I don’t understand US wages. I don’t make anywhere near that much as a plumber. 26 bucks an hour is insanely good salary. That’s more than what 95% of people in Finland earn.
Consider that out of your wages in the US (in general) you need to pay your own medical insurance and any other benefits like disability or long-term care, fund your own retirement, your kids’ future college education, car payment, car costs, house payment/renr, and then there’s taxes on top of all that.
And businesses charge you like you have none of those concerns, they’re designed to extract every possible penny while offering just enough service to keep you from being angry enough to leave to the competitor - if there is one.
Having travelled quite a bit in Europe it’s just different. Despite the economic upheaval since covid, I find prices more reasonable (not cars or fuel, sorry Americans. Car costs are nuts.), travel is easy, rents aren’t as crazy, and of course the State does take more tax but Europeans get so much more back that Americans have to pay for out of pocket. No idea what other fees are like for necessary things like cellular or home data connections. We also don’t tax our businesses for squat, relatively.
That’s why American wages are nuts. We have to pay out of pocket for things that the EU gets out of taxes, plus different lifestyles.
Not really a comprehensive list, but just the gist of what American wages are expected to cover. And a lot of American wages are absolute crap, we just don’t get to see that in this example.
Median wage is about 20€/hr but it’s not in any way uncommon to earn way less than that. My SO makes about 12€/h assembling electrical switchboards and she used to make even less when working in daycare. 20€/h is considered a great wage. I dont think any of my friends earns that.
Oh hey I lived there for years and currently live literally 15 minutes south in a nearby city. Downtown long Beach is pricy as heck cause it’s rich people area by the beach. There’s Def under 2k 1 bedrooms out there. Heck I lived in a 2 bedroom 2 parking, mid, gated apartment complex in long Beach for 1550 a smidge over a year ago. I currently live 15 minutes south in a nearby city in a decent gated community, 2 bedrooms, 1 parking, 2200 monthly and management is fairly solid at fixing stuff quickly.
Just to put stuff into perspective.
Minimum wage should still be over 20 here for everyone, it’s crazy that it isn’t since everything is so expensive.
Yeah but how much does your health care cost in Finland?
In the USA, take out a few hundred Dollars a month, just for the privilege of seeing a doctor. Then it pays nothing for you until you go over some threshold (“deductible”) of something like $2000 to $10000. Also, all drugs cost 10x more than outside of the US.
Yes but we have to pay private companies that recursively gouge us for medical care, housing, etc. A studio apartment in Los Angeles is ~1k/mo and won’t rent to you unless youre making 3k, healthcare, if you have a chronic condition like diabetes, can easily exceed 1k/mo, and food is both trashy and overpriced here.
$26 an hour would have negative effects on minorities and young people. Right now people with little work experience and education can easily still have a job. That would not be the case if the minimum wage was increased, since fewer companies would be able to afford to pay you $26 an hour to be trained
I don’t understand US wages. I don’t make anywhere near that much as a plumber. 26 bucks an hour is insanely good salary. That’s more than what 95% of people in Finland earn.
Consider that out of your wages in the US (in general) you need to pay your own medical insurance and any other benefits like disability or long-term care, fund your own retirement, your kids’ future college education, car payment, car costs, house payment/renr, and then there’s taxes on top of all that.
And businesses charge you like you have none of those concerns, they’re designed to extract every possible penny while offering just enough service to keep you from being angry enough to leave to the competitor - if there is one.
Having travelled quite a bit in Europe it’s just different. Despite the economic upheaval since covid, I find prices more reasonable (not cars or fuel, sorry Americans. Car costs are nuts.), travel is easy, rents aren’t as crazy, and of course the State does take more tax but Europeans get so much more back that Americans have to pay for out of pocket. No idea what other fees are like for necessary things like cellular or home data connections. We also don’t tax our businesses for squat, relatively.
That’s why American wages are nuts. We have to pay out of pocket for things that the EU gets out of taxes, plus different lifestyles.
Not really a comprehensive list, but just the gist of what American wages are expected to cover. And a lot of American wages are absolute crap, we just don’t get to see that in this example.
The average salary in Finland is 25 euro per hour ish
But California is like twice as expensive as Finland
Median wage is about 20€/hr but it’s not in any way uncommon to earn way less than that. My SO makes about 12€/h assembling electrical switchboards and she used to make even less when working in daycare. 20€/h is considered a great wage. I dont think any of my friends earns that.
But is that accounting for the difference in monetary value?1€ doesn’t = $1Well I’ll be a monkeys uncle… 1€ pretty much is = to $1. I must have been thinking about another currency
In my city, 1 bedroom apartments in downtown Long Beach CA (30 minutes south of downtown Los Angeles) start around $3,000/month…
https://www.amli.com/apartments/southern-california/long-beach-apartments/amli-park-broadway/floorplans
Oh hey I lived there for years and currently live literally 15 minutes south in a nearby city. Downtown long Beach is pricy as heck cause it’s rich people area by the beach. There’s Def under 2k 1 bedrooms out there. Heck I lived in a 2 bedroom 2 parking, mid, gated apartment complex in long Beach for 1550 a smidge over a year ago. I currently live 15 minutes south in a nearby city in a decent gated community, 2 bedrooms, 1 parking, 2200 monthly and management is fairly solid at fixing stuff quickly.
Just to put stuff into perspective. Minimum wage should still be over 20 here for everyone, it’s crazy that it isn’t since everything is so expensive.
Do you understand these are two different countries…? What the hell is your point?
I am honestly stunned by the number of people I encounter on the daily who do not understand that different places have different circumstances.
Lol, it differs hugely between different states, let alone countries across the globe from each other.
Yeah but how much does your health care cost in Finland?
In the USA, take out a few hundred Dollars a month, just for the privilege of seeing a doctor. Then it pays nothing for you until you go over some threshold (“deductible”) of something like $2000 to $10000. Also, all drugs cost 10x more than outside of the US.
But, yay America. (Sad kazoo sound.)
Yes but we have to pay private companies that recursively gouge us for medical care, housing, etc. A studio apartment in Los Angeles is ~1k/mo and won’t rent to you unless youre making 3k, healthcare, if you have a chronic condition like diabetes, can easily exceed 1k/mo, and food is both trashy and overpriced here.
$26 an hour would have negative effects on minorities and young people. Right now people with little work experience and education can easily still have a job. That would not be the case if the minimum wage was increased, since fewer companies would be able to afford to pay you $26 an hour to be trained
That’s rightwing propaganda bullshit
Why not $50 an hour minimum wage then? Tell me the downsides
Because the CEO wants to buy another boat, and in 'murica is legally allowed to bribe government representatives.
You wanna DM me your bank information since money has negative effects on people?
They won’t have the money because nobody will hire them at $26 an hour
The fuck training you need to flip burgers?
You seriously think anyone from the street knows how to cook?
Let me remind you that employees that are cooking need to follow health regulations
Yeah and it’s not that hard.
That’s how you get people who don’t wash their hands after going to the bathroom. Yes, you actually need to tell people to do this