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Can a man support a family of 5 on minimum wage in Australia, or did it stop working?

marcus_holmes 1y ago
Minimum wage is more complicated in Australia. There are effectively minimum wage levels set per profession, known as awards. This is the list of awards: https://www.fairwork.gov.au/employment-conditions/awards/list-of-awards https://www.fairwork.gov.au/employment-conditions/awards/lis... it's pretty extensive Each award is also complex, and covers a range of issues in the employment. For example, this is the Professional Employee award: https://awards.fairwork.gov.au/MA000065.html https://awards.fairwork.gov.au/MA000065.html just working out what the minimum wage would be for a graduate engineer with 2 years experience is a complex, detailed matter. But yes, probably, for most professions you could reasonably expect to support a family of 5 on the award, depending on location and definition of "support". Affording a house would largely depend on an additional inheritance, though.
- pc86 1y ago
  Is "inheritance" used in a different way here similar to how "award" is, or are you saying you often need to inherit money from your family in order to be able to buy a house in Australia?
  - mschuster91 1y ago
    > or are you saying you often need to inherit money from your family in order to be able to buy a house in Australia? Tell me a place in any Western society (outside of run-down rural areas/flyover states) where an average employee (i.e. no ultra-rich tech hipster bros) is able to afford a home before the age of 30 purely by his own savings and income. That is frankly no longer a reality for most people.
    - pc86 1y ago
      You seem pretty defensive over me asking whether a word was used in the way I expect it was.
  - marcus_holmes 1y ago
    No, it's used in the same way as elsewhere in the Anglosphere. And yes, as in the rest of the Anglosphere, generally you need an inheritance to be able to afford to buy property.
    - pc86 1y ago
      "in the high cost of living areas" is the rest of that sentence. It is perfectly doable, even common, to buy a home in low and medium COL areas without any assistance from family, living or dead. The fact that you can't do this in NYC or SF is not an indictment of anything other than NYC and SF.
      - marcus_holmes 1y ago
        And yeah, you can buy a house in the bush in Australia if you want. But there aren't any jobs there, so you're going to need an inheritance to support your family of 5.

Minimum wage is more complicated in Australia. There are effectively minimum wage levels set per profession, known as awards. This is the list of awards: https://www.fairwork.gov.au/employment-conditions/awards/list-of-awards https://www.fairwork.gov.au/employment-conditions/awards/lis... it's pretty extensive Each award is also complex, and covers a range of issues in the employment. For example, this is the Professional Employee award: https://awards.fairwork.gov.au/MA000065.html https://awards.fairwork.gov.au/MA000065.html just working out what the minimum wage would be for a graduate engineer with 2 years experience is a complex, detailed matter. But yes, probably, for most professions you could reasonably expect to support a family of 5 on the award, depending on location and definition of "support". Affording a house would largely depend on an additional inheritance, though.

pc86 1y ago
Is "inheritance" used in a different way here similar to how "award" is, or are you saying you often need to inherit money from your family in order to be able to buy a house in Australia?
- mschuster91 1y ago
  > or are you saying you often need to inherit money from your family in order to be able to buy a house in Australia? Tell me a place in any Western society (outside of run-down rural areas/flyover states) where an average employee (i.e. no ultra-rich tech hipster bros) is able to afford a home before the age of 30 purely by his own savings and income. That is frankly no longer a reality for most people.
  - pc86 1y ago
    You seem pretty defensive over me asking whether a word was used in the way I expect it was.
- marcus_holmes 1y ago
  No, it's used in the same way as elsewhere in the Anglosphere. And yes, as in the rest of the Anglosphere, generally you need an inheritance to be able to afford to buy property.
  - pc86 1y ago
    "in the high cost of living areas" is the rest of that sentence. It is perfectly doable, even common, to buy a home in low and medium COL areas without any assistance from family, living or dead. The fact that you can't do this in NYC or SF is not an indictment of anything other than NYC and SF.
    - marcus_holmes 1y ago
      And yeah, you can buy a house in the bush in Australia if you want. But there aren't any jobs there, so you're going to need an inheritance to support your family of 5.