> http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0918HomeAfford18-ON.html > > $14.49 an hour needed to afford Ariz. home, report says > > WASHINGTON - Nowhere in the country could a minimum-wage employee afford to > pay rent on a two-bedroom home, an advocacy group said Wednesday. And in > three-quarters of the country, even two full-time, minimum-wage jobs > couldn't pay for such housing. > > [SNIP] > > > rob > > Come on, what a joke. A state average is not a good measuring stick. Here > in Harrisburg most jobs are above minimum wage, they advertise the fact. So > yes the housing may be more expensive, but the wages are higher also.
I agree with you, but I dont think that is the point. > > One person should not be living in a two bedroom house. > > Kevin T. > I understand the arguments, they are probably looking at a single parent > with one or two children having to find good housing, but it's still just a > headline grabbing puff piece. I think the point is that people who make minimum wage should be *able* to afford housing but are not able too. The original intent of MInimum Wage Laws was not for burger flipping teens, but for people who out on their own. I make almost twice my states average, yet I have difficulty on occasion paying 25% of my wages for rent. (Of course I pay child support and that is a factor.) How my ex will ever be able to afford an apartment when she leaves her parents home is beyond me. rob But this is missing the point in the other direction. If wages are raised to the level needed to afford these housing costs, then prices of products will have to raise also. We are talking about a 80% to 300% raise depending on the area. That kind of raise will sweep along a lot of people in the workforce. (Not sweep them out, just raise a bunch to the same level. I don't even want to get into the point of someone who has been working for 5 years to get above min wage, suddenly they are making the same wage as the warm body just hired off the street and the cost for the things they need just went up.) A person flipping burgers shouldn't be living in a two bedroom house with kids. It should almost equal a one bedroom apartment, using the same basis for other life necessities. Of course there are places where minimum wage doesn't pay for this even, but in most of those I'd assume there are no minimum wage jobs suitable for adults. Also, not sure if that article mentioned it, some states have their own rates, Washington is $6.90. The other side is affordable housing. I know this list wrangled that issue four years ago. Burlington and a few others cities, the people living there who are needed, cops and teachers for ex, can't afford housing. I'm not trying to say this in a bad way, but it's one of those cause and effect issues that's been a long time coming. When women started working outside of the house; and I am in no way, shape, or form saying that it is a bad thing; when it happened in large numbers the couples started using the money for better things. There had to be some point that was crossed where the second income went from bread and eggs money to second car house in the burbs money. And now of course couples struggle with two incomes. Prices rose to meet the income available, the spectrum got stretched. Here is this: http://www.orst.edu/instruct/anth484/minwage.html No more time for info, but I think it should be removed, not raised. Kevin T. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
