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MmeGigs -> RE: Do we have the right to ask..... (2/25/2008 5:55:57 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Padriag Whereas I am appalled at the failure of most US citizens to provide for their own basic needs. Surely Emerson and Franklin must be spinning in their graves. I am appalled at the increasing difficulty that many US citizens face in trying to provide for their own basic needs. 25 years ago I was a single mom with an office clerical job as my sole source of income - no child support, no public assistance. While it was a struggle, I was able to put food on the table, a roof over our heads, provide us with transportation and pay my daycare bill, and I still had a little left over. If I were to take a similar job today, I'd have to get a second job just to meet my basic needs, even without a kid and daycare bills. The job that paid me $6.00 an hour starting wage in 1982 pays about $8.00 an hour starting wage in 2008. Had wages kept up with inflation, the most conservative estimates would put that starting wage at more than $12.50. My 1982 job came with 100% employer-paid family medical insurance and retirement. That cost my employer about $2.50 an hour in 1982, today it would cost about $10.00 an hour - again, a conservative estimate. So in real terms - what they're getting for their labor and what it buys them in the world they live in - an accounting clerk today is making about half of what I made in 1982. Factory workers are even worse off where I live. In 1982 they were making about $10 an hour with lots of benefits. They could afford houses and cars. Today they're once again making about $10 an hour, but with few benefits. They can afford to share an apartment and drive a beater. They can't afford to get sick. People who work at McDonald's seem to be doing about the same. They were making about $3.50 an hour in 1982 and are making about $8 an hour now. I agree with you - it is appalling.
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