Can 2 Parents and 2 Kids Live on Minimum Wage? According to New Report, Not Even Close

[frenchbreadbuilds]

 
But I believe that if someone wants to be successful, then no matter what hinders them, they will reach the place they want to be.

"success" is relative and completely dependent on what you're exposed to. when you're affected by generational poverty and everything that comes with that, your view of the American Dream is blocked and blurred. Yes, there are some people that get out of that, but theyre the exception not the rule.

 

[Armada]

 
But I believe that if someone wants to be successful, then no matter what hinders them, they will reach the place they want to be.

I can understand why you think that but I disagree.

We don't live in this world by ourselves. Other peoples actions and choices as well as my own can and will affect our lives and others whether we want them to or not. So to me it is possible for something to occur that could hinder someones success unfortunately no matter how much they believe in themselves and make all the right choices.

 

[bigboss]

I think the white man is out to get me?

You can ask me what I meant, I'd gladly clarify.

No, but several things are stacked against people of color. Stop trying to take one factor out of context. Analyze the whole picture. Ask WHY?

Affirmative Action?

the biggest beneficiaries of Affirmative Action are white females. http://ideas.time.com/2013/06/17/affirmative-action-has-helped-white-women-more-than-anyone/

The point is, by the NUMBERS, it is much more difficult to rise out of poverty if you are from poverty. No one is saying it is impossible. But it is more difficult. I'm not blaming you because you're white. But I don't get trying to ignore race when race is clearly a factor. WHY is race a factor, let's discuss that. WHY is it hard to acknowledge the disparity and work to close the gaps instead of putting the pillow over your face and ignoring the facts? "Well my parents didn't...." blah blah blah. I'm happy for you and yours but at least acknowledge that statistically, you are an OUTLIER.

I never said the white man was out to get you if you read my posts. I know race plays a factor im not an idiot but anyone can make it, I believe that. Also just the tone of your posts I can sense a chip on your shoulder.

 

[Lovetohate3000]

 
I can understand why you think that but I see i disagree.

We don't live in this world by ourselves. Other peoples actions and choices as well as my own can and will affect our lives and others whether we want them to or not. So to me it is possible for something to occur that could hinder someones success unfortunately no matter how much they believe in themselves and make all the right choices.

agreed. i hate that "you can be whatever you want to be " garbage they tell people growing up. many people with strong wills have tried really hard /worked hard and have failed. its naive to think the world works like that..... 

 

[bigboss]

 
"success" is relative and completely dependent on what you're exposed to. when you're affected by generational poverty and everything that comes with that, your view of the American Dream is blocked and blurred. Yes, there are some people that get out of that, but theyre the exception not the rule.

I see clear trust me.

Im a felon with no college degree so I know exactly how bad choices can hinder your success. I understand poverty is a whole different monster, Im not naïve to that.

 

[fantastic4our]

I never said the white man was out to get you if you read my posts. I know race plays a factor im not an idiot but anyone can make it, I believe that. Also just the tone of your posts I can sense a chip on your shoulder.

No chip on my shoulder, jack.

A man with no legs made the Olympics, too, but the average double amputee will not achieve that.

The problem here, generally, is comparing those that have achieved great heights despite extraordinary opposition to the average citizen.

Yeah, Oprah came from poverty to become the only Black billionaire, but the bottom line is Oprah is an extraordinary individual. Yeah, Barack Obama came from a fatherless home in Hawaii to become President of the United States, but Obama is an extraordinary individual. 99.999% of us are not as exceptional and brilliant as Oprah or Obama or whoever.

Shooting for the moon is great and all but realistically, most people are AVERAGE and will remain average. Instead of using these abnormal highs as attainable standards, let's focus on moving the median forward and making it sufficient and realistic for the average man and woman.

Recognize that certain groups of people have to overcome considerably more disadvantages just to reach the starting point for many.

 

[bigboss]

No chip on my shoulder, jack.

A man with no legs made the Olympics, too, but the average double amputee will not achieve that.

The problem here, generally, is comparing those that have achieved great heights despite extraordinary opposition to the average citizen.

Yeah, Oprah came from poverty to become the only Black billionaire, but the bottom line is Oprah is an extraordinary individual. Yeah, Barack Obama came from a fatherless home in Hawaii to become President of the United States, but Obama is an extraordinary individual. 99.999% of us are not as exceptional and brilliant as Oprah or Obama or whoever.

Shooting for the moon is great and all but realistically, most people are AVERAGE and will remain average. Instead of using these abnormal highs as attainable standards, let's focus on moving the median forward and making it sufficient and realistic for the average man and woman.

Recognize that certain groups of people have to overcome considerably more disadvantages just to reach the starting point for many.

I agree. Just gotta do the best with the cards youre dealt.

 

[capital sb]

 
higher education and the act of valuing education to begin with is a tradition in America. Higher education has been available in America since the late 1700s. Certain groups of people have had access to that higher education for close to 300 years. When your great great great grandfather goes to college, the benefits and value of education are taught and instilled in your great great grand father, and all the way down to your father. Not only that but you have wealth, connections, knowledge that comes with having a tradition of higher learning in your family. Blacks were legally allowed in all institutions as far back as 60 years ago. Some schools even sooner than that. There are still some black kids today that are the first in their ENTIRE FAMILY that are going to college. Thats not enough time to start a tradition. 

Edit: And for those who are white and are gonna say "my parents/grandparents didnt go to college and did well" keep in mind that when the "American dream" was attainable without a college education, things weren't so equal in the work place for people of color.

THIS is nothing but truth. I am the FIRST person on my moms side of the family to graduate college.The first member of an entire family to graduate in 2014 is crazy it really lets you see how we have not had access to schooling like other races. This gives you a major head start in life there is no denying this. We didn't have any wealth or assets passed down to us.

 

[unkn0wn]

 
majority of them will never get paid.

Source?

 

[unkn0wn]

 
agreed. i hate that "you can be whatever you want to be " garbage they tell people growing up. many people with strong wills have tried really hard /worked hard and have failed. its naive to think the world works like that..... 

Youre going to fail harder if you never tried

 

[gwap]

I think unskilled and uneducated people should still be able to live without poverty if they work a job.

I don't think anyone should be working and living in poverty period...

The baseline standard for living has to be set. 

 

[bigboss]

 
Source?

The 5-10 credit reports I view a day that are either delinquent or in deferred status.

 

[bigboss]

 
Youre going to fail harder if you never tried

Exactly, how do you expect to be successful with that kind of mindset.

 

[frenchbreadbuilds]

Youre going to fail harder if you never tried

Exactly, how do you expect to be successful with that kind of mindset.

My point is that there are people that don't know trying is an option. Again there are large amounts of urban communities surrounded by crime, poverty, and schools that don't even have enough books to go around. Where people don't know the value of a college education. People don't even know what to try for, but all they know is what's going on around them. You're painting the picture that people are saying "the system is against me, I'm not even going to try" which isn't the same as being ignorant to how the world works or what being successful even means outside of being a rich drug dealer or becoming a professional athlete.

 

[Armada]

 
Youre going to fail harder if you never tried

No one or at least I was not saying don't try.

What I was saying is that you should be aware of how other peoples decisions can affect your life whether you want them to or not and vice versa and it may not be the best to think that can't happen.

 

[unkn0wn]

Word

 

[dipsetgeneral]

Hell no. This is why you need to pursue your dreams and aspirations before having a family, people! WAKE UP!

Everybody can't be doctors and lawyers.

Somebody has to serve the coffee...

Its a cold world....

Right, but 9 times outta' 10... The people serving the coffee are the one's who either never had the drive or gave up too quickly on their pursuits. Don't be that person, NT'ers.

 

[frenchbreadbuilds]

Right, but 9 times outta' 10... The people serving the coffee are the one's who either never had the drive or gave up too quickly on their pursuits. Don't be that person, NT'ers.

i get what your saying, i just think its a lot more complicated than that.

 

[dathbgboy]

 

Exactly, its too low.
 

Well then we agree on that.

Within this thread, this is the bottom line


Just read that if the minimum wage would've kept up w/ the rest of the economy, it'd be around $18/hr.

Is this what you are referring too?

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/13/minimum-wage-productivity_n_2680639.html

Edit: the article is two years old but still relevant

This is a link to the study  http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/min-wage1-2012-03.pdf

Yup, crazy how we're not even in double digits when it come to minimum wage.

 

I can understand why you think that but I see i disagree.

We don't live in this world by ourselves. Other peoples actions and choices as well as my own can and will affect our lives and others whether we want them to or not. So to me it is possible for something to occur that could hinder someones success unfortunately no matter how much they believe in themselves and make all the right choices.

agreed. i hate that "you can be whatever you want to be " garbage they tell people growing up. many people with strong wills have tried really hard /worked hard and have failed. its naive to think the world works like that..... 

Exactly, you can't tell me I can have whatever job I want if I work hard enough when there's somebody in HR who's holding that position for their cousin. No matter how hard I try, they aren't going to give the position to me. That's one thing I always tell my wife when I'm upset, it's the fact that other people's decisions negatively affect my life. Look at the recession

I think unskilled and uneducated people should still be able to live without poverty if they work a job.

I don't think anyone should be working and living in poverty period...

The baseline standard for living has to be set. 

Here's the thing though, no one is never going to be "unskilled" forever. They scream skills and experience, even those running the cash register for x amount of years can have the math acumen to handle money to be able to move to the person that handles the drawers in the money room. They handle the money, handle the drawers, see the ins and outs of how the store operates but can't move up to a manager or supervisor because they don't have a degree?

No degree + experience = Can't move up/get hired

No experience + degree = Can't move up/get hired

experience + degree = Not the right skills we need/want

experience + degree + right skills = Paying less than you're worth

 

[dipsetgeneral]

Right, but 9 times outta' 10... The people serving the coffee are the one's who either never had the drive or gave up too quickly on their pursuits. Don't be that person, NT'ers.

i get what your saying, i just think its a lot more complicated than that.

Oh for sure. Everyone's case is different.

 

[frenchbreadbuilds]

Oh for sure. Everyone's case is different.

i just think that when you grow up in an environment designed to keep you from experiencing the world and what it offers other than whats around you, when poverty is all you know and have been forced to accept consciously and subconsciously, when you're in a school system where the teachers and administration don't even care about your future at what point is that person supposed to start thinking "hmmm i could be a doctor or a lawyer some day". ambition, perseverance, and the other ingredients need to cultivated and nurtured and more often that not that doesn't happen way more often than it does in poor urban predominately black areas.

telling people they can be successful if they work hard enough is one thing, but helping them discover the path to success is completely different. I used to be a big judge and critic of "ghetto" people until i really started looking at the issues in america. Although I am black, my parents aren't from here so thats +1 for me because im free of the generational mindset brought on by whats has happened in this country to blacks. My dad went to college so that another +1 for me because the tradition of higher education was already started and I too went to college to become and Engineer.. I grew up comfortably middle class in the suburbs so another +1 because I lived in a good area with good schools that showed me not only many different options of what i could do but all the different routes and avenues that I could take to be successful. All of that was working in my favor since day 1. More than likely thats not the case for the person serving you at mcdonalds. 

so when someone says this i dont agree 

"Right, but 9 times outta' 10... The people serving the coffee are the one's who either never had the drive or gave up too quickly on their pursuits

you can't expect someone to run a race if they don't even know the race is going on.

 

[HankHill]

9 times outta' 10 the people serving coffee are doing it while they're still taking classes.

 

[fantastic4our]

9 times outta' 10 the people serving coffee are doing it while they're still taking classes.

What if they just like coffee and customer service?

 

[HankHill]

9 times outta' 10 the people serving coffee are doing it while they're still taking classes.

What if they just like coffee and customer service?

This applies to them too.

 

[dipsetgeneral]

Oh for sure. Everyone's case is different.

i just think that when you grow up in an environment designed to keep you from experiencing the world and what it offers other than whats around you, when poverty is all you know and have been forced to accept consciously and subconsciously, when you're in a school system where the teachers and administration don't even care about your future at what point is that person supposed to start thinking "hmmm i could be a doctor or a lawyer some day". ambition, perseverance, and the other ingredients need to cultivated and nurtured and more often that not that doesn't happen way more often than it does in poor urban predominately black areas.

telling people they can be successful if they work hard enough is one thing, but helping them discover the path to success is completely different. I used to be a big judge and critic of "ghetto" people until i really started looking at the issues in america. Although I am black, my parents aren't from here so thats +1 for me because im free of the generational mindset brought on by whats has happened in this country to blacks. My dad went to college so that another +1 for me because the tradition of higher education was already started and I too went to college to become and Engineer.. I grew up comfortably middle class in the suburbs so another +1 because I lived in a good area with good schools that showed me not only many different options of what i could do but all the different routes and avenues that I could take to be successful. All of that was working in my favor since day 1. More than likely thats not the case for the person serving you at mcdonalds. 

so when someone says this i dont agree 
"Right, but 9 times outta' 10... The people serving the coffee are the one's who either never had the drive or gave up too quickly on their pursuits

you can't expect someone to run a race if they don't even know the race is going on.

You make some great points however, i don't believe when people say "They didn't know" or "weren't told" If you went to elementary, middle school and especially high school and had a mother or father in the household. someone somewhere on multiple occasions has shown or told you the difference between right and wrong. The right way to do things and the wrong way to do things. It's up to the individual to take heed to the advice, or to refuse it. School, role models, older folk including parents have had to say or do something to help that child or young person to d better. I really don't buy the "I didn't know" excuse. It's all up to the individual.

9 times outta' 10 the people serving coffee are doing it while they're still taking classes.

Yeah and with that, they are taking classes and studying something they aren't even remotely interested in. They end up graduating and living an average-boring life. That's not how you should go about it. Study something that you have a bold and great interest in and what you want to become a passion.

What if they just like coffee and customer service?

This applies to them too.