Largely a rant. I'm 21, in school going for my bachelor's, and I've been fortunate enough that my parents have been able to help me as much as they have. They aren't covering everything, but enough to make my life easier. It's something I hope to repay some day in the future when I can afford to.
But, I've realized that without their help, someone like me wouldn't even make it. If they had kicked me out right when I turned 18 and offered no help, I would be so screwed. So royally screwed. To an extent that i dont even know how this was allowed.
Someone getting paid minimum wage working 40 hours a week makes about a THIRD of the cost of living where I am. How?! Why is this allowed?
I don't see how a company can live with paying their employees a wage they can't even live off of, and still treat them like crap. Some places I've worked at treat people making at/near minimum wage employees they're just slaves. I hear some people (including my own family) talk about how my generation is “lazy and lacks work ethic”, but the truth is, people are willing to work, but the way they get treated and the amount we get paid isn't enough to get by.
When looking at some websites to see some statistics, a lot of the more popular results are just not true or outdated. One site said milk was 1 dollar per gallon, when in truth its more like 3 or 4 dollars. They say a cheap apartment is 600-700 a month, but really it's like 800-1000, and for anything decent it only goes up from there.
Long story short, sh*ts expensive and thank you mom and dad for everything you've done, I love you guys!