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An Amazon warehouse worker very much can live up to the extremely high standard of living in the US, perhaps not lavishly, but at this income level can still ow

An Amazon warehouse worker very much can live up to the extremely high standard of living in the US, perhaps not lavishly, but at this income level can still own a home, have a family, have health care, and so on. Poor farmers in third-world countries watch their babies die from curable diseases.

ecnerwala 6y ago
You need a bit of perspective. The last part of your sentence hasn't been true in our country in the last 50 years. Working 3 jobs like a robot isn't what I consider high standard of living.
krapp 6y ago
Own a home, not likely. Not without at least a second job or income from a spouse or extended family. This is apartment rental income, not ownership class income.
- ac29 6y ago
  The median monthly mortgage payment in the US is $1200, which means half of them are less than that. Not everywhere is the Bay Area or other super high cost of living areas. (And yes, I realize a mortgage is not the only cost of owning a home) https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/ahs/data/interactive/ahstablecreator.html?s_areas=00000&s_year=2019&s_tablename=TABLE14B&s_bygroup1=1&s_bygroup2=1&s_filtergroup1=2&s_filtergroup2=1&s_show=SO https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/ahs/data/interactive...
  - krapp 6y ago
    Yeah, when you add up all of the actual costs, you still have to be lucky enough to find an affordable property, have good credit and have significant savings set aside beforehand, and then you'll be living on margins so thin one bad accident or unplanned expense will be catastrophic. It's certainly not true that a $15/hr wage at an Amazon warehouse alone can "very much" support the "extremely high standard of living in the US" mentioned upthread as a general statement of fact.
  - virgil_disgr4ce 6y ago
    The problem is the capital. Poor people don't have capital, they live paycheck to paycheck. Nobody is buying any mortgages without a down payment.
    - virgil_disgr4ce 6y ago
      Why on earth did this get downvoted?
zennn 6y ago
I think people who live in what have been determined to be the happiest societies would strongly disagree with you here.
Broken_Hippo 6y ago
An amazon worker makes, on average, $15 per hour. That's $31,500 per year. That is just a bit above poverty - the poverty level for a family of 4 is $26,500. You probably are going to have issues saving up for a house, and are going to be lucky to have enough leftover money to actually use the health care. Deductibles of $2-3k are really difficult at that range, especially if you have a family. In short, you are going to need your spouse to work as well. Then things look up, so long as both of you work. Good luck if you aren't dual income, though. Folks in the US die preventable deaths, by the way. And a lot of "third world countries" have health care in place, sometimes more fairly widespread than the US.
- cm2012 6y ago
  The median US salary for an individual is 30k per year (median family income is 50k). So with an Amazon job an essentially unskilled worker can make more than half of all other Americans.
  - missedthecue 6y ago
    fwiw, your numbers are correct, but the 30k figure includes part time workers and is therefore skewed to the downside. Among full time workers, the median annual income is about $51k for men and $48k for women, according to data collected by the BLS.
  - Broken_Hippo 6y ago
    So? The average is still not much above the poverty level, and as such, still poor.
    - random314 6y ago
      But look at the low median wages. There are already so many poor people in the US, whats 1 million more? /sarcasm
  - dragonwriter 6y ago
    > The median US salary for an individual is 30k per year (median family income is 50k). Median family income is ~86k. [0] Median household income, which is likely what you wanted to cite and is the more common measure, is still much more than 50k, at ~68k. [1] Median personal income is about 36k. [2] Median hourly wage is $20.17. [3] So, no, a $15/hr Amazon worker isn’t making above-median wage and, even if they work 40hr weeks for a full year, isn’t making above-median income. [0] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEFAINUSA646N https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEFAINUSA646N (nb: “family” for this purpose is defined basically as a household of two or more related by blood, marriage, and/or adoption.) [1] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSA672N https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSA672N [2] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/release/tables?rid=249&eid=259568#snid=259585 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/release/tables?rid=249&eid=25956... [3] https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#00-0000 https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#00-0000
chakhs 6y ago
many 3rd world countries have 100% covered free healthcare, "babies die from curable diseases" is what you read in media to feel superior
- thehappypm 6y ago
  https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/infant-mortality-rate/country-comparison https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/infant-mortalit...

ecnerwala 6y ago

You need a bit of perspective. The last part of your sentence hasn't been true in our country in the last 50 years. Working 3 jobs like a robot isn't what I consider high standard of living.

krapp 6y ago

Own a home, not likely. Not without at least a second job or income from a spouse or extended family. This is apartment rental income, not ownership class income.

ac29 6y ago
The median monthly mortgage payment in the US is $1200, which means half of them are less than that. Not everywhere is the Bay Area or other super high cost of living areas. (And yes, I realize a mortgage is not the only cost of owning a home) https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/ahs/data/interactive/ahstablecreator.html?s_areas=00000&s_year=2019&s_tablename=TABLE14B&s_bygroup1=1&s_bygroup2=1&s_filtergroup1=2&s_filtergroup2=1&s_show=SO https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/ahs/data/interactive...
- krapp 6y ago
  Yeah, when you add up all of the actual costs, you still have to be lucky enough to find an affordable property, have good credit and have significant savings set aside beforehand, and then you'll be living on margins so thin one bad accident or unplanned expense will be catastrophic. It's certainly not true that a $15/hr wage at an Amazon warehouse alone can "very much" support the "extremely high standard of living in the US" mentioned upthread as a general statement of fact.
- virgil_disgr4ce 6y ago
  The problem is the capital. Poor people don't have capital, they live paycheck to paycheck. Nobody is buying any mortgages without a down payment.
  - virgil_disgr4ce 6y ago
    Why on earth did this get downvoted?

zennn 6y ago

I think people who live in what have been determined to be the happiest societies would strongly disagree with you here.

Broken_Hippo 6y ago

An amazon worker makes, on average, $15 per hour. That's $31,500 per year. That is just a bit above poverty - the poverty level for a family of 4 is $26,500. You probably are going to have issues saving up for a house, and are going to be lucky to have enough leftover money to actually use the health care. Deductibles of $2-3k are really difficult at that range, especially if you have a family. In short, you are going to need your spouse to work as well. Then things look up, so long as both of you work. Good luck if you aren't dual income, though. Folks in the US die preventable deaths, by the way. And a lot of "third world countries" have health care in place, sometimes more fairly widespread than the US.

cm2012 6y ago
The median US salary for an individual is 30k per year (median family income is 50k). So with an Amazon job an essentially unskilled worker can make more than half of all other Americans.
- missedthecue 6y ago
  fwiw, your numbers are correct, but the 30k figure includes part time workers and is therefore skewed to the downside. Among full time workers, the median annual income is about $51k for men and $48k for women, according to data collected by the BLS.
- Broken_Hippo 6y ago
  So? The average is still not much above the poverty level, and as such, still poor.
  - random314 6y ago
    But look at the low median wages. There are already so many poor people in the US, whats 1 million more? /sarcasm
- dragonwriter 6y ago
  > The median US salary for an individual is 30k per year (median family income is 50k). Median family income is ~86k. [0] Median household income, which is likely what you wanted to cite and is the more common measure, is still much more than 50k, at ~68k. [1] Median personal income is about 36k. [2] Median hourly wage is $20.17. [3] So, no, a $15/hr Amazon worker isn’t making above-median wage and, even if they work 40hr weeks for a full year, isn’t making above-median income. [0] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEFAINUSA646N https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEFAINUSA646N (nb: “family” for this purpose is defined basically as a household of two or more related by blood, marriage, and/or adoption.) [1] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSA672N https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSA672N [2] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/release/tables?rid=249&eid=259568#snid=259585 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/release/tables?rid=249&eid=25956... [3] https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#00-0000 https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#00-0000

chakhs 6y ago

many 3rd world countries have 100% covered free healthcare, "babies die from curable diseases" is what you read in media to feel superior

thehappypm 6y ago
https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/infant-mortality-rate/country-comparison https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/infant-mortalit...