Not sure if this is the right place, but I've wanted to rant about it since I've started working.
I'm 25, I work full time and am making around 15% more than minimum wage (not in the US). When I got my first paycheck, I told my parents how much I earned and my father said it was “everso slightly more” than what he earned at the very end of his career (more than a decade ago). It got me thinking.
My family lived on a single income, my father's one. He did not graduate from high school. He did not even go to high since he has never graduated from middle school. And with his “low-skilled” job (I don't like this expression but how else can we say it?) he managed to afford :
- a 80m² house on a 1.5km² land
- multiple cars (constantly one more than family members we had), granted it was never new or high quality cars, but always cars that would actually start and run.
- 2 RV's!! These are so much expensive now!!
- a few dogs and cats at all time (with the obligatory food that comes with owning pets)
- 3 kids with my mom + had to pay child support for another child he got before
- He would smoke a pack daily and go to bars regularly.
- A 20m3 swimming pool that he would empty and fill up every single year, with the obvious additionnal expenses that a swimming pools comes with!
On the other hand, with the salary I got now, I'm forced to live with my parents again (I do feel pretty lucky as they are super chill with it and are actually very happy that I get to hang out with them as much as I do)
I checked around the place we live and the salary I have is theoretically not enough to rent the LEAST expensive appartment around here (which is much more than a third of my income) . Yeah you read that right, it's not like I could be picky or “I don't want to share a room” no, the least expensive one is above my means. I make enough money to live on the street (in my car? Oh wait, I can't, I go to work on a bicycle because cars are so expensive now). Hope I can save up enough money so I can actually get out of this situation, but it's rough. I can't imagine how it is for people who don't get support from their families.
(Just to clarify, I don't have anything against my parents. The title is more about “the last generation” than just my parents, but since I've wanted to only talk about my special case, I phrased it this way) Love you mom & dad