $14/hr at best would make you "upper lower class" or "lower middle class", meaning consistently able to pay your rent for an apartment. Or possibly, if you're really really good with your money otherwise and also manage to save for years without any medical expenses, start buying a small condo or half of a duplex. But that's not kingly for sure.
vorpalhex 9y ago
That's about $30k a year. That's comfortable in areas within an hour or two of my town. I made that amount when I was in college, in the DC area, and most certainly survived just fine. Had I lived more rural in an area where entry level homes are <200k and not 600k+, that would of gone much farther. And the banjo-playing is mostly a joke, especially in Texas. That being said, as an avid hiker, I spend a significant chunk of my time in places best labeled as "Nowhere, really".
- frgtpsswrdlame 9y ago
  >when I was in college Show me one person in this country with two kids who makes $14/hr and doesn't feel like they're struggling. College is easy, I survived on <$9/hr in college but you don't see me pretending that what is supportive of a college lifestyle and what is supportive of normal people with normal lives are the same thing. >Had I lived more rural in an area where entry level homes are <200k and not 600k+, that would of gone much farther. It would've gone a bit further but certainly not 'much.' >That being said, as an avid hiker, I spend a significant chunk of my time in places best labeled as "Nowhere, really". Somehow I think even you realize that using 'I hike' as a proxy for 'I have familiarity with rural areas' is pretty lame.
  - megaman22 9y ago
    I know a lot of people back home, in rural Maine, who have a two-income household where each makes $15/hour, and they get by alright with a house and a couple of kids. Of course, a decent house in that area runs $80-100k, whereas the same house in the area I live outside of Boston would cost $400k, and you couldn't buy a property with an equivalent amount of land attached at any price in the Bay area.
    - frgtpsswrdlame 9y ago
      Yeah but that's my point. They each make $15/hr and they're 'alright.' A few of the other commenters who have chimed in here also match what my experience has been, mainly that $15/hr in rural areas isn't bad but it's not really good either. It allows you to get into the bottom end of the middle class but that's about it. It's certainly not 'kingly' and usually doesn't provide the sort of safety net people need to really feel comfortable either.
falcolas 9y ago
As someone currently living in a "banjo playing area" (Bozeman, Montana), yeah, $14 will barely cover a studio apartment in town. You could afford an apartment in the next town over, but it would be a good 40% of your income, and now you either own a winter-capable car or walk 5-6 miles for the bus. The next city out to the west, well, you can't get a house for less than $400,000 (basically a retirement settlement). Go east you're going to be stuck on the wrong side of the pass about 1/4 of the winter. You've got to get somewhere around 30-40 miles out of the city to buy a house on $14 an hour (assuming the 20% of income rule of thumb).
scarface74 9y ago
According to paycheckcity.com - assuming you get paid holidays - that's about $2000 a month in GA after taxes. There are plenty of places in GA and even metro Atlanta where you could live off of that.

sol_remmy 9y ago

> I find it gross that.. Can you leave the mock disgust behind? You probably live in an urban/suburban area just like the rest of us, yet your lecturing us. $14 an hour is not as bad as you think. Median nursing salary in England = 23000 pounds = 32300 usd. So the median amazon warehouse worker makes 82.5% of what the median nurse makes in the U.K. Is that really so bad?

deadmetheny 9y ago
I do live in a rural area of the USA, and I can verify that making $14/hr is enough to live a modest lower middle class lifestyle around here. Is that good enough for you? A lot of people here have preconceived notions about the living conditions of non-coastal areas and, to be frank, it gets old. OP is correct to lecture people because they are completely fucking correct in most cases.
thirdsun 9y ago
You can't compare absolute wages between the US and europe. This kind of money will buy you a way better life in europe if you consider health care, social security and overall working conditions.

epicureanideal 9y ago

Yeah, even in the cheapest parts of the US, $14/hr at best would make you "upper lower class" or "lower middle class", meaning consistently able to pay your rent for an apartment. Or possibly, if you're really really good with your money otherwise and also manage to save for years without any medical expenses, start buying a small condo or half of a duplex. But that's not kingly for sure.

vorpalhex 9y ago

That's about $30k a year. That's comfortable in areas within an hour or two of my town. I made that amount when I was in college, in the DC area, and most certainly survived just fine. Had I lived more rural in an area where entry level homes are <200k and not 600k+, that would of gone much farther. And the banjo-playing is mostly a joke, especially in Texas. That being said, as an avid hiker, I spend a significant chunk of my time in places best labeled as "Nowhere, really".

frgtpsswrdlame 9y ago
>when I was in college Show me one person in this country with two kids who makes $14/hr and doesn't feel like they're struggling. College is easy, I survived on <$9/hr in college but you don't see me pretending that what is supportive of a college lifestyle and what is supportive of normal people with normal lives are the same thing. >Had I lived more rural in an area where entry level homes are <200k and not 600k+, that would of gone much farther. It would've gone a bit further but certainly not 'much.' >That being said, as an avid hiker, I spend a significant chunk of my time in places best labeled as "Nowhere, really". Somehow I think even you realize that using 'I hike' as a proxy for 'I have familiarity with rural areas' is pretty lame.
- megaman22 9y ago
  I know a lot of people back home, in rural Maine, who have a two-income household where each makes $15/hour, and they get by alright with a house and a couple of kids. Of course, a decent house in that area runs $80-100k, whereas the same house in the area I live outside of Boston would cost $400k, and you couldn't buy a property with an equivalent amount of land attached at any price in the Bay area.
  - frgtpsswrdlame 9y ago
    Yeah but that's my point. They each make $15/hr and they're 'alright.' A few of the other commenters who have chimed in here also match what my experience has been, mainly that $15/hr in rural areas isn't bad but it's not really good either. It allows you to get into the bottom end of the middle class but that's about it. It's certainly not 'kingly' and usually doesn't provide the sort of safety net people need to really feel comfortable either.

falcolas 9y ago

As someone currently living in a "banjo playing area" (Bozeman, Montana), yeah, $14 will barely cover a studio apartment in town. You could afford an apartment in the next town over, but it would be a good 40% of your income, and now you either own a winter-capable car or walk 5-6 miles for the bus. The next city out to the west, well, you can't get a house for less than $400,000 (basically a retirement settlement). Go east you're going to be stuck on the wrong side of the pass about 1/4 of the winter. You've got to get somewhere around 30-40 miles out of the city to buy a house on $14 an hour (assuming the 20% of income rule of thumb).

scarface74 9y ago

According to paycheckcity.com - assuming you get paid holidays - that's about $2000 a month in GA after taxes. There are plenty of places in GA and even metro Atlanta where you could live off of that.