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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

#81

Post by suby »

imgabe wrote: post #53
tcfunk wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's all well and good if 16 year olds are the only ones making minimum wage. And if their parents haven't kicked them out of the house already because they got pregnant too early. Or have a sexual orientation that their parents don't agree with. Or..

Do we need to handle those edge cases by mandating what employers have to pay ALL employees? Maybe there is a better way to help people in needy situations without distorting the labor market for everyone.

16 year olds working min wage is the edge case. The average retail worker for instance is 37.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https:/...

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

#82

Post by chrisseaton »

throwaway98434 wrote: post #69
chrisseaton wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that what the article is saying? Their reference to 'median' is saying that's what other people are reporting and they want to look at something else. They don't seem to qualify it - they simply say 'there is not one U.S. state, metropolitan area, or county in which a minimum wage worker who clocks 40 hours a week can afford a two-bedroom apartment'. They don't use the term 'median' anywhere apart from talking abo…

Yes, it's what they're saying. They quote $377/mo as the maximum affordable rent for a minimum wage earner. There are many counties across America where a low-end two bedroom can be found for substantially less than that $377. These claims only make sense if they refer to median prices. For example: https://joplin.craigslist.org/apa/d/joplin-2br-1bath-apartme... https://seks.craigslist.org/apa/d/pittsburg-1913-elm-co…

But what makes you think they're using the median instead?

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

#83

Post by SomeOldThrow »

TylerE wrote: post #58
SomeOldThrow wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...and that's the economy working , where you can be run out of the city because a rich person wants your house?

Yes? Supply and demand is basically the fundamental law of economics.

No, it’s not. It’s the foundation of market economies, which are not the only way to distribute goods and services. There are many alternatives to this.

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

#84

Post by leetcrew »

atonse wrote: post #41
sdinsn wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So perhaps they should split a 2/3 bedroom with roommates? If someone makes the absolute legal minimum, why does every expect them to live alone?

Or maybe we can actually pay people a wage allowing them to lead some semblance of a decent life? Why does it fall on them, instead of the actual businesses paying them?

I share a house with three other people and I don't have any kids. I quite enjoy my life right now and if I had thinner skin I might take offense from your implication.

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

#85

Post by zuminator »

I'm all for people earning a fair wage but I find reports like this a bit disingenuous. A minimum wage person can't afford a median apartment? Ok but you would expect that minimum wage workers would seek out bargain low-end units, and leave the median apartments to median income families.

So while acknowledging that in many cities including my own there is an overall affordability issue, I have a problem with being presented with misleading statistics, even if for noble reasons. About 5 percent of workers make minimum wage or less. A straightforward and honest question would be to ask if they can they afford available apartments in the bottom 5-10% range of rents? Maybe they can't, and that would indeed be a problem. But in terms of this report, we have no way of knowing.

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

#86

Post by lucaspm98 »

kemitche wrote: post #77
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…

Neither the title nor the article use the word "median" - they appear to be using the concept of "Fair Market Rents" (FMR), which is a 40th percentile[1] of non-sub-standard units. The article calls out that even the _average_ wage earner can't afford an FMR unit in many states: > For a two-bedroom rental, the Housing Wage is $22.96—a figure that’s higher than average renters’ wages everywhere, and at least $5.00 hig…

The article mentioned the 30th percentile, which is an unrealistic percentage of income to expect minimum wage earners to spend for housing by themselves without a roommate or family situation.

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

#87

Post by leereeves »

SomeOldThrow wrote: post #83
TylerE wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes? Supply and demand is basically the fundamental law of economics.

No, it’s not. It’s the foundation of market economies, which are not the only way to distribute goods and services. There are many alternatives to this.

Like Venezuela, Cuba, and the Soviet Union? Those alternatives aren't better.

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

#88

Post by leetcrew »

titusjohnson wrote: post #49
sdinsn wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So perhaps they should split a 2/3 bedroom with roommates? If someone makes the absolute legal minimum, why does every expect them to live alone?

Why do you think a company should be allowed to not pay a livable wage?

because people will always consider a "living wage" to be 1.5-3x whatever the current minimum is.

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

#89

Post by SomeOldThrow »

leereeves wrote: post #60
SomeOldThrow wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...and that's the economy working , where you can be run out of the city because a rich person wants your house?

No, that's NIMBYist government regulation preventing the economy from working by building high density housing in a city that needs it.

YIMBY pro-developer stances like Weiner's SB-50 aren’t going to help working class families and individuals either. I am very pro-development but we need high allocations of affordable and social housing to make the development work for the existing community.

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

#90

Post by gok »

The actual report: https://reports.nlihc.org/sites/default/files/oor/OOR_2019.p...

Some notes:

- Those earning minimum wage are unlikely to be in the median rental market

- The report doesn't include the impact of any tax credits like child credits, EITC, LIHTC

- They don't adjust minimum wage by local jurisdictions. For example, minimum wage in Chicago is $13/hour but they only list the Illinois minimum wage ($8.25/hour). This is particular distorting given that cities (with higher minimum wages) are home to most renters

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