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Minimum Wage Still Can’t Pay For A Two-Bedroom Apartment Anywhere

citylab.com

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Re: Minimum Wage Still Can’t Pay For A Two-Bedroom Apartment Anywhere

#21

Post by djschnei »

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #6
OceanKing wrote: post #2

It seems that minimum wage is not, in fact, supposed to support a person 100%, not especially a family.

I am not sure why people think minimum wage must be enough to afford a two-bedroom home. Ideally minimum wage should comfortably allow one person to support... Themselves, minimally. Which means a studio or one bedroom. People should not aim to remain at minimum wage long, but use it as an entry point for somewhere better.

Eh I'm not positive it should even be able to support a single person... Why do we insist on raising the bar for employment so high? If a 16 year old wants to get their first job, they shouldn't be required right of the bat have a productive output sufficient to support themselves. That's not the point of minimum wage jobs - or at least it never was until we started arbitrarily setting a minimum value.

Re: Minimum Wage Still Can’t Pay For A Two-Bedroom Apartment Anywhere

#22

Post by SketchySeaBeast »

throwaway98434 wrote: post #8

This article like so many others makes a critical mistake in using a median price for minimum earners. A minimum wage earner is not and should not be in the market for a median priced home. A median wage earner would pursue a median priced home. A bottom quartile earner would pursue homes priced in the bottom quartile. Not the median. The title of this article is false. Minimum wage earners can often afford two bedro…

You know this for certain, that the minimum wage earner can, and that there is a large enough supply of housing available for them?

Re: Minimum Wage Still Can’t Pay For A Two-Bedroom Apartment Anywhere

#23

Post by ufo »

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #6
OceanKing wrote: post #2

It seems that minimum wage is not, in fact, supposed to support a person 100%, not especially a family.

I am not sure why people think minimum wage must be enough to afford a two-bedroom home. Ideally minimum wage should comfortably allow one person to support... Themselves, minimally. Which means a studio or one bedroom. People should not aim to remain at minimum wage long, but use it as an entry point for somewhere better.

Supporting only one person means that there is not enough left to support any children. Or a sick relative. Or to otherwise live a fulfilling life.

Not everyone has the opportunity to move on to a better paying job.

Re: Minimum Wage Still Can’t Pay For A Two-Bedroom Apartment Anywhere

#25

Post by SomeOldThrow »

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #6
OceanKing wrote: post #2

It seems that minimum wage is not, in fact, supposed to support a person 100%, not especially a family.

I am not sure why people think minimum wage must be enough to afford a two-bedroom home. Ideally minimum wage should comfortably allow one person to support... Themselves, minimally. Which means a studio or one bedroom. People should not aim to remain at minimum wage long, but use it as an entry point for somewhere better.

> I am not sure why people think minimum wage must be enough to afford a two-bedroom home

Disregarding the home part (cities are being ruined by single family deatched homes)--because if that's not true, then America has failed its citizens.

Also, I hate to be the person to bring this up against my own post, but downvoting because you disagree with me is not good for productive conversation. Dogmatic belief in real-estate-as-investments is not going to solve anything—having this conversation isn’t going to destroy your investment as a homeowner or even landlord.

Re: Minimum Wage Still Can’t Pay For A Two-Bedroom Apartment Anywhere

#26

Post by NotAnEconomist »

overthemoon wrote: post #9
ocdtrekkie wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not sure why people think minimum wage must be enough to afford a two-bedroom home. Ideally minimum wage should comfortably allow one person to support... Themselves, minimally. Which means a studio or one bedroom. People should not aim to remain at minimum wage long, but use it as an entry point for somewhere better.

Why not? Why shouldn't it? Why is this the proper state of things?

Because "minimum wage" is the floor of the economic spectrum -- and basic economics dictates that if some people have more money, they'll drive their desires purchases above the price someone with less can afford. However, you need to pay more for some jobs, because they're harder or require more skill.

Further, empirically, stratified-by-economics societies are more stable than forced-equal-by-government societies.

Re: Minimum Wage Still Can’t Pay For A Two-Bedroom Apartment Anywhere

#29

Post by titusjohnson »

OceanKing wrote: post #2

It seems that minimum wage is not, in fact, supposed to support a person 100%, not especially a family.

I can agree that the minimum wage was never intended to support a family 100%.

However, stating that it was never intended to support a person 100% is just flat out ignorant. The history of minimum wage is easily read up on.

Re: Minimum Wage Still Can’t Pay For A Two-Bedroom Apartment Anywhere

#30

Post by pingpongchef »

overthemoon wrote: post #9
ocdtrekkie wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not sure why people think minimum wage must be enough to afford a two-bedroom home. Ideally minimum wage should comfortably allow one person to support... Themselves, minimally. Which means a studio or one bedroom. People should not aim to remain at minimum wage long, but use it as an entry point for somewhere better.

Why not? Why shouldn't it? Why is this the proper state of things?

Minimum wage is an artificial value which is propped up by law, and can change without respect to an individual's situation. It would be better to aim for the highest wage an individual can get in exchange for labor.
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