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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums9 Of The Top 10 Occupations In America Pay An Average Wage Of Less Than $35,000 A Year
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)taxes, housing, insurance, food, transportation and all, it's down to bare survival IMO.
I still often think many Americans just don't get how F'ed they are in the big picture. There is so much delusional wishful thinking and denial in the US, and then that is layered with disinformation and propaganda. Most Americans really have no voice.
snappyturtle
(14,656 posts)hfojvt
(37,573 posts)at least it can be
but in 2002, 50% of married households had more than $100,000 in net worth. In 2011, 56.6% of married households had more than that. Even 31% of households headed by single women had more than $100,000 in net worth.
Not everybody is just scraping by.
llmart
(15,555 posts)so if that's a part of the $100K then that really isn't saying much for a married couple. If they can't make the mortgage payments at some point and the house is underwater, there goes part of their net worth.
hfojvt
(37,573 posts)not if they have positive net worth. But not to worry 26.7% of married households have more than $250,000 in net worth and 12.4% have more than $500,000 in net worth.
Progressive dog
(6,918 posts)RKP5637
(67,112 posts)yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)Seriously how is this possible. The average wage in America is 43,000 a year. Can that still make is 9 out of 10 jobs below 35K?
MadrasT
(7,237 posts)Ten annual salaries
10000
12000
12000
13000
18000
22000
23000
24000
33000
263000
Nine out of 10 are less than $35,000.
Average is $43,000.
Heck, you could have
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
430000
And same thing. Nine people have income less than $35,000, one person makes $430,000. Average is still $43,000.
Progressive dog
(6,918 posts)The average wage for all occupations according to the same report is $46,440.
Yo_Mama
(8,303 posts)Over half of all workers earned less than 30K. 73% of all workers earned less than 50K. The article is talking about the largest job categories, not all earners.
Wage inequality has been growing over the years. Check out this table and look at the change in the median/average ratio over the 20 years since 1992:
http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/central.html
In 1992, the median (half earned below and half over) was almost 71% of average. By 2012 that ratio had fallen to under 65%.
Poor earnings are the primary cause of most of our economic ills.
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)What we have become.
So very, very sad.
And it doesn't look like it's going to get better anytime soon.
Junkdrawer
(27,993 posts)It's now the long-term
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)What we've become.
So very, very sad.
And it doesn't look like it's going to get better anytime soon.
Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)RainDog
(28,784 posts)snappyturtle
(14,656 posts)Brigid
(17,621 posts)Somebody says they read that you can "make" $60,000 on welfare if you live in the right state.
Generic Brad
(14,275 posts)It is the state of Delusion!
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)With many inaccurate assumptions and downright lies built into the formula.
ReRe
(10,597 posts)...damnit! If there IS such a state, then they best keep it a secret, because if they don't, I envision grapes-of-wrath convoys headed their way as soon as the word gets out.
HughBeaumont
(24,461 posts)Thus the batshit anti-"LIBRUL" comments from the "not being governed is great" people.
Initech
(100,104 posts)fizzgig
(24,146 posts)which is manageable when my husband is making about the same, but he's been unemployed for about two of the last four months and his unemployment was denied. we're barely living hand to mouth right now.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)is we have zero debt, except for a low monthly mortgage.
and we don't pay property taxes, because of this red state's homestead act.
but the basic budget we planned for 8 years ago is blown, because food costs have almost doubled.
We don't have any expense habits like cigs, spend very little on clothes and stuff.
However, I can see the day we will not be able to replace our 2 cats and dog, that budget has also increased.
reformist2
(9,841 posts)"Wealth redistribution" never sounded better!
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)is registered nurse. If I were a lot younger I'd be looking at the medical field for training and work.
JHB
(37,162 posts)...though I think it's related to the problem in the OP.
Every "tax reform" for the last 50 years has pushed taxation onto working people and eased effective taxation on corporations and the very wealthy. The share of tax revenues from corporate taxes has dropped despite the nominally-high corporate tax rate -- thanks to myriad ways of lawfully avoiding them, especially for big multinationals.
As for personal income taxes, it was a big fight a few years ago to add one more bracket on income over $440,000, so that out of 7 brackets two kick in at taxable income levels above $250,000 and none at levels above a half million. Adjusting for inflation, the comparable numbers in 1955 were 24 brackets, 16 of which (two-thirds) affected income at levels above $250,000, and 11 of those were for levels over a half million.
All progressivity in the tax code has been pushed downward.On very high incomes it was eliminated under Reagan and has never been restored. And that's just talking about the distribution (which IMO is the more important factor), not even getting into what the rates actually were (much, much higher on high incomes). The steep progressivity affected financial calculations about whether it was worth it to squeeze every last penny for personal gain or better to reinvest in the company -- which includes employee pay.
That's changed: once you're up in the economic stratosphere, the extra gravy comes at a flat rate. It doesn't get more expensive for every extra ladleful. So why leave any for the people who make it?
pffshht
(79 posts)paid for by taking on massive amounts of student loan debt?
And this seems to go hand in hand with the statistic that there are 3 job seekers for every available job but 7 job seekers for every available job that makes over $15/hr.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)Two people working full time making $20,000 (more or less) a year.
CFLDem
(2,083 posts)I can't imagine how people make it on that. Especially with kids.
hfojvt
(37,573 posts)not that $35,000 a year is really poor.
Nice that they included this bullsh*t
"And once you consider how we are being taxed into oblivion, things become even more frightening."
Oh those darn old taxes, Support the Ryan budget dammit.
penultimate
(1,110 posts)A single person living in many parts of Texas or similar cost of living locations, would do fine. But someone living a place lika Los Angeles or New York City with a kid or two would really be struggling and would probably fit in the category of poor. I just went on craigslist to look at the job postings in NYC, and the ones that list salary/wages do not seem to adjust for this high cost of living. Making $35,000 $40,000/yr for an entry-level job that usually requires some form of education might work in a lot of place, but that's kind ridiculous in a place like NYC... Not to mention the fact that $40k/yr was considered the going entry-level wage for skilled jobs back in the early 2000's (at least that was my impression) Amazing how it has either dropped down or at least stayed the same despite inflation.
hfojvt
(37,573 posts)In 2000, I was making $8.25 an hour as a temp. The starting wage in that factory was $10 an hour, plus overtime.
In late 2001, I got an entry level job making $11.30 an hour (or $23,500 a year). Then I promptly got fired for being unable to sell.
Applied for a job at the place next door to it, which was advertising for help and said they had "competitive wages". Called them up later to ask why they hadn't called me. Was told that I had put on my application that I wanted $10 an hour and they only paid $8.50.
Well they certainly were not competing with the place next door. I felt kinda lucky when I got a job that paid $10.69 an hour in August 2002. Of course, that would be $13.95 in today's dollars, and we just advertised for a similar job paying only $11.80.
HughBeaumont
(24,461 posts)Tyler claims to be a "believer in a sweeping conspiracy that casts the alumni of Goldman Sachs as a powerful cabal at the helm of U.S. policy, with the Treasury and the Federal Reserve colluding to preserve the status quo." While this is not an entirely unreasonable statement of the problem, his solution actually mirrors the anatagonist in Fight Club in that Tyler wants, per Austrian school ideas, to lead a catastrophic market crash in order to destroy banking institutions and bring back "real" free market capitalism.[2]
The site posts nearly indecipherable analyses of multiple seemingly unrelated subjects to point towards a consistent theme of economic collapse any day now, and has accurately predicted 200 of the last 2 recessions. Tyler seems to repeat The Economic Collapse Blog's idea of posting blog articles many times a day and encouraging people to post it as far and wide as humanly possible. Tyler moves away from the format of long lists to write insanely dense volumes[3] filled with (often contradicting) jargon that makes one wonder if the writers even know what the words actually mean.[4] The site first appeared in early 2009, meaning that (given Tyler's habit of taking a shit on each and every positive data point), anyone listening to him from the beginning missed the entire 2009-2013 rally in the equities market.
I don't know if he's changed since 2010, but chances are he's one of those "abolish the IRS" people.
sendero
(28,552 posts).... has some good info occasionally, but it is largely manned by idiotic Libertarians that rail against a system that they largely created themselves via their beloved "deregulation".
But don't tell them that, the cognitive dissonance is very strong and they will break fingernails trying to nuance themselves out of it
gerogie2
(450 posts)Until the American workers realize there is power in joining together and bargaining they will be at the mercy of the 1% and their enforcers.
bvar22
(39,909 posts)So where is the disconnect?
CHARTS: The Amazing Wealth Surge For The Top 0.1 Percent
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/the-amazing-wealth-surge-for-the-top-0-1-percent
Korean Free Trade Deal devastating for US Workers
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-cohen/koreaus-free-trade-agreem_b_4965492.html
Study: "Trade" Deal Would Mean a Pay Cut for 90% of U.S. Workers
http://citizen.typepad.com/eyesontrade/2013/09/the-verdict-is-in-the-trans-pacific-partnership-tpp-a-sweeping-free-trade-deal-under-negotiation-with-11-pacific-rim-coun.html
Retirement: A third have less than $1,000 put away
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2014/03/18/retirement-confidence-survey-savings/6432241/
65 percent of working families are living from paycheck to paycheck.
http://billmoyers.com/2014/01/10/why-conservatives-old-divide-and-conquer-strategy-%E2%80%94-setting-working-class-against-the-poor-%E2%80%94-is-backfiring/
"Obama Admins TPP Trade Officials Received Hefty Bonuses From Big Banks"
http://billmoyers.com/2014/02/20/obama-admin%E2%80%99s-tpp-trade-officials-received-hefty-bonuses-from-big-banks/
95 percent of the economys gains have gone to the top 1 percent
http://billmoyers.com/2014/01/10/why-conservatives-old-divide-and-conquer-strategy-%E2%80%94-setting-working-class-against-the-poor-%E2%80%94-is-backfiring/
Billionaire wealth doubles since financial crisis
http://www.upi.com/blog/2013/11/12/Billionaire-wealth-doubles-since-financial-crisis/5011384268135/?spt=hts&or=12
US Wealthy Have Biggest Piece of Pie Ever Recorded
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/09/11-6
Rates of unemployment for families earning less than $20,000 - have topped 21 percent
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_JOBS_GAP_RICH_AND_POOR?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-09-16-08-11-23
Obama appoints industry insider to head the FCC
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024521140
Obama selects former Monsanto lobbyist to be his TPP chief agriculture negotiator
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023662210
The Totally Unfair And Bitterly Uneven 'Recovery,' In 12 Charts HuffPo
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023662029
Wall Street will get away with massive wave of criminality of 2008 - Statute of Limitations
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022516719
Income gap widest ever: 95 Percent of Recovery Income Gains Have Gone to the Top 1 Percent
http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/09/10/one_percent_recovery_95_percent_of_gains_have_gone_to_the_top_one_percent.html
Older Workers:.Set Back by Recession, and Shut Out of Rebound
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/27/booming/for-laid-off-older-workers-age-bias-is-pervasive.html?smid=tw-share&_r=3&
THIS ^ does NOT happen by accident.
It is the result of carefully planned and implemented Economic Policy.
It requires careful preparation, marketing, buying the right politicians, message control, courts packed with Conservative Corporate Rights Judges, and the marginalization and violent suppression of any opposition.
Boom Sound 416
(4,185 posts)dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)but I don't think they have gone down in the last 10 years or so.
i DO know that just before I retired, I was making 35 K , single, and taxes and deducts were taking 38% of my paycheck.
Cal. has income tax, so state plus federal taxes, plus workman's comp taxes, plus health insurance, plus any retirement deductions, plus Soc. Sec. and Medicare taxes.
It was a lot.
madville
(7,412 posts)I was taking home about $2500 a month and didn't pay hardly any federal income tax, would actually get more than I had withheld back due to EIC (Earned Income Credit).
I live pretty cheap though, all my bills every month are $1200 (mortgage, utilities, insurances, transportation, gas, phone, etc). So that would leave me $1300 a month for food, clothes, entertainment, savings, etc. I make more now but I still live the same way I did back then. I learned to live pretty frugal as an E-2 in the military taking home $750 a month and it has stuck with me all these years.
I do live in a rural area though, decent housing can be had for $50,000-$100,000. My house was $90,000 on one acre of land and the payment is $560 a month now with taxes and insurance included. I wouldn't be able to live as good in the nearest large city where a comparable house would be $150,000+ and the property taxes would be double or triple.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)We chose moving back here for that reason.
Down here, entry level police position is 8.50 an hour.
10-12 an hour is considered good pay.
Interestingly, you can buy a house cheaper than renting one.
I have done that twice, including present home.
Rental houses are very hard to find, apts a bit less so.