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The crucial data point is missing: "two very small incomes". US minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. 2 people working full-time at minimum wage would bring in a hou
by _qulr 6y ago
The crucial data point is missing: "two very small incomes".
US minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. 2 people working full-time at minimum wage would bring in a household income of $30k per year. But you couldn't possibly pay off $60k in debt and buy a house with that. So your household income had to be much, much higher.
One cannot save oneself into a higher income.
- leetcrew 6y agopresumably GP and their wife did not go on to both earn minimum wage after getting their degree(s?). even today when a bachelor's degree is worth less than it once was, the median wage for college graduates at their first job is around $48k. only about 2% of people with any amount of college education actually make minimum wage. it's pretty rough living on minimum wage, but paying off student debt is very rarely a contributing factor.
- PaulStatezny 6y agoYou're right. It was about [REDACTED FOR PRIVACY - but much much less than parent's 48k medium income per person for college grads] before taxes, both with college degrees. I'm sorry lapcatsoftware if it sounded like I was making light of poverty. Poverty is terrible. But at least in the US, there is _so much_ opportunity to not be stuck on a minimum wage salary. Resigning to the idea that, "Well, I guess I just have to work for minimum wage" is not going to help and it doesn't have to be true. It's sad to think that people give up mentally when there's so much they can do to help themselves.
- vertbhrtn 6y agoWhat opportunities? Tell me how an average cashier can land an average 150k/year job in a metro area? Don't forget that the said cashier has mediocre intelligence, so-so appearance, zero charisma and little talking skills. He might swap grocery store for an oil change shop, but that's about it. Our society is mostly stratified now, with a little upward mobility left for high-tech workers.
- throwaway0a5e 6y ago> mediocre intelligence, so-so appearance, zero charisma and little talking skills That person is never going to move up the economic ladder no matter what rung they start on or what decade they are born in.
- imtringued 6y agoYes, and you're part of the reason. Pessimism fuels itself.
- Pokepokalypse 6y agoThat person STILL deserves a modicum of dignity and stability. Most people in this category don't really care if they move up any ladder - they just want to exist and not be facing constant economic crisis and near-homelessness.
- mattcaldwell 6y agoSOMEBODY has to do that minimum wage job though, no? So even if we're looking at the median, there are tons of people who aren't being counted.