Mapping the Gap Between Minimum Wage and Cost of Living: There’s no county in America where a minimum wage earner can support a family.

I always scratch my head on this. Minimum wage jobs aren't meant to support a family. Working as a cart pusher or sandwich maker isn't supposed to be a career choice. Those are jobs meant for younger people entering the workforce. To learn basic skills and gain basic working environment knowledge. To make a little cash alongside school. The amount of people that have no job in high school or college is absurd. I graduated high school in 1999. I'm 34 years old. I've been working since I was 12 in some capacity. In high school I worked a banquet hall as a bus boy on the weekends. In college I worked two jobs one in the morning loading orders at home depot and the other at night as a food delivery driver. I wouldn't consider any of those jobs the types of jobs I would even try to start a family with. I worked low jobs for two years after college too. When I finally got a break into a real job it still only paid $42,500 a year. I went through a lot of jobs in my twenties sliding up and down around that 42k mark. I realized that if I wanted to ever go any higher I would have to stick with a place for awhile and put in my time to get enough experience to make more than that. I worked hard, played my cards right and now make more than double that entry amount staying with the same place for almost 7 years. In that 7 years I got married, had three kids, bought two houses, cars, all kinds of life shit.

Work hard and don't give up. It will work out. I don't like saying this because it's cruel, but it's the truth. If you're 20 years old with a family you fucked up deal with the growing pains. If you're 40 years old making minimum wage still you fucked up somewhere along the road or you need to find a job you're good at.

/r/news Thread Link - citylab.com