Surviving on $10 an hour pay

**PAVallygrl** · 12-18-2006, 03:16 PM

Hello all!

I have gotten into a bit of a heated debate on another Forum I belong to. Apparently a couple of people on there (they are business owners by the way) tend to think that it is perfectly acceptable in this day and age for people to work for, raise kids and survive on $10 an hour. As one of these ignorant and arrogant ninkumpoops put it "These underacheivers need to cut out the cigarettes and beer from their budgets so they can pay the rent." He also thinks that helping your kids through college and going on a yearly vacation should be considered a LUXURY. And he thinks that I just have it out for "business owners" Little does he know that I am a Business Owner myself...It may be a Not-For-Profit Business, but it is still a business.

Any thoughts? I really like to write back some more comments to these type of Jerks on JUST HOW HARD it is to live on $10 an hour (not that I am, but I know plenty of people who are)........I'm sure these Jerks wouldn't want to have to do that and raise a family on it. Geeze!

**jkelstaten** · 12-18-2006, 03:37 PM

hahahaha.....been there, done that!

I would simply provide them with a "budget"

When my DH worked for $12/hour 40hr/wk =$1560 after 25% taxes our budget looked something like this:
Rent $800 (for a small trailer, cheapest decent place we could find in our area)
Elec. $100
Propane in the winter $300 (summer no refill, our heat, hot water heater & stove ran off propane, we did not have a choice for other fuel)
Phone $80 (cheapest plan we could get with internet)
2 CC -$25 each min. payment...$500 max. balance/$300 max. balance)
Diapers $15/wk+$60/mo.
Formula (specialty due to allergies $21/small can) $80/wk
Gas to drive to work $70/wk.
as you can see by adding it all up, with just these basic expenses, not even including food the budget is already in the red $350
Work outside the home wasn't an option for me because the only thing I could find would barely pay enough to cover childcare of $200/wk. Let alone traveling expenses to work, etc.

We did not qualify for food stamps because Dh made too much money (HA!), we did end up getting WIC because we couldn't afford DD's formula. We literally ate PBJ Sandwiches and Ramen Noodles until God blessed DH with a new job. And believe me it wasn't because my DH was dumb or lazy by any means. Within a year of having this $12/hour job he was working at the U.S. State Department as a Webmaster and Virus Analyst making $60k/yr. Now, we are Missionaries and DH also does professional video editing. Unfortunately, we had to go through a time where the only work he could find paid a measely $12/hr. Oh and by the way, neither DH nor I smoke nor drink. We didn't rent movies, buy clothes (even at the thrift store), all of our DD's belongings were gifts, we didn't go out to eat, or anything "wasteful". I couldn't see my family for 3 years unless they visited because they lived 1000 miles away and we couldn't afford for DH to take off work & even if he could have taken off work we couldn't have afforded traveling there. That's not even for a real "vacation". That was just so my parents could see their grandchild. And we were in a better financial position when DD was first born, but things happened and DH had to find new work. We weren't irresponsible by getting preg. when we couldn't afford it. And DD#2 was an unplanned blessing.

**PAVallygrl** · 12-18-2006, 03:47 PM

Oh I'd beleive you did.....But the point I'm trying to make is that this Jerk seems to think that there is NO reason why he should have to pay anyone any more than $10 an hour....that is perfectly enough to raise a family on. Oh another comment this arrogant Son of a .....has made is "You can tell alot about a person by the way they dress, how they keep their home, and how they keep their car." Isn't he just a GEM?

**EmilyD** · 12-18-2006, 03:53 PM

Apparently a couple of people on there (they are business owners by the way) tend to think that it is perfectly acceptable in this day and age for people to work for, raise kids and survive on $10 an hour.

Most people this day and age don't have a lot of choice what they make. My dh is a blue collar worker and has worked for his present company for 19 years. He has no retirement package and now we are being told that the social security system may not hold out for the people who have been putting into it for the last 30-40 years.

We lived on less then $10.00 per hour for years, raised 3 kids on it and survived to tell about it. We couldn't afford cigs, liquor or beer, soda pop, and lots of other things, like a closet full of clothes and shoes.

College and vacations are luxuries, in MHO.
At $10.00 per hour you can't afford to send your children to college. They will need to work for scholarships and work their way through college. It won't hurt them a bit and may make them stronger and more appreciative then the kids whose parents hand them their education on a platter. One of my daughters earned a full ride 4 year scholorship with her grades. The other daughter graduated with a BA last year after working for it for 10 years as she had the money.

As for vacations, What is a vacation? dh gets paid vacation time every year. The first week or more goes for paying the yearly income tax. The last week has to go for covering the time off with no pay that comes every Christmas when they close down the plant. The middle week... well that usually goes to some stray medical bill.

He makes more then $10.00 an hour now .. and we still couldn't pay a kid's way through college. We buy a 6 pack occassionally (once a year for Christmas) and we may even try to take a week off to go fishing for once .. if some other bill doesn't come up first *sigh*

**EmilyD** · 12-18-2006, 04:00 PM

.....But the point I'm trying to make is that this Jerk seems to think that there is NO reason why he should have to pay anyone any more than $10 an hour....that is perfectly enough to raise a family on.

I am glad you explained this because I was confused.

**Valerie in WA** · 12-18-2006, 04:12 PM

Following is JUST MY HUMBLE OPINION

.....But the point I'm trying to make is that this Jerk seems to think that there is NO reason why he should have to pay anyone any more than $10 an hour....that is perfectly enough to raise a family on.

Wages are dependent upon the type of work done, the product or service produced and the price that product or service sells for. If this guy is paying this wage to unskilled labor, I have no problem with that. If he's paying that wage to professionals, they will go elsewhere for work.

Just because an unskilled worker has a family does not entitle him/her to more money than the job typically pays. This is not a socialist nation. Wages vary with skills and industry.

He also thinks that helping your kids through college and going on a yearly vacation should be considered a LUXURY.

Actually I agree. ASSUMING we are defining 'vacation' the same way. I think at least a week of paid time off is important to workers. But, I feel that being able to travel during that week is a luxury.

Again, JMHO.

**PAVallygrl** · 12-18-2006, 04:17 PM

Yes Emily, that is the whole point of this thread....and he is Not alone in this mentality. I don't understand how some of these business owners think that $10 an hour is a wonderful salary and that they don't need to pay another penny more to their employees? As another poster here said with just these basic expenses, not even including food the budget is already in the red $350 I'm sure however Mr. Business owner is living very nicely though. I'd like to see some of these guys with this type of mentality live on $10 an hour for just 3 months, and see just how well they would be able to handle it......I'd imagine they would have a pretty hard time themselves.

**favesis37** · 12-18-2006, 04:24 PM

around here to work for 10.oo is alot of money, my brohter drives 1 hour both ways for 14.00 and hour. i make 7.50 and have been at my job for 2 years now. i think alot of it has to do with the area you re in. i cam honestly say i know of no place in this town that pays 10.00 an hour. both of my boys travel for 10.00

**PAVallygrl** · 12-18-2006, 04:26 PM

Valarie, here in PA $10 an hour seems to be the "going rate" wether its for an unskilled (a friend of mine's 19 year old son just got a part time job at Circuit City starting at $10 an hour) or a professional job.

This guy by the way is a home builder (so he's paying for skilled and liscensed workers, and I don't think I need to tell anyone how much the price of a brand new home is going for these days. The real estate/building industry is doing pretty well these past few years. (BTW My own builder wanted $8,500 to finish the basement of my home, I hired someone and paid them and paid for the materials myself and it cost me $1,500.....$7,000 difference and that's a nice proft on just one basement that would have gone right into the builder's pocket.)

**YankeeMom** · 12-18-2006, 04:30 PM

Since when does having a family entitle a worker to more than $10 an hour?
Free market is a great thing. It gives us choices, as business owners AND workers. What a lot of business owners fail to understand is it's a two way street. They tend to think they are doing someone a favor by hiring them and paying them for their work. They don't realize that the worker has choices. S/he does not have to settle for what that particular business owner is offering. They can move along and look for something better. They can get a (better?) degree, learn a new skillset, etc. There are better ways to get a higher wage then begging the bossman for a raise.

*side note: my husband is currently working for a $500/week salary. No benefits, no overtime, no contract, nothing. He works 60+ hours a week. He has a bachelor's degree and 24yrs experience in the Army (air traffic control). He's not hounding his boss to pay him better. He's looking for another place of employment.

**PAVallygrl** · 12-18-2006, 04:37 PM

Yankeemom, I understand what you are saying about looking elsewhere, but you sort of run out of places to look when $10 an hour is the going rate all around in the area......Quite a few people have taken to commuting 2+ hours to get jobs that pay higher. When a kid can get a part time job (2 days a week) paying $10 an hour, paying an adult that (even if they are single with no kids) is kind of hard especially when the local inflation has skyrocketed in the past 5 years.....5 years ago you could buy a home for about $90K now 5 years later that same home is over $250K.....same with taxes. And 5 years ago the prevailing wage here was $10 an hour. As cost of living goes up, I would imagine so too would wages, but the employers don't want to pay any more.

**YankeeMom** · 12-18-2006, 04:38 PM

Having a family shouldn't have anything to do with how much you are paid. It's work, not welfare.

**Emjo** · 12-18-2006, 04:46 PM

I agree that just because someone has a family that doesn't entitle them to more money. They need to take the initiative to either find another job with better pay, or get some sort of training that will entitle them to better pay. Finding a better job or schooling may mean moving to a different part of the country.

I'm in Alberta, Canada, and EVERYBODY is hiring. You can get a job serving coffee in some places and make $14/hr. My in laws just moved here from across the country for work...they didn't want to, but they did what they had to do to survive (of course, having a new grandbaby here does sweeten the deal!

)

**PAVallygrl** · 12-18-2006, 04:48 PM

Yes, I agree.......but the prevailing wage here in this area seems to be $10 an hour, and the cost of living has more than doubled in the past 5 years when the prevailing wage was also $10 an hour......it has even been reported in the area newspapers that the salaries are NOT keeping up with inflation. So I don't think I'm that far off the mark here. And speaking of welfare, seems that welfare is paying more than that, so that starts another set of problems all together.....people start to think
why work when one can get more money sitting on my but on welfare? Perhaps I'm not explaining all this properly?

**YankeeMom** · 12-18-2006, 04:57 PM

Welfare does not pay more than a person can make at a $10/hour job. Not to mention, there are time limits on welfare nowadays. A person can't just sit at home and collect welfare anymore. They have to actively search for work, they have to go to school to learn a trade (not college though, which I don't understand). The aim nowadays is to get peope out of the welfare lines and into a job.

I make $4.35/hr as a server....$10/hour sounds pretty good on a crappy tip day.