LogFAQs > #973017376

Count_Drachma posted...

It's weird to highlight gross rather than net, particularly given how much taxes can throw that number off.

In a functional housing market, the after-tax answer for most people would be 25%. However, the US's housing market is extremely fucked up, especially given the countless restrictions that make it harder to build. Government policy both drives most of the problem and blocks many of the solutions

There used to be a statistic that 46% or so of Americans make within $5 of min wage (and in general $15 or less and hour). If this still holds true, with current rental prices in most areas, even going with gross instead of net you are talking about well over 50% (and taxes can make that much worse, even in the lowest tax brackets.

You can't get out of about the base 10% tax for social security etc, which pretty much everyone pays. If you make over (next year 13.5k), you pay around 10-11% on anything over that amount.

Many places it's pretty hard to find anywhere for less than $1200 a month (unless you rent a room, get lucky etc).

If you work 40 hours a week on average at $15 an hour that is $600 a week gross, or about $2500 a month before taxes etc. So yeah, especially since many of those jobs won't give you enough hours for benefits, quite a few people are spending 50% or more of their gross income on rent. If you factor in taxes that drops the money they get at $2500 a month (30k a year) down to about $2200 a month, meaning rent only needs to be $1100 for you to spend 50% or more of your net income on rent.

I recently started working at a fitness club, everyone there is awesome, also everyone is much younger than me. Many/most of them get paid to sit around and do nothing all day though, which I consider torture (luckily that is not my job). I really feel for the lifeguards though. The gym only opened about 2 months ago, and they sit in a muggy/hot indoor pool room (hot tub in there so it really makes it warm), on a life guard chair, all day, with nobody in the pool. Literally just sit there. I would not do that for $500/hr . Seems like a horrid job to me and it pays basically min wage.

You need to do that at least 30+ hours a week to pay just for a bare bones standard of living. I honestly think most prison inmates probably have a better time then someone in that position. How do you even consider life worth living when you have to go do that day in and day out.

My solution is easy/simple, but no corporations will do it. So the same gym has 2 people at the front desk to check people in, sign up new members etc (probably why they have 2 since only one would have a hard time signing up people while checking others in etc and create a long line).

Thing is they just sit there for long periods when nobody is checking in (which only takes a moment). They chat all the time etc and keep each other company, so that is not torture in my opinion.

The same could work for the lifeguards and the other positions, just hire 2 people for each position so they don't have to just sit there staring vacantly at nothing for 8 hours a day. Had friends family come to the club yesterday and use the pool and the poor girl (eden) had been there all day, with nobody going into the pool till they got there. That can not be good for mental health at all.