Huh, I always thought a dime was $0.01 when I heard the original rhyme

And they do that so they don’t have to provide health insurance, which means the employee will have to pay for their own and thats expensive. Highly predatory.

I have had plenty of full time minimum wage jobs. Also had a few zero hour contracts which absolutely suck in comparison.

no kidding. that’s my average water/trash bill. I guess the lights don’t need to say on.

Yup. This is why we were trying to get it increased to 15 back in fucking 2011.

Today we need it to be nearly double that.

I don’t see people stealing food.

I was about to get pissed. Now I’m cheering.

Back in my day I could go to the corner store and get chips and a soda and a magazine and whatever I wanted. Now they have security cameras.

Minimum wage is not supposed to maintain the expenses of an adult! Stop being lazy and act your age, leave that comfy minimum wage job, actually learn a trade like carpentry or something and build a device to separate heads from the rest of the body.

Young people just don’t understand saving

Young people don’t have any income. How can they understand savings?

if you put that $100-130 away every month, in about 6 months you can afford a gun

And another six months before you can afford bullets.

Great Lakes rust belt. Okay well maybe rent is actually $2200 and utilities are $450, but the others aren’t too far off if you put in the work to find deals. So maybe those figures were circa 2009. That only leaves you what, $1k in debt each month with zero spending money? Not so bad for one of the most affordable major urbanized regions, right? /s

I’m in a major city with lots of tech companies and getting unaffordable every year. Having said that, utilities, phone, and internet are doable, BUT with caveats:

• You can still find a $1200 1-BR apartment, but it might not be in a great area in the city. So I agree this is not ideal even though it’s possible.

• You can spend less than $100 on electricity and water in a 1-bedroom apartment because the utility provider is regulated. Once you get out of their coverage (outside city limits), it gets expensive pretty quick. My monthly bill back when I was living in an apartment was around $60-$70.

• Fiber internet (500 Mbps) can be as low as $30-$45. You just have to keep calling every renewal either to ask for a promo rate, or threaten to switch so they offer to get you back to the introductory price. I hate that it has to be like this, but it’s possible.

• A pre-paid carrier like Mint or US Mobile can cost as low as $15 a month, but you’ll have limited data. If you don’t really need much internet while out and about, then it won’t really be much of an issue.

Transportation is definitely the problem, and $300 a month won’t cut it. Public transpo barely exists and you’ll likely have a car payment and insurance, which will eat up your monthly budget. And yeah, $350 for food isn’t enough anymore.

This isn’t in any way a defence of low wages, but phone, internet, and food can all be had for cheaper depending on location, and if public transportation or close walking proximity to resources and employment are available, that can be significantly less too.

That still leaves too little extra to do any activities that cost money, survive an emergency situation, or save for retirement.

Hampton Roads, VA. I’m in Newport News. $1375 for a two bedroom apartment, although water/sewer is nearly $200/mo and electric is around that as well. We’re barely scraping by.

I live in a suburb of a large city. These might be higher since it’s me, gf, and kid. Rent with all included fees: 1850

Utilities(basically just electric): 200-400 per month depending on weather

Phone : 40 per month(had to buy phone out of pocket first)

Food: 400-600 recently with only groceries no eating out

Transportation(gas for car): 100 minimum

Car insurance: 275 (no tickets, 1 accident 4 years ago but I was found 0% at fault)

Car payment: 350 (paid off next month)

Total(check my math I did it in my head) 3250 per month for essentials

I live in a decent sized city in the US and I would say the only thing low might be transportation. Rent here can be lower, so they would offset.

Whoever wrote the meme lives in a blue state that increased it, and will never think to care about any of the permanent underclass of flyover morlocks in other states.

And in the state of Wyoming, you can actually have a minimum wage below the federal minimum, of a mighty $5.15/hour. I don’t know how common it it, as I think a business can’t get away with it if they receive any federal funding, but it is technically legal for them to pay you less than $7.25/hour in some circumstances, aside from the lower wage for tipped workers.

Most jobs in my area pay $11-$13. It isn’t $7, but it isn’t $15 either. Also, who can manage transportation on $300? I spend that much in fuel. This meme paints WAY too easy of a picture. Life is much harder than that in most of the US. I see people from developing nations saying Americans are spoiled because they’re so rich, but what they think is rich is absolutely destitute poor here. You’ll likely be homeless and hungry if all you earn is $30k/year.