5 ms·

This was a pretty engaging read. I don’t want to knock this person’s experience, but 30K for a family of four is just… not a lot. Which was the point of the art

This was a pretty engaging read. I don’t want to knock this person’s experience, but 30K for a family of four is just… not a lot. Which was the point of the article of course, but, it seems possible to earn more. That’s less than $15 an hour of full time work. Does his wife work? If not, why? Of course, there are families who need to scrape by on 30K out of necessity, even in expensive metro areas like NYC, so again, not discounting that. But I’m curious about how this individual person, who is clearly articulate and well spoken, with a wife that is presumably the same given the company she keeps, can only manage $15 an hour between him and his wife.

sethammons 3y ago
They have two kids. Day care costs ~$800/mo per kid, so that ain't happening. Without a friend or family network, childcare is a juggling act. Maybe they opted for one to stay home. Maybe one can wait tables at night at less than $8/hr and pray for tips. A second car is likely needed. My wife and I did this. Quick kid hand off as I walked in the door and she walked out (or I could pick up kids from her work if I was late). We saw each other for under 10 minutes a day.
Broken_Hippo 3y ago
It is really easy to get stuck in retail or foodservice, and these jobs aren't known for paying a lot. Children need childcare. This has a major impact on your finances if you are poor. You might need to have a reduced availability and might not find full time - or any - work because of it. If your child is prone to being sick and you make less money, it becomes easier to lose your job when you have to stay home with them. And childcare is expensive: I've known plenty of folks that stayed home or have worked little simply because they didn't actually make money by working, once they factored in child care and transportation costs. And that's not even getting into something mentioned in the article: Sometimes, when you make more, you are actually worse off. People refuse full time hours, raises, and promotions because the increased pay won't cover the government help they'll lose, let alone make them better off. Being articulate and well spoken doesn't really grant you anything when you are working bad jobs (and many 'decent), depending on the job. I worked a couple of days in a food factory back in the late 90's. It was barely over minimum wage. Being articulate didn't matter: You just needed to do the work fast enough and follow the health guidelines fast enough. Oh, and work mandatory OT on short notice.

sethammons 3y ago

They have two kids. Day care costs ~$800/mo per kid, so that ain't happening. Without a friend or family network, childcare is a juggling act. Maybe they opted for one to stay home. Maybe one can wait tables at night at less than $8/hr and pray for tips. A second car is likely needed. My wife and I did this. Quick kid hand off as I walked in the door and she walked out (or I could pick up kids from her work if I was late). We saw each other for under 10 minutes a day.

Broken_Hippo 3y ago

It is really easy to get stuck in retail or foodservice, and these jobs aren't known for paying a lot. Children need childcare. This has a major impact on your finances if you are poor. You might need to have a reduced availability and might not find full time - or any - work because of it. If your child is prone to being sick and you make less money, it becomes easier to lose your job when you have to stay home with them. And childcare is expensive: I've known plenty of folks that stayed home or have worked little simply because they didn't actually make money by working, once they factored in child care and transportation costs. And that's not even getting into something mentioned in the article: Sometimes, when you make more, you are actually worse off. People refuse full time hours, raises, and promotions because the increased pay won't cover the government help they'll lose, let alone make them better off. Being articulate and well spoken doesn't really grant you anything when you are working bad jobs (and many 'decent), depending on the job. I worked a couple of days in a food factory back in the late 90's. It was barely over minimum wage. Being articulate didn't matter: You just needed to do the work fast enough and follow the health guidelines fast enough. Oh, and work mandatory OT on short notice.