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Comment by prolikewh0a | Hacker News Reader

$15/hr is not a lot of money, regardless of how positive and mind blown these media websites are. Nobody's "moving cities" for $15/hr. It's still barely above poverty in anywhere that's not rural. $15/hr in Seattle is poverty or living 2-3 hours away from work.

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I'm not going to argue that 15/hr is a lot of money, but as someone who didn't grow up with much, it isn't terrible either.

That translates to ~30k/year, which doesn't sound like much, but for a dual-income family a $15/hr min wage (Something Amazon is lobbying for) becomes 60k/year — Pretty much the median household income in the US [1]

Just putting some perspective.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United...

keep in mind 15/h is radically different from when you grew up, especially in a city that anyone wants to live in. Over half your wage is going towards rent, even with the shittiest conditions.

Many people are choosing where to live based on income/expense differential instead of just income. Talent is choosing not to relocate to high cost of living areas, so many companies are opening up offices in these middle-tier cities.

Not many amazon warehouses are in high COL cities. I know the big ones for Chicago were the far burbs and Wisconsin.

Unless rent, transportation and groceries all go up by the same amount so nobody can live on $30k/year any more...

30k a year is around the median individuals wage also.

Most amazon warehouses are not located in Seattle. This compensation might be very attractive to more rural/small town folks and could considerably improve their quality of life.

>It's still barely above poverty in anywhere that's not rural.

I included that.

$15/hr in Seattle (and Tacoma/Bellevue) is $1.61/hr above a living wage for the average single person with no kids. [1]

I thought the goal of the living wage was to ensure that, in general, people can cover their necessities without having to resort to welfare.

Once the first couple levels of maslow's hierarchy are taken care of, doesn't the usual advice of "start climbing" apply to the rest of it?

[1]: http://livingwage.mit.edu/metros/42660

That's such a bulls##t study. $15/hr is rent and nothing else anywhere within 15 miles. $15/hr qualifies for HUD rent control in Seattle.

Well I guess you should let these excited employees know that they should be upset:

https://twitter.com/davehclark/status/1047071466787889154

Not to mention that, based on some of the Reddit threads I've seen on this from actual Amazon warehouse employees, they're often not even getting full-time hours. Lots of people seem to be getting 4 6-hour or 3 8-hour shifts a week.

I would bet they'll be given even less hours now, but at $15/hr.

One of the biggest Amazon warehouses in the US is in Lexington, KY. The average income of a Lexington-Fayette resident is $29,168 a year. For them, $15 / hour puts them above the average, so that is still an improvement.

Above the previous average. With the increase they all have, it may raise the average income in the area too, and they could still be below it.

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