• DirkMcCallahan@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    44
    ·
    7 months ago

    And just for context, if you work 40 hours a week for $15 (well above minimum wage), your annual pre-tax income is $31,200.

    • ingeniosissimo@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      15
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      7 months ago

      The workers of the US really need unionize. Here in Scandinavia the average pre-tax income is closer to $84,000 with a 36-hour work week. We do however have a higher tax-rate, so that ends up at around $45,000 after taxes. Cost of living is also generally higher that the US. Of course that higher tax gives us free health care and education.

      • nickwitha_k (he/him)@lemmy.sdf.org
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        7 months ago

        The extra fun thing is that Americans don’t have that much lower of a tax burden. Only the wealthiest and those with investment-based income really pay appreciably lower taxes than in countries such as yours. However, the populace in the US gets far, far lower return on investment for their taxes (which has been continuously being reduced since Regan).

      • StaySquared@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        7 months ago

        That’s definitely not a solution. You just made the argument against it. The U.S. government is the primary reason why our economy is effed.

        • Plague_Doctor@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          7 months ago

          Nah, it’s because we don’t tax the wealthy and corporations as the average individual, and let the “market” dictate the price of inelastic sectors ie Healthcare, Food, and Housing.

          • iopq@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            7 months ago

            Housing is elastic. I lived with my dad until I was like 30 because of housing prices.