$13 an hour is crap for any kind of job that is requiring a four-year
degree unless you live with your parents. It's barely enough money to
live, and that's if you budget very well and control expenses. My
non-discretionary expenses are over $1650 per month. That's with rent
that is $250 below the area average, no phone, no Internet, no cell
phone, no cable/satellite TV, and zero budget for anything other than
groceries, electricity and natural gas, car, insurance, gasoline, and
student loans. If I didn't have employer-paid health insurance you could
add another $300 per month onto that. Keep in mind that this is assuming
zero money for anything other than the staples. That consumes $12.50 per
hour. Now, if I had to pay for my own health insurance and had to rent
at current market rates, I would need about $16.70 per hour. If I wanted
to have a phone or Internet, or even a soda-in-lunch, I would have to
make more than that. Now how on earth is making just enough money to
scrape by from check to check, or worse if you have to pay for your own
insurance, something to be ecstatic about?
This is tangentially related to this list because it is this exact
reason that the United States is losing its edge in the world, and also
losing our brightest minds that could be helping with managing our
wildlife. I dropped out of a natural sciences program when I realized
what an idiotic thing it was to do financially. I even thought about
teaching, but that's even worse. In parts of Colorado where I was
looking to teach, teachers make less than $17,000 per year. I can make
more than that working-in-Wal-Mart. No wonder fewer kids want to be
scientists and teachers.
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