I started my job back in 2019 at $20/hr. At the time, minimum wage was $8.60/hr in my state. We weren’t quite comfortable but we were close.
Since then, I’ve received a single pay increase of 51 cents and the official minimum wage is $11.15/hr. That being said, most places of employment are paying $15/hr minimum. I could literally walk down my street and apply at the McDonald’s or Taco Bell and get that much.
Gas has gone up $1.15+/gallon since then. I’m paying over $100 more a week for the same groceries I was getting then. Everything is up. Gas, groceries, water, electricity, property taxes, insurance. Only thing that isn’t going up is my wage.
The value of my wage has gone down so much that I’m being forced to get a part time job and add 20 hours a week to my work schedule.
I would need a minimum of $6.40/hr raise just to get the same value out of my wage I did 2 years ago.
The highest paid people on my team don’t even make that much. I could leave and potentially get that much or a little more somewhere else but I suspect I’d be job hopping every year unless I lucked out and got an employer who treats their employees fair and gave fair raises. So I’m opting to stay and study as much as possible on company time and move into the next stage of my career to hopefully future proof my wage for at least a couple years.
I work my ass off. I have technical skills and experience in an industry that desperately needs more people and will most likely never have enough skilled workers to meet the market demand. Yet I’ve gone from bottom middle class to bottom poverty in 2 years. According to the government I make to much for government assistance. According to my employer, I’m not worth what I was 2 years ago. According to my finances I can’t survive on my wage and frugal lifestyle.
Moral of the story, the US Economy, Government, and Employers all suck.
Thanks for reading my Ted Talk.