40% of Americans have negative net income

[Baalzamon]

SpokenTruth said:

DonFerrari said:

From what we have from USA numbers there is less than 10% of the population earning minimum wage (or even close to it). Going from that to 40% of the population is a very big jump.

And I may be very wrong, but these guys also get a lot of social benefits, stamps, payouts, etc and sorry but not one is demanded to live alone in an apartment.

In Brazil it's very common for people to share a house with another 3 or more when they are working in a city and doesn't have a family there. So your rent would go a lot lower. And only if you are a little crazy you would be paying 350 for health insurance before your 40s since you would rarely even need a doctor from 18 to 40.

Also sorry again to burst your bubble, but minimum wage and the like is entry level that someone shouldn't ever expect to pay for all he needs without moving up the latter.

Let me give you context from a country like Brazil, minimum wage here is 250 USD, rent on a very small place in regular city would be 100-150 USD.

I just calculated $252 per month health insurance is the average for a single person aged 21.  And it ranges by state from a low of $180 in Utah to $366 in Wyoming ($426 in Alaska but that's to be expected).  What?  You thought we've been joking about health care and insurance costs in those other threads?  Want to cover your family of 4?  Close to $900 per month depending on age and state.

Oh, and my initial example wasn't minimum wage now was it? It was $10 per hour. So my example shows them already going up that ladder.  I only showed minimum age because that's what happens when you move from a city to a rural area.  Wages drop.  They don't stay the same.

And yes, there are social benefits but the right wants to gut them...many want to completely get rid of them.  But social welfare doesn't always cover enough. 

Roommates are more common in the urban cores of the bigger cities in the US.  It's rare in smaller cities, suburbs and rural regions.  Our houses, apartments and leasing laws/contracts are simply not often designed with that in mind.  It's all built around the way things were decades ago when a single income allowed you to easily own your home, cars, health car, etc....  Basically, our buying power today is a fraction of what it used to be.

I would argue poor people now are living more lavish lifestyles than ever before.

There is a reason the average house size used to be like half the size it is now. Entire families used to own 1 car. People didn't have computers, phones, tvs, etc.

Buying power isn't the problem, it is people believing they are entitled (despite being poor) to a much much better lifestyle than the poor ever used to have.