My SSDI and VA pension combined works out to about $7.78 an hour

[Kaleva]

A little higher then the current federal minimum wage.

I get by on this and I don't have the expenses someone working would have like a car for transportation and such. But the biggest reason I get by is that I'm fortunate to live in a low cost of living area. Looking at a low income family living where I do, on top of the already low cost of living, the family is eligible for many programs that can provide many thousands of dollars in tax free benefits such as WIC, Snap, home heating credit, Earned Income Credits, property tax reimbursement, subsidized cell phone service (the so-called Obama phone),subsidized internet, subsidized housing, subsidized day care, subsidized school meals and others.

These same programs are very likely available for low income families living in high cost areas but because of the greater expense of living where they do, they don't give the same amount of bang for the buck. It is these folks who should be prioritized for a raise in minimum wage.

An that's another thing to keep in mind when talking about raising the minimum wage. You don't want to raise it to the point that the worker loses benefits and potentially ends up suffering a net loss.

[leftstreet]

1. How do you think those programs are funded?

Do you imagine billionaires are doing it?

All working class people carry the weight of ruling class assholes unwilling to share the profits

[Luciferous]

14. Exactly, we're all subsidizing the assistance that people making minimum wage need to survive!

[leftieNanner]

2. Good Point

$15 an hour in San Francisco or New York City is a whole lot different from $15 an hour in Omaha or Bismarck.

[Autumn]

3. These is no way in hell anyone earning $7.78 and hour can afford to buy a home or pay rent.

The first house my husband and I bought was a 3 bedroom 2 bath. I looked it up on Zillow and it sold 3 years ago for 267,000. We paid $17,000 for it in the 70s and sold it for $21,000. Husband had a damn good Union job paying $11 and hour and I got to be stay at home Mom. We are retired and I paid I paid $21,000 for a car last month.
Try getting approved to now to buy a house now when you are earning little enough that you qualify for WIC, and food stamps. Young people today can not live and get a life on $7.78 an hour anywhere. I don't care how cheap the area is.

[Kaleva]

6. I own two homes and have no trouble paying the taxes, utilities, insurance and maintenance.

Here is my budget:

Income

$1205 SSDI
+$142.29 VA pension
---------
$1347.29 Total

Monthly Expenses

$39.98 Home Phone, cell phone & internet
$100 LP Gas for heating and cooking primary home
$20 Natural Gas for heating and cooking second home
$145 Electricity primary home
$20 Electricity second home
$125 Property taxes and homeowners insurance primary home
$88 Property taxes and homeowners insurance second home
$15 Garbage pickup
$49 Water & sewer primary home
$43 Water & sewer second home
$11.99 Hulu
$9.50 Amazon Prime
$2 Wiki
$5 DU
$200 Food, personal hygiene
$12 Dog food
$10 My medication VA CoPay
$100 Miscellaneous, clothing
-----
$995.47 total expenses

$1347.29
-$995.47
------
$351.82 available for discretionary spending

Plus I babysit for $4 an hour for extra cash.

[llmart]

8. I don't see any expenses for health insurance and prescription drug insurance.

For most people that's a huge chunk of their budget. Also, where are the car expenses? Gasoline/car insurance/maintenance, etc. The next big chunk of most people's budgets.

[Kaleva]

10. There is Medicaid for low income

Mine is covered by the VA and being disabled, I also have Medicare.

[LiberalArkie]

13. My medicare comes to around $500 a month not including the copays and stuff.

I pay $550 for rent also out of my $1400 a month Social Security.. Food, internet and gasoline comes out of what is left.

I think that comes to around $8.75 per hour if I was working. At 73, I am hoping to die soon so that the hastle of trying to survive,

[llmart]

20. I doubt someone could get Medicaid if they owned two houses.

What about transportation? If someone is still working (aka younger people with families or even without families) they need transportation to get to their job(s).

[Kaleva]

22. I mentioned transportation in the OP.

First sentence in the 2nd paragraph.

Besides, the minimum wage in MI is $9.65 an hour.

[llmart]

23. Yes, I see that you did mention that you don't drive.

So your situation is not what the majority of working people have. People living in the tri-county area of Detroit do so because that's where the jobs are. Thus the cost of everything is higher and they need cars because of the lack of a decent public transportation system.

It sounds like you are a bit insensitive to what a lot of people are going through, especially younger people who are just starting out. In general most people want to work and be productive members of society. Raising the federal minimum wage is not going to suddenly cause most people to say, "This is great. Now I don't have to go to work any longer. I can just apply for Medicaid, and live in Section 8 housing (have you seen where some of that housing is located and what it looks like?) and sit around watching my subsidized cable TV all day long."

[Luciferous]

11. You also don't have a mortgage or rent in your monthly budget. Most people making minimum

wage are going to have to pay for housing.

[Kaleva]

12. Low income family's can qualify for subsidized rent

My in-laws used to own an apartment complex and almost all their renters were subsidized by the state.

[Luciferous]

17. And who do you think is paying for all of this subsidizing? Even living in a low cost area they

would require extensive assistance from the government. Wouldn't it be better to raise wages and not have to subsidize everything?

[Kaleva]

35. Sure but this is also important

There are income cutoffs for these benefits. The value of which can be many thousands in a year. If you raise the wages so that a low income worker loses these benefits, it's important that wages are raised high enough to at least make it a wash and hopefully a net gain.

[joshcryer]

24. Yep, these comments crack, me, the, freak, up.

Jesus. It explains so much. The people, even on the left, who got theirs, are just so far from the norm and from reality that it destroys us as a country. We are dying out here. Rents are insane. Income disparity is insane. It explains a lot.

My family, in total, has paid over a million dollars in rent over the past 50 years. It is mind fucking boggling that this family still is poor and is still paying rent.

[Yavin4]

27. You've hit upon a major issue in our politics

We currently have 4 different generations who comprise our politics: Boomers, Gen-Xers, Millenials, and Gen-Zers. These generations all have very different lived experiences, and those experiences inform their politics more than anything else.

Boomers came up during a time of massive abundance, availability of good paying jobs, and very low cost of living. You could work your way through college with a part time job and graduate with no debt. That was a very real thing.

In general, this makes Boomers skeptical of government assistance because taking direct payments from the government was highly suspect.

[joshcryer]

28. It's worse than that.

Then you got the people who "got theirs" on the left, the Susan Sarandans of the world, who are so out of touch with the *political reality* that the poorest face, and we're stuck in a time self perpetuating loop that the poor are screwed, there's no out for them. No one is coming to help.

[Autumn]

40. I'm one of those on the Left who "got mine". Thanks to union and government jobs.

Homes that are paid for and a comfortable retirement and healthcare. I'm also very angry that the young people and workers don't get paid a living wage and I'm offended when people suggest the poor go ask for subsidies because the company they works for will not pay a living wage because it cuts into their profits. That's the *political reality* that the poorest face, so you blaming the left is bullshit. The Left is on this subject every damn day.

The Federal minimum wage was last raised in 2009, long before Susan Sarandan offended you.

In fact, Joe Biden was VP then. Let's hope Biden's here to help or the Republican cycle starts again in 2022.

[Autumn]

16. You have no mortgage or rent to pay, children to feed or clothe, no health insurance to pay for,

and you can survive on your socialist benefits. We are in a similar position. Retired, with pensions, no house payment, in fact I get extra because both are paid for and that takes care of insurance and taxes.
That is because we were able to buy our homes years ago, and I bet neither of us had to pay $275 thousand for a house on $11 or $15 an hour. Young people starting families today can not afford to pay rent on one job, much less buy a house.

[Kaleva]

21. The main house I live in cost me $36k in 2010

The small house I bought in 2000 cost me 24k.

Looking at my property taxes, the state equalized value of my primary home is $35,400.

The state equalized value of my second home is $12,900.

One would double those figures to find out what the state appraises the properties at.

This info is from the 2020 winter tax bills.

And being low income, I get about 40% back from the state for what I pay on property tax for my primary home.

The family farm where I grew up was recently appraised at $180k and that's a two story home with 4 bedrooms, a two car garage, a barn and other buildings on 110 acres.

$275,000 up here will buy you a very nice home on the shore of Lake Superior.

[Autumn]

26. I see why you are fine with low wages. You're in the sweet spot where you get plenty of government

assistance and no big expenses because you got your home when and where housing was much more affordable.

[Kaleva]

29. Where did I say I was fine with low wages?

This is what I said in the OP:

"These same programs are very likely available for low income families living in high cost areas but because of the greater expense of living where they do, they don't give the same amount of bang for the buck. It is these folks who should be prioritized for a raise in minimum wage."

[Autumn]

31. You are okay with people having to wait to get a living wage. Because you qualify for help

you think everyone does. But that's not true. Many fall though the cracks for one reason or another, through no fault of their own. In my area a young person would have to pay $1200 to $1400 a month for a one bedroom apartment, and not a nice one at that. The only mass transit is taking a bus. You can't means test for a federal minimum wage.

Not to mention that the tax dollars should not subsidize businesses that won't pay a living wage for their employees living in high cost areas. As for subsidized housing I just looked it up. There is a waiting list in my city and in another town close by there is a 3 year waiting list because there is such a short supply of landlords who will take section 8. 3 years.

Everybody should be prioritized for a raise in minimum wage. Everybody.

[Kaleva]

34. A person making $15 an hour can't afford a 1 bedroom apt for $1200-$1400 a month

[Autumn]

37. That's my point. They can't afford a one bedroom apartment when they have other expenses.

Car payments, car insurance, health insurance, phone, utilities, food, clothing, student loans, other needs. Need glasses? That's $500 right there, dental work $200 . Those are expenses that don't go away.

[Kaleva]

38. What is your point then?

That even a $15 an hour minimum wage is of little use?

Or are you agreeing with what I said in the OP

"These same programs are very likely available for low income families living in high cost areas but because of the greater expense of living where they do, they don't give the same amount of bang for the buck. It is these folks who should be prioritized for a raise in minimum wage."

That priority ought to be given to those in high cost of living areas?

[Autumn]

39. A person making $15 an hour can't afford a 1 bedroom apt for $1200-$1400 a month

A family can't afford to live on $15 dollars an hour and you can not fucking means test a federal minimum wage like you do welfare. No matter what area of the country they live in. A wage paid is not welfare, it is not subsidies. A person works for that wage, it is not welfare benefits. And a lot of people who work for minimum wage or less rarely gets 40 hours a week. They should not depend on your programs that you get, paid for by taxpayers that may be available for low income families living in high cost areas. The company they work for should meet their needs.

That's how many of us older people get by now. Because the companies we worked for were often Union jobs that paid a living wage and offered things like a pension. That's how we got ours.

That is my point. And again, a federal minimum wage can not be means tested. It is not welfare.

Any business that can't pay a living wage deserves to be and should be shut down.

[marie999]

4. You get less than $1,400 a month?

[Kaleva]

7. Yes. And there are many who get less then that.

A neighbor gets $900 a month for SS.

[Victor_c3]

18. Geeze! I thought disabled vets did better than that

I know somebody who gets more than $7,400 a month from SSDI, VA disability, and a pension from the job they held for the Federal Government.

- SSDI is good for $2,200 and another $1,100 for dependents
- VA disability for 100% P&T is roughly $3,500 with dependents
- Federal Employee Disability gets $620 plus they get to keep their employee healthcare for their family (in addition to the CHAMP-VA coverage)

I never realized how good they had it compared to other vets out there

[Elessar Zappa]

5. Do you have a mortgage or rent?

Because that’s where a lot of the cost is.

[Kaleva]

9. No. I own both homes free and clear.

But low income family's can get subsidized rent.

[Elessar Zappa]

15. Section 8 is very tough to get.

Thousands if not millions fall through the cracks.

[Luciferous]

19. Yep, not to mention the fact that a lot of landlords won't take tenants with section 8.

[Kaleva]

30. A number of low income families where I live own their homes.

I know this because when I was working, I'd get called by the local community action agency to do service calls for low income people and some jobs entailed replacing the heating system or water heater. The home owner didn't get charged as I sent the bill to the community action agency.

A woman who lives just two houses down from my second home recently got new siding and a new roof paid for by the same agency. Other low income people have gotten new appliances such as a refrigerator.

[obamanut2012]

32. No, they can't

And, why should I pay to subsidize the low wages they are paid, when who they work for can afford to pay them a living wage and benefits?!

I'm sorry, but your OP and your comments in this thread are not based on actual real-world realities, and what most of us have to struggle with every day.

Good lord!

[Kaleva]

36. What does your budget look like if I may ask?

Or do you make enough that it really doesn't matter where the money gets spent.

[Tommymac]

33. Sorry, OP is well intentioned but comes across as very insensitive.

No car expenses, no housing expenses - that is simply not indicative of the situation of the majority of Americans in need.

And plus, it assumes Jane and Joe Sixpack LIKE paying taxes to support social programs and provide defacto benefits so obscenely rich Corporations don't have to.

[Thtwudbeme]

41. Bullshit

Seriously- I pay the bills for my husband and I.

We have a small one bedroom place in the Appalachian mountains- one of the most poverty stricken places in the US. Trust me; it's not a luxury place by any means. We are getting ready to replace the microwave that was bought in 1997 (yay for lasting that long).

Our power bill for February- which was brutally cold- was $140. In the summer- and we have NO AC- it's about $50.

We just lost our 20 pound mutt after 18 years-- she could eat a crapload more than $12 dollars of dog food- even if we bought her garbage from the Dollar Tree.

Your "budget" has a bunch of holes in it. What area of the country are you in?