4 ms·

Rents are high, wages are low. Can't do much about wages because they are subject to global pressure, but we sure could make housing cheaper.

kwhitefoot 6y ago
Figures I found for 2017 say US median household rent is about 1 kUSD and median income about 3.6 kUSD. That doesn't sound too bad to me (seen from Norway where 1 kUSD gets you a one bedroom flat or less) so I presume that there must be important details not revealed in the averages. I got the figures from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_United_... and https://www.deptofnumbers.com/rent/us/ https://www.deptofnumbers.com/rent/us/ Is it that the median figures hide a lot of people earning less and paying more rent? That is, inequality is the problem rather than the averages. > Can't do much about wages because they are subject to global pressure, Surely a lot of the low paid workers are in service industries; how are they subject to global pressure? It's not as if a restaurant can employ cheap Vietnamese labour.
- yeezul 6y ago
  Lot's of what we (most other first world countries) take for granted is not present in the US. Health care insurance for example can eat a good chunk of that 3.6kUSD: the average cost of individual health insurance premiums is $440 for an individual and &1,168 for a family, in 2018 according to eHealth [1] 1: https://www.ehealthinsurance.com/resources/individual-and-family/how-much-does-individual-health-insurance-cost https://www.ehealthinsurance.com/resources/individual-and-fa...
  - kwhitefoot 6y ago
    > and &1,168 for a family Ouch! That makes health insurance behave like a very regressive tax. In contrast in Germany where they have compulsory insurance it is only 7.6% to 15% of your salary, so something between USD 273 and USD 540 for a family. See https://www.sympat.me/germany-healthcare-insurance/ https://www.sympat.me/germany-healthcare-insurance/.
- sendbitcoins 6y ago
  Health insurance, student debt and housing eats up the paycheck assuming that you didn't already go bankrupt from some $100k medical bill. >>It's not as if a restaurant can employ cheap Vietnamese labour. You'd be surprised, teachers are being imported from the Philippines, lots of migrant labor, service workers are often undocumented, so this depresses wages, of course there's also H1Bs and who knows how many other types of work visas. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/05/arizona-teachers-filipino-schools-low-pay https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/05/arizona-teac...

kwhitefoot 6y ago

Figures I found for 2017 say US median household rent is about 1 kUSD and median income about 3.6 kUSD. That doesn't sound too bad to me (seen from Norway where 1 kUSD gets you a one bedroom flat or less) so I presume that there must be important details not revealed in the averages. I got the figures from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_United_... and https://www.deptofnumbers.com/rent/us/ https://www.deptofnumbers.com/rent/us/ Is it that the median figures hide a lot of people earning less and paying more rent? That is, inequality is the problem rather than the averages. > Can't do much about wages because they are subject to global pressure, Surely a lot of the low paid workers are in service industries; how are they subject to global pressure? It's not as if a restaurant can employ cheap Vietnamese labour.

yeezul 6y ago
Lot's of what we (most other first world countries) take for granted is not present in the US. Health care insurance for example can eat a good chunk of that 3.6kUSD: the average cost of individual health insurance premiums is $440 for an individual and &1,168 for a family, in 2018 according to eHealth [1] 1: https://www.ehealthinsurance.com/resources/individual-and-family/how-much-does-individual-health-insurance-cost https://www.ehealthinsurance.com/resources/individual-and-fa...
- kwhitefoot 6y ago
  > and &1,168 for a family Ouch! That makes health insurance behave like a very regressive tax. In contrast in Germany where they have compulsory insurance it is only 7.6% to 15% of your salary, so something between USD 273 and USD 540 for a family. See https://www.sympat.me/germany-healthcare-insurance/ https://www.sympat.me/germany-healthcare-insurance/.
sendbitcoins 6y ago
Health insurance, student debt and housing eats up the paycheck assuming that you didn't already go bankrupt from some $100k medical bill. >>It's not as if a restaurant can employ cheap Vietnamese labour. You'd be surprised, teachers are being imported from the Philippines, lots of migrant labor, service workers are often undocumented, so this depresses wages, of course there's also H1Bs and who knows how many other types of work visas. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/05/arizona-teachers-filipino-schools-low-pay https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/05/arizona-teac...