Rattibha

Market Sentiment

6 Tweets Mar 03, 2023

During the last 4 decades, the minimum wage has only grown 2x but
Rents - 5x
Housing - 6x
Public College - 10x
We have to now work twice or thrice as hard as our parents just to get by.
Next time someone asks you to “pull yourself up by your bootstraps”, show them this🧵

A baby boomer making minimum wage in 1982 only had to work 73 hours to make rent compared to 183 hours now.
Let that sink in for a moment - A 40-hour work week will only translate to 160 hours a month. So, you can work for a full month and still won't be able to pay your rent!

We don't even have to talk about buying a house. Just in the last decade, real estate prices have gone up 70% whereas the minimum wage has gone up only.. wait for it.. 0%

In the 80s you could afford to go to a private college by just working one month at minimum wage - at the current wage, you will have to work 4 months - i.e no college.

All of the above calculations are considering just that expense. Add to this your daily expenses, medicals, transportation, and recent inflation - The situation is very bleak.
Unless we do something drastic, just getting by will become a challenge for majority of the country