Note also that $30k USD (not “42k AUD”) is pre-tax, and take home is more like $25k somewhere like Ohio. And that Amazon warehouse is going to exist near a population center, where CoL is a bit higher, like rent.
But I really need to reject what you’re saying about the “bottom wage.” $15/hr is not the lowest, it’s actually on the very high end of the lowest income salaries:
> Of those individuals with income who were older than 15 years of age, approximately 50% had incomes below $30,000
This isn’t 50% of low income jobs. 50% of all workers make less than what you say is a “normal” low skill wage.
Minimum wage in the US is $7.25/hr. Anecdotally, when I was starting out a few years ago, I was paid minimum wage at a college IT job. Most restaurants (outside of HCOL cities) are going to start around minimum wage or slightly higher.
Let’s also look at one of the biggest employers in country, Walmart. It’s not going to start you anywhere close to $15/hr. Say you get lucky and get a whopping $12/hr. That’s $24k/yr, or $21k net. Monthly rent in the cheapest CoL places in the US is going to be like $500. That’s $6k/yr. So your total income after paying rent, at an extremely common low skill job, is $15k/yr, or $1200/mo.
You can cover these types of essential expenses with $1200/mo?
- Food
- Car and gas (there is not public transit to take you to Walmart in Ohio.)
- Utilities, such as electric, water, trash, and internet.
- A basic phone plan.
- Health care. (think about what percent of $1200 a premium could be.)
- Any kind of savings, including retirement?
It is certainly possible to live extremely frugally, assuming no children, no existing debt (such as college), no vacations or travel, no big expenses, etc. It is certainly not possible to cover emergencies (like a medical one or your cheap car breaking down). I also question if you’ll ever save anything towards changing your future, like a retirement plan or better education.
The bigger question is why the fuck, in one of the richest and most successful economies in the world, do a huge number of the participants in that economy — again, 50% make under $15/hr — have to make a wage which doesn’t enable them to be at least a little bit comfortable?
And they don’t get any kind of meaningful protection against bad situations, like medical problems. Walmart isn’t going to pay you to be on an extended leave. It’s not going to be common to have any kind of retirement plan other than social security. It’s rare to have good health care plans at this salary.
It is going to be challenging, in this forum, to gain empathy, because most of us are likely in the top 10% of earners. But I don’t see a way to look at this situation and think it’s good for our society.