How is the economy impacting you if you earn under 20 dollars an hour and struggle to pay bills or buy food? Are you feeling the effects of a strong economy that the media talks about, or are you drowning in financial difficulties like many on poverty-related Reddit pages?
#economy #financialstruggles #poverty #bills #foodinsecurity #workingclass #debtstress
## The Reality of Economic Struggles
– Majority of workers earning under 20 dollars/hour
– Choosing between paying bills or buying food
– Increasing numbers of people drowning in financial difficulties
## Discrepancy between Media and Real-Life Experiences
– Media reports a booming economy
– Yet, many individuals facing extreme financial hardships
– Reddit pages dedicated to poverty filled with despair and struggles
## Challenges of Making Ends Meet
– Working 40+ hours a week without rest or leisure
– Barely managing due to high costs of living
– People struggling to support themselves and their families
What has been your experience with the current economy if you’re part of the working class earning under 20 dollars an hour? Let’s discuss the disconnect between media reports and real-life financial struggles.
Supposedly, inflation has been tamed, but I’m still paying way more for gas than I was in 2020 and the price of food is crazy. The government says the economy is going great, but I’m not feeling it.
I make $16 an hour as a recent graduate mechanical engineer working for the army. Applied to work at 6 different firms but they all want years of experience, and federal government engineers don’t really do engineering anymore. Shit sucks huge balls, I live with 3 other guys. I barely afford rent and I live in the ghetto in a poor ass city. So not good. They keep talking about how so many jobs have been created but they’re ghost jobs. Jobs that these companies don’t really plan on hiring out anymore or just post so they have an applicant pool to call people randomly as people quit down the road
i don’t drive and my city is low cost, so honestly, i’m great.
Well, I’m choosing bills over food…so about that well.
Can’t afford to do anything outside of bills. And then an issue with our car engine left in the shop. We’re now paying for a rental we can’t afford just to maintain an income that is too little. It’s pretty much impossible to get our car back while paying for a rental. Dunno what to do cause credit is too low.
Yeah, it’s pretty down shit here.
Badly. I make $22/hr, obviously not staggering, but I shouldn’t have to be a freaking brain surgeon to afford a one bedroom apartment in a small town, and be relatively comfy.
I eased up on my 401k, eased up on how much I put into an emergency fund every week, skipped signing up for health coverage last year, am keeping my groceries to under $40 per week, gave up hobbies, don’t eat out (I broke down and went to a Chinese buffet for lunch yesterday, but wow did I feel guilty), and even though retirement is 31 years away for me, I’m spending almost every day already stressing about surviving it.
And I still only have about $200 leftover a month.
Boomers/Conservatives: “oh 200 smackeroos! that’s not too bad, what are you being so entitled about?”
Edit: holy shit the amount of bootlicking bootstrappers in the replies.
The rate of inflation has outpaced my raises at work, so I’m actually making less now than I was pre-pandemic.
Also, the housing market is fucked and my house was re-assessed for nearly double what I bought it for two years ago, so my property taxes increased an extra $1,000/year.
And to get a someone acceptable interest rate on my new car, I had to get a shorter term loan than I would have liked.
Basically, I have what many would consider to be a very good salary and yet I’m still basically living paycheck to paycheck because of how fucked our economy is and how much necessities like gas, groceries, utilities, etc. have increased in price over the last several years.
I’ve never been more poor in my life, and I’m making more than I ever have in the past. The problem seems to be that wages aren’t keeping up with inflation. Instead, the gap is widening, which is further helping rid the middle class.
I’m making under $20/hr and I don’t have to choose between bills or food. You should go outside
I don’t make under $20, I make slightly more than it, but I am not struggling at all, I take care of a stay at home mom and a child just fine. I know I am an outlier. I don’t have any debt, which is a huge help. Things are still tight, I’m not on a week to week basis with money but If I scrounged up all my money I’d maybe be able to live for a year or a little less before I’d have to return to work. Economy isn’t good obviously
I get around 17 to 19 a hour I think if you factor in my side hustle, covering my mortgage bills and food just fine
I try not to ask questions like this because it’s going to attract the people that the question mostly affects. In this case, more people who are struggling and fewer people who are better off. It’s not a realistic picture.
I’m working 3 jobs to try and get ahead. I’m exhausted and don’t think I’ll ever be able to afford a house or children.
Where in the world are you getting this data from? I’m not finding any sources that 90% of Americans are making under 20 bucks an hour.
Fixed income and struggling here. I had saved up about $1000 to get some treatment for military post traumatic stress. Took a while to get there but it added up with reusing trash bags, changing hygiene products, and using generics for laundry/dishes. Made a lot of changes accumulated it over about 18 months.
Was trying to save for an experimental magnetic treatment as insurance and wounded warrior program won’t support it. That $1000 was gone by March this year. Insurances, utilities, medication, and basic services all jumped by 10-50%. Trying to live off rice/beans and water but don’t have anything really left to sacrifice out of how I live. Bills are paid, food is not something I enjoy anyway, but losing my savings to get medical treatments has crushed my spirit. Treatment is around 8k anyway so maybe I should just chalk it off as not being a realistic goal.
This is a very inaccurate %. The 28.3% of you. The data doesn’t back up your feelings. [actual data, not feelings](https://www.statista.com/statistics/203183/percentage-distribution-of-household-income-in-the-us/)
I’m disabled and had to move in with my parents for a bit because I physically couldn’t work enough to make ends meet. It’s not fun.
I make $16/hr. I’m at the end of my rope financially and this weekend I have to figure out if I’m going to continue to try to live alone in an apartment I can’t afford, try to find roommates which I don’t want to do because of mental health issues and because I don’t have enough money to move and still maybe can’t afford, or just do nothing and end up homeless again. It’s a real bad spot and it’s only going to get worse.
Honestly most people are WAAAAY overspending on food. Buy lentils , beans rice sweet potato. You probably wont spend 100$ per month there is plenty of nutrients to sustain you.
You could eat just rice for 30 days for 30$ and you wont be even missing that many nutrients. For 50-100$ you can get 100% of your nutrient needs.
People just get little ceasars pizza and think its good price or mcdonalds or kfc. And then they overeat and are obese and say its because unhealthy foods are making them obese , not that they are eating too much food.
We’ve been living from paycheck to paycheck my entire life. Even though we’ve clawed up to not need state assistance anymore (foodstamps/housing) we don’t make enough to live comfortably. The only reason we aren’t worse off is because most of my family gets medical assistance for mental meds/physical stuff and because the main provider for the house over stretched the limited income we’ve had on multiple Credit Cards.
So now we’re trying to pay those off but struggle to do so in any meaningful capacity. We cannot take out a personal loan to consolidate all of the debt as the highest amount we could get is like….2-3k. Which sadly doesn’t cover it all.
Technically speaking if everyone here worked a job the debt in theory could be paid off in a year give or take a few months. But that isn’t possible. So the secondary goal is for the primary to get a much better paying job in their field and me a slightly better job than I had so we can chip away at it. Would take 2-3x longer but is still theoretically doable.
How old are you and where do you live? Here in Minnesota my groceries are almost double what they were two years ago.. depending on what neighborhood you’re in, crime is just climbing again due to poverty and weather getting warmer again. The government is claiming they are creating jobs- jobs that no-one wants to fill because ultimately doesn’t make sense for their time/wages won’t make sense for what shelter and food prices are. Also had to purchase a security system. Food and goods are so expensive because we don’t produce anymore and gas has risen all over the world because of these constant wars- attributing to rise in cost of living. Rent and mortgages are going up. I’ve only gotten a 1.70$ USD raise in the last two years. It really breaks my heart, because when I converse with people at random when I go out to grab a drink or just chatting in passing, most people seem very worldly and understanding of others’situations, but what we see on the screens are not representative of that. We are offered racism and division from our governments and told that each other are the problem. Our governments are not representative of the people in our nations- in our streets or in our homes. Very upsetting to see this is the direction the world is generally headed and so many people feel like there isn’t much they can do about it.
Fun fact: when adjusted for inflation the median American currently has more buying power than at any other point in history, stop doomscrolling and learn how to budget
I’m in a weird position where the only economic problem I have is housing, which I have vagrancied my way out of.
Everything else financial is a piece of cake.
Worse but I can manage but mostly cause I chose to move in with my parents. 90% aren’t making that little but there is a massive difference in people’s condition in the past few years as some necessary commodities have been subject to wild inflation.
Rent and insurance I think are some of the ones that hit the hardest for the poorer areas. The increases in cost of living have pushed everyone down and people are either pushing into the danger zone of medication or food and also having a people who were middle class overspending by trying to keep their lifestyle and not adjusting. Really we are facing the consequences of bailing out Wall Street in 2008 and continuing to print money with next to zero interest for about a decade.
Honestly?
Not really sure what my life is gonna look like in another year or two. I just really hope I’m able to keep myself from becoming homeless, although the odds of that being a reality increase every year. :/
But hey! At least I can still play Dead Space. 😀
Western Pennsylvania (Indiana County) and working in a warehouse/distribution center for a huge retail company.
Most of the workforce is making 15.00-18.00 per hour doing the most back breaking labor you can imagine. All the while, being treated like they don’t even matter, and are insignificant.
But, management pushes to “make the numbers “ and hence their monthly bonuses. While the company posted a 4th quarter earnings profit of over 5 billion!
People aren’t doing that well as I see it.
They work in order to cover the cost of their healthcare.
In a rural setting, there are few options for finding another job.
Feeling “trapped and under appreciated “ everyone walks around the facility with sad faces.
It’s like going into a job site that is more like a movie after an apoplectic event has occurred that left everyone without a soul and all “joy” in life has been stripped away.
🥺
$16 an hour here in NC going to the food pantry tomorrow. I’m only getting part time hours right now. I have my fingers crossed I’ll have enough for rent.
No kids.. 20yrs old car.. live in the hood.. work +50hrs.. make $15/hr.. not stupid with my money.. still struggling
I almost didn’t go negative in the bank this pay period…
As someone in my 30s im making more money than 18 year old me thought i ever would. Im basically check to check or one random 2-3000 expense away from panicking. This inflation really fucking sucks, especiallg growing up in the 90s and 2000s and seeing the changes. Im still young enough to remember a can of soda costing 25 cents, 50 cents, 1 dollar to now $1.25.
A chicken wing dinner and fries being $5, now costing $12.
Idk, OP needs to provide a link but I wouldn’t be surprised if the statistic isn’t far off. I looked them up somewhat recently and something like 32% of Americans make $15 an hour or less. Even median household income is only like $80k and 2 full time $20 incomes barely gets your household over $80k. Management at most restaurants and retail shops make $40k-$50k so you can assume 99% of the people working anywhere you spend your money are making less than $20 per hour.
I’d guess it’s more like 70% of Americans but he’s not far off. This graphic from 2018 using Social Security data has roughly 60% of workers making less than $20 p/h ($41.6k p/y) and the wage gap has only increased in the past 6 years.
https://digg.com/2020/distribution-wage-income-visualized
I work in public health. Our wages were capped for about 20 years, only being unfrozen last year. My food costs have more than doubled, my rent has increased by over 20% over the last two years, electricity and gas has increased by about 30%+. Then there’s inflation. I’m on a decent enough wage, about 70k aud, and didn’t feel the cost of living crisis too much previously, that has definitely changed in the last year.
Not good. Lost hours at work.
I live alone, making $19/hr, and after rent and other monthly bills and expenses it’s almost impossible to put anything away. I often forgo buying groceries because I work at a restaurant and get a lot of food for free; if that weren’t the case I don’t know how I’d eat most days, to tell you the truth. I get a little depressed sometimes because it’s hard to see a way I could improve my situation; it can seem hopeless, but I try to make the best of things and take it one day at a time, I guess.
The economy is working great for the rich, always has. For the poor and working class it sucks, and no amount of gaslighting by the government pays the bills.
I honestly wish I could get a dog or cat.
I’ve had a furry friend for most of my life but now that I’m living in my own, with my partner, I don’t have that anymore. Having a dog improved my mental health and in this world we live in, I wish I could have that support again. However I feel like I don’t have enough extra money for the rescue/adoption fees, vet visits for shots and check ups, and I feel like our small space wouldn’t give a dog enough freedom to be happy. Maybe an indoor cat would be nice but I’ve never really had one to call my own, I do love them though.
Pretty good. I have more in my savings than ever. Own a home. Drive a truck. Make less than 20/hr.
OK. Not awesome, but 6 years ago, we were on food stamps, and felt like there was no real hope for a future. President Obama’s programs to help people get education helped and my dh graduated and we bought our first house. Nothing fancy, but it is such an improvement after renting since the 80s.
Not sure how we will pay for our kid’s college (teens), we live paycheck to paycheck, and we have no retirement, but at least we feel like we are gaining footing rather than loosing, and this year I have a yard so we are going to try a garden.
my work stopped scheduling me so i really hope i get that extra scholarship to carry me through the summer semester. i graduate august 1st, just have to make it until tgen
“but that’s without kids or going out and instead working 40+hrs a week.”
Lol what? Most people I know have kids AND work 40+ hours a week if you can believe such a thing. Reminds me of the dumb and dumber bit.
Uh yeah it’s fucking horrible. I am 38 and live with my parents. There’s no way out of this for me. I have a college degree, but I can’t find a good job. I clean houses now and work for myself but I don’t make anywhere near enough money. I am miserable and I feel completely hopeless.
The economy is bad. What you earn and what you have to pay to live is ridiculous. Plus more and more people are renting, which makes it almost impossible to save for a home. It’s hard to see things getting better in the future. (I am doom pilled)
You see it on many platforms, those completely disconnected, delusional deniable comments that it’s people not living within their means or the economy is doing great or it’s not that bad- when I see these comments I think 4 things either they are bots, they are so well-off that they really aren’t feeling it or making money from it, or they are young enough to be living off of someone else’s dime, or it could be they are intentionally being dishonest to gaslight and brain wash you.
I am dealing with constantly choosing between food or electricity hAve to keep the lights on and feed kids so we eat a bunch of very cheap food that we try to stretch ramen pasta rice, but hey let’s let all the terrorists into our country to blow us up with our own earned tax money and let’s pay to secure other countries borders. Makes so much sense.
I truly feel anyone that supports this entire govt right now is the enemy of this country.