Wealth distribution in the US

[Habbaku]

$14.50.

[merithyn]

Working 138 hours a week to live in New Jersey? That's the American Dream.

I don't know why a person on a minimum wage would have a 2 bedroom.

So that they don't have to share a bedroom with all of their kids?

[The Larch]

So the top quintile is the same everywhere but the bottom quintile depends on the area?

[OttoVonBismarck]

Why should someone stupid enough to have multiple kids while earning only the minimum wage expect anything other than abject misery in life?

[merithyn]

Another fun map.

How many hours would someone need to work at minimum wage to afford a two-bedroom apartment in their state?

How does that define "afford"?  Surely other living expenses are added into that.

http://www.upworthy.com/how-many-minimum-wage-work-hours-does-it-take-to-afford-a-2-bdrm-apartment-in-yo?g=2

[merithyn]

Why should someone stupid enough to have multiple kids while earning only the minimum wage expect anything other than abject misery in life?

Yes, because as we've seen here on Languish, no one ever loses their high-paying jobs and are forced to look for lower-wage positions. Once you have that high-flying gig, you're set for life!

[garbon]

But I am not sure what sounds like a nightmare about a perfect meritocratic society. Everybody making their own destiny based on their ability sounds like a good thing to me.

If I had children, I wouldn't want to have to watch them fail.

[garbon]

Working 138 hours a week to live in New Jersey? That's the American Dream.

I don't know why a person on a minimum wage would have a 2 bedroom.

So that they don't have to share a bedroom with all of their kids?

I don't know why they would think they should be raising children on a minimum wage. They barely have enough (/not enough) money to take care of themselves.

[garbon]

So the top quintile is the same everywhere but the bottom quintile depends on the area?

It is just for the purposes of the comparison as obviously the top 5th in New York is different from Macon, Georgia. And no both are fixed on that map, I believe.

[Valmy]

I don't know why they would think they should be raising children on a minimum wage. They barely have enough (/not enough) money to take care of themselves.

Yet millions do.

[MadImmortalMan]

Another fun map.

How many hours would someone need to work at minimum wage to afford a two-bedroom apartment in their state?

How does that define "afford"?  Surely other living expenses are added into that.

http://www.upworthy.com/how-many-minimum-wage-work-hours-does-it-take-to-afford-a-2-bdrm-apartment-in-yo?g=2

Moving to Wyoming is looking pretty good about now.

[garbon]

Why should someone stupid enough to have multiple kids while earning only the minimum wage expect anything other than abject misery in life?

Yes, because as we've seen here on Languish, no one ever loses their high-paying jobs and are forced to look for lower-wage positions. Once you have that high-flying gig, you're set for life!

At the same time, I think everyone knows that minimum wage isn't going to be enough to live comfortably with multiple children.

[garbon]

I don't know why they would think they should be raising children on a minimum wage. They barely have enough (/not enough) money to take care of themselves.

Yet millions do.

An entirely different discussion.

[Barrister]

So apparently the easy way to guarantee upward mobility is to live on top of shale oil deposits.

Can't that be read also as some of the bluer regions having less difference between bottom and top quintiles? Getting to the top quintile in some of the bigger metro areas (NY, LA) must be pretty fucking difficult, no matter how many opportunities you have, while the same in Bumfuck, ND, should be much easier.

Maybe it'd be much more instructive to have the same map but with the middle quintile as target, rather than the top one.

But NYC for example has a pretty decent rate of upward mobility.

No, the dark blue areas coincide very nicely with the areas undergoing a boom due to shale fracking.

By the way I think you'd get a similar effect in parts of Alberta.  Working in the oil patch = money.  You have plenty of farm kids pulling in incomes higher than mine.  You'd easily be in the top quintile if you work in the patch.

[merithyn]

I don't know why they would think they should be raising children on a minimum wage. They barely have enough (/not enough) money to take care of themselves.

Yet millions do.

An entirely different discussion.

I don't think it is. In fact, I think it's definitely part of the discussion. If those making minimum wage cannot afford to live by themselves, how can we expect families to survive when they're forced into those jobs? That is, I think, exactly what this discussion is about.