The Pitchforks Are Coming… For Us Plutocrats

[JDPriestly]

27. Basically, Hanauer is realizing that prosperity is a matter of balance in the economy.

When the middle class has to struggle to hard to make it and the poor are excluded not just from having what they need but from opportunity even for their children, society breaks down.

Yes. In Los Angeles, a cell phone is pretty affordable, but housing is not.

Median rental for a one bedroom in Los Angeles is $1,470 per month.

Median rental for a two-bedroom in Los Angeles is $1,945 per month.

http://www.zilpy.com/US/Los_Angeles_Metro?_escaped_fragment_=#!

Those are may 2015 numbers.

At the federal minimum wage of $7.25 you would have to work more than 62 hours per week for 4.3 weeks to pay a month's rent of $1,945, and you would have nothing left over for anything else. At $10 per hour and 4.3 weeks per month, I think you could cut your work hours down to maybe 45 per week. So a couple with two children would have to have apply one minimum wage salary plus just to cover rent for the median two-bedroom apartment.

The problem is that people who have a lot of money are completely out of touch with the people who are earning minimum wage or even the salaries of teachers.

If your housing cost, your rent, is one third of your income, you have to have an income of $5835 per month or around $70,020 if you want to spend just one third of your income on housing. Now if you are also repaying student loans? You live with mom and dad or you leave Los Angeles I suppose. I'd like to hear from someone in Los Angeles who pays rent here to know what it is like. If you have a rent-controlled apartment you may be OK because you are paying on an old basis.