But, does it pay the rent

[HONDO74]

Minimum wage

Even with some states hiking pay for those earning the least, there is still nowhere in the country where a person working a full-time minimum wage job can afford to rent a decent two-bedroom apartment, according to an annual report released Wednesday by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

Even the $15 hourly wage touted by labor activists would not be enough to make housing affordable in the overwhelming majority of states, the coalition found. Nationally, someone would need to make $17.90 an hour to rent a modest one-bedroom or $22.10 an hour to cover a two-bedroom place.

Renters across the country earn an average hourly rate of $16.88, the report estimated, a finding that illustrates how even folks earning more than the minimum wage scramble to pay for housing.

The findings are based on the standard budgeting concept of not spending more than 30 percent of one's income on housing.

The nation's costliest housing is in Hawaii, where one would need to earn $36.13, or roughly $75,000 a year, to be able to rent a modest two-bedroom. The state's minimum wage increased to $10.10 an hour this year.

The cheapest housing in the U.S. can be found in Arkansas, where the minimum wage is $8.50 an hour. Yet one would have to make $13.84 an hour, or roughly $29,000 a year, to afford a two-bedroom apartment.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Figure that a 1 bedroom apartment round here is no less than $1500 a month and that's 30-45 min away from here I am westward and so cheaper............ Lots of luck surviving on minimum wage!

What happens here is that 3-5 guys get together on a single house and divvy up the costs to survive.

[HONDO74]

I remember a while back when Los Angeles raised the minimum to $15 dollars. The first thing that happened was the landlords raised the rent. The situation seems to be getting worse. Don't know where it is going to end. Looks like a lot of young people are going to be stuck living with mom and dad especially those coming out of collage with heavy debt.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I remember a while back when Los Angeles raised the minimum to $15 dollars. The first thing that happened was the landlords raised the rent. The situation seems to be getting worse. Don't know where it is going to end. Looks like a lot of young people are going to be stuck living with mom and dad especially those coming out of collage with heavy debt.

Well, they can always blame illegal immigrants for all their problems.................

[Mitch]

You don't get any rental units around my area for less than $650 a month, and that may be for a small very old house, with water leaking through the walls in the basement, mildew everywhere, poor heating and no cooling. Hell, some of them should be condemned and torn down; not rented. Yet, Pa's minimum wage is the national standard.

But let's think about the minimum wage. These are normally menial jobs that give folks an entry level position. Many are part time, so kids (those willing and able to work), can get a bit experience, and it provides them a way to maybe buy their own computer or school clothes and supplies, etc. Many (most) are still living at home, 'cause at $7.25 an hour you'd be livin' under a bridge somewhere. For the adults taking those entry level jobs, how many are in it just because they've worked all their lives, are retired and on social security, and just want something to do for fear that they'll die without working.

Every time the government dictates an increase in the minimum wage, prices go up and jobs go down. Who the hell is the government to dictate to a business what the wage should be. If an employer has a meager but acceptable bottom line, that get shot to hell with a mandatory wage increase. So, what does he or she do? If they're employing 15 people, they may find it much cheaper to get by with 11 employees and pay a little overtime, so 4 employees go out the door. The government should never dictate, nor can it ever understand the price of labor.
And it's true that when the minimum wage goes up, prices go up with it. Just look at social security. You get an $18 a month increase, but your medicare contribution goes up $23.

[robert.]

Anyone earning over $47,474 a year is exempt from being paid overtime. That's $913 a week. your employer does not need to pay you time and a half for anything over 40 hrs.
employers by me cant fell jobs. $23.85 an hour to drive a school bus. Nobody wants to wake up at 4:30 am go to work and have a bus pre tripped buy 5:30 am. A nursing home has a sign out $15.00 an hour for kitchen help f/pt. They cant get it. Landscapers pay $14 for 60 hours a week. They can't get the help. If you speak spanish, english and have a driver's license you'll get $18./22 depends on how hard you push your crew. Home depot always has a sign out they pay $14.00. A mortgage company pays $16 + bonuses and lunch on Friday. They send a 30 seat bus/van into philly to give people a ride to work/home. They can't fill their positions.

[HONDO74]

Tech boom pricing out many longtime San Francisco residents
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/northern-c ... residents/

In San Francisco, a family of four with an income less than $117,000 a year is considered low-income by federal housing authorities, CBS News correspondent John Blackstone reports. A two-bedroom apartment in the city has a fair-market rent of $3,100 a month.

So to live in California you either make well over a hundred grand or you might be homeless living on the street.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Tech boom pricing out many longtime San Francisco residents
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/northern-c ... residents/

In San Francisco, a family of four with an income less than $117,000 a year is considered low-income by federal housing authorities, CBS News correspondent John Blackstone reports. A two-bedroom apartment in the city has a fair-market rent of $3,100 a month.

Nothing new here; old news - SF has been one of the most expensive cities to live in in the US for many years now.

That's over 30% of the income, too. That's too high for a single person making $117,000 a year.

So to live in California you either make well over a hundred grand or you might be homeless living on the street.

Not really. SF is not all of CA..........

[HONDO74]

So to live in California you either make well over a hundred grand or you might be homeless living on the street.

Not really. SF is not all of CA..........

As California's homelessness grows, the crisis emerges as a major issue in state's gubernatorial race
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/19/califor ... -race.html

With about one quarter of the nation's homeless population in California, the problem has emerged as major issue in this year's governor's race.
The candidates are offering different approaches to the homelessness, including one who wants to force people on streets into state-run institutions.
Most of the candidates agree that the state's chronic shortage of affordable housing is contributing to the increasing homeless population.

As of 2017, California had about 134,000 homeless people, up nearly 14 percent from the prior year, according to a U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department report. And California accounted for almost half of country's unsheltered population during 2017.

Santa Ana River Trail Homeless Camp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moFb3yqEMeQ

Motorhome Homeless In LA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlS-YcRTCSs

Not only are there Homeless sleeping in tents, sidewalks, on Skid Row in Los Angeles there are also 1000s of Motorhome Homeless people living in illegally parked RVs all over LA .

[Rufus T. Firefly]

As of 2017, California had about 134,000 homeless people..............California accounted for almost half of country's unsheltered population during 2017.

That seems low to be 50% for the entire country. 268k for the entire country?

[Mitch]

Rufus, your weekly avatar? Is it Hemingway or director John Huston? They look pretty much alike to me.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Rufus, your weekly avatar? Is it Hemingway or director John Huston? They look pretty much alike to me.

Hemingway as is the quote in the signature line - John Huston longer face and bigger bags under the eyes,

[CWBurfle]

When I was a kid, there were a lot of years my dad had to work two jobs to make ends meet.

There is only so much a job is worth, regardless of what the salary will buy. Folks can work more than one job, like my dad did, or they can share housing.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Folks can work more than one job, like my dad did, or they can share housing.

Sharing housing is what my son used to do since it was the only viable option in the DC area if you're making under $100k. Then he ran into a set of housemates that were total A-holes, that trashed the house. He was lucky and found a basement 1 bedroom arrangement in a house that he could afford and bailed out. Then the A-holes turned around and blamed him when they did not get their deposits back. He came back after he moved out and helped clean up the house and then do the repairs & painting.

[CWBurfle]

Sharing housing is what my son used to do since it was the only viable option in the DC area if you're making under $100k.

Sharing housing was standard operating procedure for college folks when I went to school. In my experience, you found people you wanted to live with, and then found an apartment.
It was different for my kids. Each of them looked for individual rooms in a house. My older son did have an issue with a destructive housemate. The landlord knew who was the problem.
After school I shared a house with my buddy for a number of years, just for the company.