Renters need to make roughly $20,000 more a year to afford the typical rent than they did 5 years ago

return2ozma@lemmy.world to News@lemmy.world – 766 points –
Renters need to make roughly $20,000 more a year to afford the typical rent than they did 5 years ago
fortune.com
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And just for context, if you work 40 hours a week for $15 (well above minimum wage), your annual pre-tax income is $31,200.

The workers of the US really need unionize. Here in Scandinavia the average pre-tax income is closer to $84,000 with a 36-hour work week. We do however have a higher tax-rate, so that ends up at around $45,000 after taxes. Cost of living is also generally higher that the US. Of course that higher tax gives us free health care and education.

The extra fun thing is that Americans don't have that much lower of a tax burden. Only the wealthiest and those with investment-based income really pay appreciably lower taxes than in countries such as yours. However, the populace in the US gets far, far lower return on investment for their taxes (which has been continuously being reduced since Regan).

That's definitely not a solution. You just made the argument against it. The U.S. government is the primary reason why our economy is effed.

Nah, it's because we don't tax the wealthy and corporations as the average individual, and let the "market" dictate the price of inelastic sectors ie Healthcare, Food, and Housing.

Housing is elastic. I lived with my dad until I was like 30 because of housing prices.