Meanwhile, the median family income in the United States is roughly $80K. So, let's do some math. The average tax burden (local, state, federal) in the United S

Meanwhile, the median family income in the United States is roughly $80K. So, let's do some math. The average tax burden (local, state, federal) in the United States is 30%. Employers pay, on average, 70% of health insurance plan premiums. The employee then pays 30%. That's $8,100 dollars for the year. That's paid pre-tax, so our taxable income is now $71,900 which you get to keep 70%, or $50,330. The median monthly family housing cost is $2,035 or $24,420. Taken from my $71,900 of earnings I'm left with $47,480 of income for the year. Of course that isn't all of your out-of-pocket medical costs (co-pays and prescriptions) that you're going to pay before you've hit your annual deductible. I'm seeing estimates for those costs for a family ranging anywhere from $2,000 per year (which seems low) to $9,000 per year (which seems high) - but "seems" is just what I'm paying. The middle would be $5,500, which seems a little high, but I know people who would be hitting that. Anyway that $5,500 needs to come off that $47,480 to leave us with $41,980 or roughly $3,500 per month to pay everything but the rent: retirement savings, food, utilities, transportation, etc. For a family of 4. Now you see why Americans are stressed and the division we're seeing is primarily a result of that stress due to people's different perceptions of how to best "fix" it.