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MIT Living Wage Calculator

livingwage.mit.edu

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Re: MIT Living Wage Calculator

#71

Post by etchalon »

bumby wrote: post #44
etchalon wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Living wage" means the ability to live, not scrape by with the bare minimum possible.

I feel like I’ve eat pretty well, and my household food costs are almost half what the calculator shows. Similar for vehicle costs etc. After looking at the method, I think the calculator probably has some bias towards “what society has convinced us we need”. To a certain extent that is a relative and subjective perception problem, and one exacerbated when you live in a society with a lot of consumer debt.

My household food costs are about 20% more than what the calculator shows (and that's a very minimal budget)

Behold, "averages" are not perfect.

Re: MIT Living Wage Calculator

#72

Post by anticorporate »

changoplatanero wrote: post #47
burkaman wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every single nation on Earth has mandatory paid vacation, except for the United States and three tiny islands: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minimum_annual_leave_b... . Edit: And looking into it a little, I'm pretty sure two of those islands actually do have mandatory paid leave after a minimum period of employment.

I don't get what the big deal is about mandatory paid vacation. My view is that your total compensation will be set based on the market value of your labor. Some portion of that compensation is given to you in the form of ordinary wages and some portion in the form of paid vacations. If the government mandated paid vacations would it increase many people's total compensation?

Wages and time off are not frictionlessly interchangeable in the vast majority of jobs. Mandating minimum levels for both helps make sure people have access to both.

Re: MIT Living Wage Calculator

#73

Post by gs17 »

prepend wrote: post #10

I don’t think this is very accurate. In my county the “living wage” is $26.50 for a single adult with no children. Many young people I know live on much less than this. This is more like “optimal wage to live alone in my own apartment with a car.” Which of course, people would like to have but certainly isn’t required to be comfortable. For example, transportation costs are $9000/year and housing is $20000/year. Thes…

> For example, transportation costs are $9000/year and housing is $20000/year. These are both way more than is necessary.

Even on the smaller things. "Internet & Mobile" for where I am jumped out to me. Based on the difference between 1 adult and 2 adults, it's $582 per person-year for mobile (which I guess isn't far off if you get a good new phone every 2 years, it's reasonable enough) and with that subtracted, internet is $100 per month. The methodology page says "County-level data on the cost of internet comes from research on lowest-cost monthly plans from BroadbandNow", but even that page shows much cheaper options available (including the $70 per month Google Fiber I have).

Re: MIT Living Wage Calculator

#74

Post by socalgal2 »

I think I'm mis-understanding.

How is 1 adult + 3 children at $107.95 and 2 adults + 3 children at $63.97

5 people could require more money than 4. You could say in the 2nd case it's $63.97x2 but that doesn't make any sense either because the table also has 1 adult 0 children $29.31 and 2 adults 0 children at $41.81. Clearly they are not doing 2x to that $41.81 as it would be more than the $29.31 at 2x

Was this AI generated?

Re: MIT Living Wage Calculator

#75

Post by imperio59 »

pyrale wrote: post #64
prepend wrote: post #10

I don’t think this is very accurate. In my county the “living wage” is $26.50 for a single adult with no children. Many young people I know live on much less than this. This is more like “optimal wage to live alone in my own apartment with a car.” Which of course, people would like to have but certainly isn’t required to be comfortable. For example, transportation costs are $9000/year and housing is $20000/year. Thes…

> This is more like “optimal wage to live alone in my own apartment with a car.” An appartment and a car aren't exactly luxury goods. Cars are often needed to work, and well, having a roof over your head is usually required for a decent living. Sure, if you fancy living in a cardboard box located next to your work, your living standards are going to be much easier to attain.

This is such a US centric take.

Re: MIT Living Wage Calculator

#76

Post by bumby »

Larrikin wrote: post #60
bumby wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like I’ve eat pretty well, and my household food costs are almost half what the calculator shows. Similar for vehicle costs etc. After looking at the method, I think the calculator probably has some bias towards “what society has convinced us we need”. To a certain extent that is a relative and subjective perception problem, and one exacerbated when you live in a society with a lot of consumer debt.

What does eating pretty well mean to you? Maybe you don't even if you think you do? We don't know without your budget or a receipt from your typical grocery run

Mostly what the typical nutritional guidance has advocated consistently over the last few decades, with maybe slightly higher protein intake.

6-8 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, fairly liberal amounts of dairy and lean protein, lesser amounts of red meat. Grains like breads/rice for additional carbohydrates.

Admittedly, avoiding eating out regularly is the #1 way I keep food costs down, though.

Re: MIT Living Wage Calculator

#77

Post by losvedir »

jrajav wrote: post #45
prepend wrote: post #10

I don’t think this is very accurate. In my county the “living wage” is $26.50 for a single adult with no children. Many young people I know live on much less than this. This is more like “optimal wage to live alone in my own apartment with a car.” Which of course, people would like to have but certainly isn’t required to be comfortable. For example, transportation costs are $9000/year and housing is $20000/year. Thes…

> This is more like “optimal wage to live alone in my own apartment with a car.” Which of course, people would like to have but certainly isn’t required to be comfortable. This is a debatable goalpost. It seems more reasonable to me to assume that meeting basic shelter needs includes having a private room to oneself. The only reason to argue otherwise is to try to drive down the wage further, and is that at all neces…

Having a private room is not the same as living alone (having a private apartment/house).

I think it's reasonable for young people to have flatmates and share an apartment, for example.

Re: MIT Living Wage Calculator

#78

Post by bitcurious »

socalgal2 wrote: post #74

I think I'm mis-understanding. How is 1 adult + 3 children at $107.95 and 2 adults + 3 children at $63.97 5 people could require more money than 4. You could say in the 2nd case it's $63.97x2 but that doesn't make any sense either because the table also has 1 adult 0 children $29.31 and 2 adults 0 children at $41.81. Clearly they are not doing 2x to that $41.81 as it would be more than the $29.31 at 2x Was this AI ge…

Child care.

Re: MIT Living Wage Calculator

#79

Post by NewJazz »

socalgal2 wrote: post #74

I think I'm mis-understanding. How is 1 adult + 3 children at $107.95 and 2 adults + 3 children at $63.97 5 people could require more money than 4. You could say in the 2nd case it's $63.97x2 but that doesn't make any sense either because the table also has 1 adult 0 children $29.31 and 2 adults 0 children at $41.81. Clearly they are not doing 2x to that $41.81 as it would be more than the $29.31 at 2x Was this AI ge…

1. This is not ai generated.

2. Did you look in the costs breakdown? You'll probs find your answers there.

3. I am guessing having a spare adult to take care of 3 children instead of paying for childcare is probably the difference.

Re: MIT Living Wage Calculator

#80

Post by bumby »

etchalon wrote: post #71
bumby wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like I’ve eat pretty well, and my household food costs are almost half what the calculator shows. Similar for vehicle costs etc. After looking at the method, I think the calculator probably has some bias towards “what society has convinced us we need”. To a certain extent that is a relative and subjective perception problem, and one exacerbated when you live in a society with a lot of consumer debt.

My household food costs are about 20% more than what the calculator shows (and that's a very minimal budget) Behold, "averages" are not perfect.

Are you following the USDA thrifty food plan like the methodology assumes?
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