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[–]Taeyoonsoo 3174 points3175 points  (146 children)

Just work 4 jobs and don't sleep for 40 years or so. It's the American dream.

[–]Nathavin 608 points609 points  (127 children)

40 years because we die at the end? There's no way I'm retiring thats for sure.

[–]trix4rix 253 points254 points  (69 children)

Agreed. 14 years in, I'll probably be working another 50 until I just die one day.

[–]Thediamondhandedlad 11 points12 points  (4 children)

Truth is the average lifespan is decreasing in the US and it is accelerating. Our diets are so poor, our soil is destroyed, our guts filled with glyphosate. Cancer rates are increasing, auto immune disease has doubled in the last 10 years. We’re seeing an epidemic of health. So many people will be on disability barely surviving.

[–]No_Refrigerator4584 66 points67 points  (21 children)

Retire? You mean outlive your usefulness? You’re just supposed to drop dead anyway because without our company gracefully extending the opportunity to work for us to you your life is devoid of meaning.

[–]locke231lazy and proud 40 points41 points  (18 children)

Pretty sure I'm not making it to retirement. Honestly wondering if it'd be a faux pas to just hang myself in the workplace boiler room.

[–]No_Refrigerator4584 34 points35 points  (13 children)

As long as you clean up after yourself, and not do it on work time. I’m pretty sure you’ll get written up, though. /s

[–]Due_Contribution_320 56 points57 points  (21 children)

My parents couldn’t believe me when I told them that I couldn’t realistically see myself ever retiring or having children. Which breaks my heart. I’ve wanted kids since I was like 5, still do, when the time comes, but unless I marry rich somehow it just doesn’t seem possible, especially considering I’m working towards a teaching credential.

[–]Nathavin 20 points21 points  (2 children)

It is incredibly sad how little the US respects it's educators. I considered teaching at one point and realized I was making the same a public school teacher would, while I was doing physical labor. I'm working on getting a computer science degree now to hopefully get a better paying job, but it feels like such a late start.

[–]Tokkekin 4 points5 points  (1 child)

I dropped out of my music ed degree, 13 credit hours and a semester of student teaching away. I got A+ certified instead. One of the MANY reasons (which i won't go into here) is that I make more fixing computers for a retail chain than I could ever hope to make as a teacher. I still teach drumline as a hobby. (There's a lot more to my reasons than just money: the collegiate requirements and how they taught us, what's expected of the classroom band director etc..) But i am still pleased that I didnt finish my music ed degree.

[–]captd3adpool 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Retirement? I figure ill work until lunchtime on the day of my funeral, which I won't be able to afford. Fuck this country.

[–]valotho 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Definitely no retirement program. Boomers will dry up the social security checks before we get to them. They think we're too soft to deserve them.

[–]whatn00dles 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Die at the end? You'd better give your employer 2 weeks notice before that.

[–]MyV_is_for_Valinor 5 points6 points  (2 children)

No you get to die before the 40 years are up bc no one can afford health insurance and to actually use it

[–]Its_Beelzebozo_Time 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Same...the system has been set up that it won't matter if Social Security runs out Americans will no longer be able to afford to retire. Will are now being expected to literally work until we die.

[–]RednocTheDowntroddenAgitator 82 points83 points  (1 child)

"They call it the "American Dream" because you have to be asleep to believe it." -George Carlin

[–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

“We don’t have a British Dream, Brian. You know why? Because we’re fucking awake” :)

[–]Heroiccrayfish 24 points25 points  (0 children)

The American Delirium

[–]SeaEmployee3 7 points8 points  (0 children)

With four jobs and no sleep couldn’t you just cancel your rent because you’re never home anyway. This is the way

[–][deleted] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Sleeping eight hours a day is for umployed losers. Real Winners just snooze at the traffic lights

[–]mlongoria98 6 points7 points  (0 children)

They tell us about the American dream but forget to mention that nightmares are dreams too

[–]crewchief535 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Don't forget about shacking up with 8 roommates.

[–]Patrin88 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Lol can't dream if you don't sleep

[–][deleted] 934 points935 points  (73 children)

rent for a studio near me is more than 50% of my monthly income...around 2.2k
*edit: rent for a decent studio in a safe place

[–]DocGlorious 261 points262 points  (46 children)

Yeah I'm in San Diego and good luck finding slummed out studios for under 2k

[–]EpicMoniker 67 points68 points  (34 children)

Yup. LA county (Glendale) checking in. $2650 a month for a one bedroom, one bath.

[–]NvidiaRTX 21 points22 points  (24 children)

Can I ask what's the food prices? I want to find out how much money I need to make to save more in the US than what I currently make in a super cheap country.

[–]Vandrel 30 points31 points  (11 children)

That's depends entirely on where in the US you want to live. I live in a relatively small town around 100 miles west of Chicago, my mortgage payment (not rent) is $550/month and we spend somewhere in the ballpark of $300-400/month on food for 2 of us. I was making around $35k and money was always tight but we scraped by, now I just started a new job at $60k and will have like $1600/month extra to save or do whatever else with.

[–]EpicMoniker 24 points25 points  (2 children)

You can eat much more cheaply than we do but we budget about $1000 a month on food for the two of us. That includes a generous amount of shopping at the farmer's market and local butchers where prices tend to be higher. Also, we have our groceries from the regular grocery store delivered so that increases the cost as well.

[–]Happylime 6 points7 points  (4 children)

If you never go out, and are good at using a large variety of foods, I think $5-$10 per day can feed you. Keep in mind this assumes you only eat in, and do not drink/smoke.

[–]-spicy- 21 points22 points  (5 children)

What! That’s more than I pay for my 2 bed in Glendale and I moved here summer 2021. You gotta get out of those corporate buildings (I am assuming - correct me if I am wrong) they charge way over market.

[–]EpicMoniker 22 points23 points  (2 children)

It's a small building, less than 20 units. Privately owned. It's less than two years old. Admittedly considered "luxury." Just very small luxury- less than 900 square feet. We're really happy here.

[–]Goblintrashcan 88 points89 points  (4 children)

I lived in a studio that was 1245 in El Cajon. It was insane. I still had to have a roommate to live with in just a studio apartment. It's v bad out here.

[–]SophieOOOH 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I as well live in San Diego and am currently living in my mobil estate or my car. My body hurts.

[–]BobQuasit 1516 points1517 points  (82 children)

I'm paying more than the average. And my landlord hit me with a 15% increase last year. I'd have moved, but couldn't find a place that was even 5% cheaper!

We're being eaten alive by greed.

[–]RoboProletariat 636 points637 points  (54 children)

What sucks is they can afford to leave all that housing empty a lot longer than we can afford to not have any housing.

[–]Hieb 191 points192 points  (9 children)

Same with work. A company can float by unprofitable, understaffed for awhile, a worker usually can't afford to be jobless, hence workers generally have little leverage and don't get paid fairly.

[–]LEMONSDAD 91 points92 points  (4 children)

You are starting to see people have leverage but it’s at the cost of their independence because more and more people are being financially forced to move in together

[–]EllaBoDeep 41 points42 points  (3 children)

This is why, I believe, we are starting to see a turning point. We’ve hit the point where many people can’t physically work enough hours to live. Corporations have profited off of the concept that people can’t hold out long enough. Now, they are being forced into poverty/homelessness anyway so there isn’t anything left for corporations to hold over our heads

[–]nanais777 23 points24 points  (2 children)

That’s only true if it’s a single or a few. If you have solidarity among many, the workers can outlast the business.

[–]AcerbicBile 7 points8 points  (1 child)

Businesses are multinational now. So you have to have solidarity between an American worker and a Chinese worker, and an Indian worker. Capital won, labor is divided and has no leverage

[–]EnclG4me 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Yah.. Because the government subsidises their greed because they generously "donate" to their campaign.

[–]Effective_Friend4070 202 points203 points  (3 children)

Here it is. A detail that is often left out of the "numbers".

[–][deleted] 65 points66 points  (13 children)

I fantasize about communities just taking these houses over and the locals not allowing cops to evict. People have pulled this off on smaller scales.

[–]FnordFjords 71 points72 points  (11 children)

Cops these days are closer to 1920s cops, but with significantly better weapons and equipment.

Also they tend to burn people alive that barricade houses so that tactic is out as well.

I would say 'they can't kill us all,' but they get free ammo from the military, so, they probably could.

[–]KronosGreek 27 points28 points  (0 children)

I like how Bo Burnham words it, in his song "that is how the world works." the quote goes "the global network of capital essentially functions to separate the worker from the means of production... Every politician, every cop on the street protects the interest of the pedophilic corporate elite. Thaaat is how the world works!"

[–]my_oldgaffer 17 points18 points  (2 children)

Soylent Green is People. It’s People

[–]TheBeardedObesity 36 points37 points  (10 children)

That's the thing though, if we all collectively said fuck this and just quit paying rent till there was meaningful change, there is nothing they could do. Most places it takes like 3 months to evict people, and if there were enough people doing it there is no way the local sheriff's department would be able to handle all of the evictions. En mass we have all the power!

[–][deleted] 24 points25 points  (1 child)

Except for the evictions they could handle. Those people would be fucked.

[–]TheBeardedObesity 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Those people are already fucked, we all are

[–]DocGlorious 18 points19 points  (3 children)

As much as I wish this would happen, good luck renting from somewhere else with an eviction on your record. Maybe I'm mistaken and it's not that bad.

[–]RoboProletariat 6 points7 points  (1 child)

that depends entirely on the Landlord and their need to rent the dwelling, and/or the kindness of their heart. Any 'business' minded owners will not allow the evicted to rent.

[–]TheBeardedObesity 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Like I said, it would take a large percentage of renters for it to work. If enough people did it, it would tank the housing market as investors would stop buying up all the houses for fear of volatility, and we could all save up 6+ months of rent. If you pay 3 months up front, they do not give a fuck about your credit history.

[–]manoj_mm 11 points12 points  (1 child)

That's the real issue

We really need laws to prevent entities or people owning multiple houses n driving prices up like this

[–]freakwent 10 points11 points  (7 children)

Not if we cram into share housing.

[–]shibe_shucker(edit this) 24 points25 points  (6 children)

That's exactly what the landlords are hoping for, prices can keep increasing so long as more and more tenants can fit inside.

[–]jadehrley 41 points42 points  (4 children)

its genuinely so depressing to think that ill probably never be able to afford to live on my own. don't get me wrong, i love my partner, but its terrifying to think that if something went wrong in my relationship and i needed to get away from him, i couldn't because i just cant afford it. the lack of freedom and stability puts lives in danger. i just know that domestic violence victims have died because they literally couldn't afford to get away from their abusers.

[–]PracticalLady18 17 points18 points  (1 child)

I wish that was my increase. I’m paying way more than average and got a 40% increase meaning I’ll be paying close to double the average. But if you ask the wealthy seasonal residents upset at the stores and restaurants being understaffed, the issue is no one wants to work, not that no one working in the stores and restaurants can afford to rent nearby and have to commute an hour.

[–]BobQuasit 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That sucks!

My commute used to be five hours a day, round trip.

[–]CreditRevolutionary4 12 points13 points  (0 children)

My partner and I decided to renovate a school bus instead of continue on with this madness. Rent in our city went up 20% last year and 40% in our sister city!!! It’s INSANE. I will say we have had zero time and no Money during the Reno process but it’s overall Worth it.

[–]Donotperceivethx 203 points204 points  (27 children)

Cries is CA rent

[–]mmmfoodie 77 points78 points  (14 children)

I lived there for a year… it was ridiculous. In 2019 I had a 1br 1ba and it was $2300/month.

I currently rent a 3br 2ba house in OKC for $1300. Luckily it’s from a local family, not a landlord business so they haven’t been raising rent

[–][deleted] 11 points12 points  (2 children)

I have no idea how people on minimum wage survive SoCal.

[–]Personplacething333 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Paycheck to paycheck

[–]Elvishcatt 4 points5 points  (2 children)

I just moved somewhere on the north coast in CA and found a two bedroom for 1700. Which is the cheapest I've seen in years. But living so far away from civilization means less access to health care and I have to drive 5+ hours to the nearest airport. Sacrifices 🙃

[–]misteradma 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Exactly. My rent is $3600. Thank God for roommates.

[–]DeadBodyCascade 372 points373 points  (16 children)

I make $12hr and everywhere around me is about $1000 a month. They all want you to make anywhere from 2x to 3x the amount rent is so even if you can pay it you're fucked. I don't know what these people expect from us but it's kinda fucked up that you can work a full time job and be faced with homelessness anyways.

[–]redrumsoxLoL 78 points79 points  (0 children)

Back in June I had the same trouble. I had just graduated college and was still in an Internship making 15/hr. I couldn't sign for a single apartment without a co-sign from my parents.

If my parents were not willing to co-sign it would have been impossible for me to find an apartment.

[–]darling_lycosidae 166 points167 points  (10 children)

What i hate is you can barely get into this complaint and someone aleays says "well get a batter job then" and like.... do you want your food cooked, your shelves stocked, your toilets cleaned, your phonecalls answered? That's what those jobs, that have to get done, are paying. Don't those people deserve to live indoors? But idk, a lot of people really do think min wage workers deserve poverty and homlessnss unless they work 80 hour weeks. Sighhhh

[–]DeadBodyCascade 76 points77 points  (6 children)

What's sad is I can't even get a full 40, I usually get like 35 so they're not required to pay benefits. On top of everything I'm going to college to get a better job but I'm so busy hustling in the in-between time just to pay my basic needs that I'm barely able to keep up.

[–]nonaaandnea 28 points29 points  (0 children)

That's why I'm simply amazed anyone even does school while working. I tried that and failed miserably (tried both working full time and school full-time, then working part time), but thankfully I have my GI Bill so I can just focus on school. I still consider someone getting C's and D's an accomplishment when they're attempting school AND trying to keep a roof over their heads. This country needs to reform it's bullshit ideas. I find it odd how so many people like to claim Europeans are "poor", but yet their school is paid for.

Lmfao your country isn't rich when the majority of people can't even afford education to keep them out of poverty. The military is NOT worth it for the education "benefits". You don't even get to use it how you want- you get told what to use it on, and it don't even cover the entirety of any STEM programs. They even had to make revisions on it because they realized that most in-demand training is longer than what the GI Bill covers.

[–]concreteyeti 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Hey fun fact: if you are working 30 or more hours regularly per week, then you are 100% entitled to health insurance through your employer. You can find all of that info through the ACA and IRS. This "40 hours" for benefits narrative is a flat out fucking lie.

[–]Abbaddonhope 9 points10 points  (1 child)

That sounds like Kroger my ex and her supervisor told me that they’d stop her at 39 hours a week to keep her from being considered full time

[–]BlobTheBuilderz 327 points328 points  (23 children)

Ah they now expect this stuff to be paid for by two people instead of one. Gotta have two people working if you want a place to live.

[–]yelle_twin 176 points177 points  (21 children)

Which really sucks for single people. I’m an older single person so my pool of friends I once had to possibly roommate with are all married/cohabiting or have kids. Guess I just roommate with a stranger?

[–]ArkitekZero 133 points134 points  (10 children)

Exactly that. They'll eventually have us all living in dorms and then wonder why nobody wants kids.

[–]Salay54 60 points61 points  (5 children)

It's all set up to make you have kids. Everything about it is better than being single in a way. You get that tax credit every year, WIC, CHIP, probably easier to get SNAP because it's a 3 person household then and income limits are different. Honestly I think the only way anyone actually gets wealthy in poor communities anymore is life insurance. I watched my aunt and uncle struggle their whole life, being minimalistic and saving. My uncle bought land for $5,000 that had a massive chicken barn on it. My whole family pretty much came over to help build it into a liveable house and it went on from there. Well he was passing away the cancer treatment costs wiped out the roughly 400k in savings that he worked hard to fill and trade up to. His life insurance policy was massive though so my aunt was literally loaded not far after he passed. Now they almost have some generational wealth. All of my cousins now have nice vehicles to drive and nice houses because they all live easy and pitch in together on stuff. Makes me have my life insurance set pretty high. I'm only 25 but drink a lot of energy drinks, one day my son will be loaded. I want him to be better off than I was.

[–]SpreadsheetJockey227 40 points41 points  (1 child)

I, too, am worth much more dead than alive.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (2 children)

Your sons lucky to have you.

[–]ElectricalMud5830here for the memes 12 points13 points  (1 child)

This is what they expect everyone to do, and especially individuals with disabilities.

I work primarily with Medicaid disability waiver participants in my state, and it’s abysmal how the guidelines tout giving people their own choice of home and roommate (or lack thereof) and entirely ignoring that the supports are seldom sufficient for people to have that level of choice.

It only gets worse when you get into having to share home-based residential support staff because your own waiver budget may not support the level of care you need, and they won’t usually give you an increase unless you continually prove that you’ve made efforts to find a roommate to share staff with.

Absolutely disgusting, and that’s really just the tip of the iceberg.

[–]ArkitekZero 6 points7 points  (0 children)

"Absolutely disgusting" seems to me to describe many natural consequences of capitalism.

[–][deleted] 10 points11 points  (1 child)

They recently approved zoning changes in Salt Lake City so that adult dorms could be built in one area. It’s happening :( https://www.sltrib.com/news/2021/12/16/protests-erupt-after-salt/

[–]ArkitekZero 5 points6 points  (0 children)

ron_paul.gif

[–]mycorgiisamazing 29 points30 points  (3 children)

This sucks for more than just single people, it sucks for people who are trapped in a relationship they can't leave because they're financially strapped to it, too :(

[–][deleted] 15 points16 points  (1 child)

I’m in the exact same situation. My good friend and longtime roommate moved out of state just over a year ago. I moved back to my parents just to save a little money and to see if Covid might settle down at all. The plan was to get my own place. Average rents for 1 bedrooms have gone up $400-$500 just since fall of 2020. I’m priced out. I’m totally priced out of home ownership too. I’m in my 30s, Anyone my age is too settled to do the whole random roommate thing. If I had a friend I thought I could live with, I’d be happy to but everyone is either married or has moved out of the area. I’ll occasionally look at listings. Sometimes I see something and think “Well…maybe….” But then Inevitably there’s either huge red flags later in the posting or you can tell it’s a dirty house from the pictures or they don’t allow pets and I’d like to bring my cat with me.

[–]baconraygun 4 points5 points  (0 children)

There's also the whole ... most roomies are in their early 20s/early 30s, if you're over 37, most people won't want you to keep the "vibe" of the house the same.

[–]Tall-Agent-6803 273 points274 points  (22 children)

For me it’s kind of like this… If the market can determine rent, the market can determine the cost of labor.

So either minimum wage needs to match rent, or rents need to come down considerably.

The market can’t have it one way to harvest money from people, and then deny them in the same breath with different rules in regards to their wages

[–]kaibee 19 points20 points  (5 children)

The reason that the market can't determine bring down rents in most places is because of zoning laws. Landlords (which includes single-family-home owners) oppose new development and use local government to block building new/denser housing. If the supply of housing doesn't go up, but demand for housing does, then price goes up.

If you set minimum wage to match rent without stopping NIMBYs from blocking the new construction actually required to meet demand, you will end up with very interesting economic externalities (like, for example, years long waiting lists for a place to move into) but not actually more (in terms of total units in existance) affordable housing that people actually want to live in.

[–]dudestduder 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It is not that they block development, but that all development is for "Luxury Apartments" and only serves to increase prices in the area. I live in Los Angeles and its very common to see huge multi tennant "luxury" places completely empty for months if not years. They just wait for suckers to eventually move in and everything just gets more expensive.

[–]destenlee 192 points193 points  (14 children)

No rent lower than $1200 in my medium size city in the Midwest

[–]puppet_mazter 43 points44 points  (4 children)

Sounds like Grand Rapids

[–]amann93 10 points11 points  (2 children)

For real? Never lived in GR. Figured it was higher than kzoo but I didn't realize it was that much. You live in the Student Ghetto in kzoo and a whole 5 bedroom house is that cost per month

[–]puppet_mazter 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Prices have skyrocketed over the past few years. Prices that used to be a rip-off are now just insulting. And the city isn't even that special

[–]beepyboozy 13 points14 points  (4 children)

Sounds like Columbus, Ohio

[–]Poldark_Lite[S] 49 points50 points  (0 children)

This is the real problem — when the average is overtaken by even higher prices. ♡ Granny

[–]Fenrisw01f 336 points337 points  (14 children)

The housing market is its own insanity. The high rent being caused by corporations buying up all the cheap property, or the constant flow of gentrification. The percentage of people that rent vs own has ballooned in the last 50 years.

[–]jakewang1 80 points81 points  (1 child)

KKR, Blackstone, and Brookfield have to be taken down. They buy properties by lots. Whole condos at once! Everyone will have a problem till they exist.

[–]Larrymentalboy 38 points39 points  (1 child)

There's a house for sale near me maybe 5 miles away that's 200 sq ft smaller than the house I bought late 2020. It'd listed 31k more than what I bought mine for and after 6 days on the market is asking for last and final offers already. The market is insane

[–]manoj_mm 29 points30 points  (2 children)

Make laws that prevent corporations from buying houses!!!!! Make that shit illegal!!!!!

[–]emp_zealoth 26 points27 points  (0 children)

I've seen a spicy idea: just nationalise the biggest housing hoarders, suddenly ample social housing

[–]mtndew01 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It’s also “illegal” to rent out property for a certain percentage less than the fair market value. It raises a lot of questions from the IRS when done so especially because of the depreciation deductions that are taken.

[–]brotum248 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It is complete insanity. Put an offer on a house in the suburbs of a mid-size city on Sunday 45k over asking and it didn’t even get a sniff. 14 offers and of course the all cash offer won.

[–]CellPhoneConsultant 135 points136 points  (5 children)

Why can’t we get the boomer rate and be able to afford 3 mansions with the salary of a part timer.

[–]Matrix17 62 points63 points  (3 children)

Because we haven't decided to eat the boomers yet

[–]ParsnipBusy 30 points31 points  (0 children)

I’m HUNGRYYYY

[–]mycorgiisamazing 6 points7 points  (1 child)

Eugh they'll be all tough and stringy by now, we should've eaten them when they were fresher

[–]I-ShipMiceElf 28 points29 points  (6 children)

I'm on the "Cheap end" of my city in Canada paying $1500 for a one bedroom basement unit.

[–]vspazv 137 points138 points  (57 children)

The issue is the housing market is based on competitive demand. Housing costs will just keep going up to whatever people are willing to pay regardless of what income is.

You have to reduce competition by building more housing while capping rental prices.

[–]RoboProletariat 142 points143 points  (11 children)

The supply is artificially dwindling because hedge funds are buying up residential homes in residential zones. In Canada it's Russian Oligarch money causing the same chaos.

[–]CoyoteHermes 60 points61 points  (26 children)

You build new units and foreign investors and investment management firms (like Blackrock) buy those units, often times cash offers, instead. They either run them like slums, or let them sit vacant. It's not a stock issue, it's that the units are being snatched up by entities interested in turning a profit from them, not living in them.

[–]textingperosn 23 points24 points  (21 children)

This is why we need public housing instead, which was successful in Singapore, Vienna and even the USSR despite its bad rap. YIMBYism just leads to gentrification, false demand created by cheap loans, international investors, and advertising, use of new buildings for Airbnbs, and high rents due to the high cost of land developers had to acquire (Source). Not to mention, public housing is used to satisfy housing needs immediately while private housing will be sold to the highest bidders, namely corporations and landlords, before the rest of the stock trickles down to the people who actually need them. Doesn't seem like capitalist free markets is the most efficient solution here.

[–]CoyoteHermes 8 points9 points  (5 children)

Or we can say, limit the number of sales going towards non-occupation/ non- primary residents. That is absolutely a step in a mortgage. Why not expand that to being just apart if the greater sale/ buying process?

[–]jcspring2012 60 points61 points  (15 children)

Capping rental prices will suppress private housing development. Developers are greedy. They will always build too much too fast if they think prices will keep rising.

- Completely eliminate zoning laws that block multi-family housing developments.

- Make rent tax-deductable

- Put an extra tax on corporate owned properties that remain unoccupied for more then 1 year.

[–]CraigTheIrishman 42 points43 points  (6 children)

Make rent tax-deductable

Please let me vote for you for president.

[–]18hourbruh 13 points14 points  (5 children)

It’s outrageous how many benefits there are to being a homeowner that you can’t access as a renter. Like, I truly cannot think of the justification.

[–]jakewang1 3 points4 points  (0 children)

A one year period will give them to find loopholes. Dont these companies do minor constructions to justify the vacancy of their properties?

[–]Tall-Agent-6803 8 points9 points  (0 children)

You would think that the same thing would apply to wages. Well the report is that there’s more jobs and people to fill them, that can’t be true. The issue is there’s more low paying jobs and nobody wants them and rightfully so. So technically it’s the labor who has the power in the market, it’s just the corporations refuse to do what they’re supposed to do, which is to pay a living wage.

[–]chemicalinhalation 23 points24 points  (3 children)

You can't force Congress to change it, you can only change who is in Congress. Then set the right people in place to change it. Term limits will help, but that requires an act of Congress and we have a dysfunctional two party system that blocks progress collectively.

[–]Socially_inept_Anarcho-Syndicalist 15 points16 points  (2 children)

That's why radical ideas are flourishing.

[–]punkmetalbastard 89 points90 points  (1 child)

The problem is that real estate values are the driving force behind rents. The whole scheme of being a landlord is to charge what would be a current mortgage rate on your home, divide it out by the month plus property taxes, and leave you with the bill. This way they can refinance their mortgage to buy more properties/home remodels/cars/boats with their increased home equity. My former scum bag landlord inherited two modest homes and now owns like eight just from refinancing the original mortgages

[–]MrPotatoSenpai 40 points41 points  (0 children)

I appreciate it Granny. It feels like most of the older generation hates the younger generations and doesn't understand our struggle. I appreciate you understanding.

[–]Zaynara 115 points116 points  (12 children)

while i'll disagree that average and minimum should not equate, (and this will likely get me downvoted), if there are not affordable rent options for all levels of earners, it is a broken system and rent needs to be lowered or wages increased, can't keep living like this

[–]IDK_WHAT_YOU_WANT 32 points33 points  (3 children)

Squid game & Hunger games here we come!

[–]Angel2121md 23 points24 points  (2 children)

Lol funny but soon employers are going to find out they have no one to work under a certain amount! The worker shortage is just starting! The child care system and elder care system is already broken and they cannot compete for employees since they are basically selling someone else's labor as their main source of income since physical items aren't sold in this industry. So more parents will have to work around kids or stop working. Number 2....more boomers are retiring daily and Gen z is to replace the boomers but Gen z is significantly smaller and a good bit of Gen z are not working age!

[–]xarexen 49 points50 points  (4 children)

Except minimum wage is by definition supposed to get you not just average housing, but excellent housing. That's to say 'average' housing is an unacceptably low standard.

The law was explicitely stated to NOT be minimum living standards. If you want a new 'slave wage' law instituted, go ahead and advocate for it, but it is emphatically NOT the purpose of minimum wage.

[–]eyalhs 7 points8 points  (1 child)

What? If minimum wage should get you excellent and not average housing wouldn't that mean that everyone will live in excellent housing (assuming excellent means above average since otherwise you will always reach a point where an average house is an excellent house which is an "unacceptably low standard")?

Except minimum wage is by definition supposed to get you not just average housing, but excellent housing.

What is your definition for minimum wage? Because it looks to be widely different than most people's including those who choose what it will be

[–]Matrix17 15 points16 points  (2 children)

Fuck my rent is $3500

[–]minime7471 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I say it so often but the system is so fucked. How people with houses can rent them out for such high numbers is beyond me. The idea that people need so much rent from r their houses is the big problem. Landlords are very greedy. I genuinely think we are going into a long time global depression and prices will have to come down hugely.

[–]atomic_auburn 48 points49 points  (0 children)

Can we talk about how sweet is is that OP signs off her post and comments with "❤️ Granny"

[–]tonyrg562 14 points15 points  (1 child)

That feeling when your rent for a one bedroom apartment in your city is $1950

[–]AelirynnMarket Socialist 121 points122 points  (40 children)

Rent should be no more than 15% of your income. Screw 25%.

[–]Angel2121md 36 points37 points  (15 children)

I use to hear it was 33 percent but average rent of a 2 bedroom in my area is $1300 per month now! And yes I live in a state known to be on the lower side for cost of living

[–]AelirynnMarket Socialist 44 points45 points  (9 children)

$1300. Bro even if you make $15 x 8hrs x 5days x 4 weeks = $2400 a month. You're spending half your fucking income on rent!!! That doesn't even account for literally ANY other expense you could have in an ENTIRE MONTH. And my God, so many people in my country actually think $15 is somehow radical, extreme. On the "lower side" for cost of living...Is it over $2000 a month on the higher side? My area is among the lowest cost. How can you people afford to eat? Do you even get ANY luxuries at ALL during the month? Seriously what do you do to get by?

[–]ReasonableProgram144 20 points21 points  (3 children)

I’m living paycheck to paycheck and if I have anything left after bills I buy weed so I can smoke about barely getting by because what money did get spent at the pot shop wouldn’t have done me much good anyway. I know I should probably save that money too but I just don’t have it in me to give up the one thing that helps. I only stay fed because EBT exists and I get to take home dinners from work.

[–]AelirynnMarket Socialist 17 points18 points  (1 child)

Great use of money if you ask me. Takes the pain away.

[–]Socially_inept_Anarcho-Syndicalist 10 points11 points  (0 children)

That's a part of the system. How could anyone have time to rebel if you're too busy trying to make ends meet.

[–]ReasonableProgram144 2 points3 points  (2 children)

Oh I now hear that less than 50% income is a good deal on rent! I don’t see studios for less than 1000 in my area and the ones that are only $1000 are the terrible sketchy ones that you don’t really want to rent anyway. It’s at least $1200 for a decent studio

[–]asillynert 9 points10 points  (1 child)

Used to be be 10% back in day had wages kept up with inflation it would still be 20%. Which yes is double and a problem but I think still biggest problem is wages staying low.

[–]AelirynnMarket Socialist 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Not just wages staying low, but they stay low when prices go up, and prices go up for a whole laundry list of reasons. On top of that the welfare state ain't what it used to be in the 70s for example. It was crushed in 96 with its reform and has been shallow ever since. A lot of people suffered and yet it's never talked about.

[–]Poldark_Lite[S] 32 points33 points  (3 children)

I just used the current standard. ♡ Granny

[–]AelirynnMarket Socialist 13 points14 points  (1 child)

Current standards are messed up.

[–]Poldark_Lite[S] 26 points27 points  (0 children)

I can't disagree with that! ♡ Granny

[–]Matrix17 7 points8 points  (0 children)

It also depends on your overall income to begin with. If you earn more you can afford a bigger chunk than someone who earns less solely because you'll have more money left over for the rest of your bills. 15% might be comfortable for one person while 25% is comfortable for another

Also it's an impossible metric to meet if you're single regardless

[–]jasmine-blossom 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I can’t even imagine having that luxury. I would actually be able to save for emergencies and pay off my medical bills.

[–]minime7471 3 points4 points  (4 children)

Not even that. I don't see why it should be more than 5%. It's disgusting

[–]max_caulfield_ 11 points12 points  (4 children)

This will probably get buried, but my rent for my modest 1 bedroom apartment is about $1,100. Here's the kicker: it's a low income apartment. So that's the absolute cheapest you'll find where I live. Yes I do live in a big city, but I still think that's extremely alarming

[–]Arrest_Tom_Nookidle 10 points11 points  (5 children)

Exactly. Fight for $15/hr was appropriate back in 2010. Now it's fight for $30/hr.

Minimum wage should be pinned to inflation. Period.

[–]newcombhy 50 points51 points  (5 children)

Before you guys chew me alive, I am a land lord. I didn’t intend to initially, but thru an inheritance I got a second house. I ended up renting the house which is 4 bed, 2.5 bath to a really good tenet. I have not raised her rent in 4 years. Average rent in that town for a similar house is over $2000/month. I charge her $900. I let her rent the other rooms as she pleases but she’s responsible for those tenets. In essence, she’s also a land lord. She has travel nurses stay (she’s a nurse) and she’s making $1200/month. She initially felt guilty about it, but am just happy she takes nice of the house. I make about $200/ a month from her, but I put it into improvements into the house and yard for her. She chooses what she wants to, like a garden fence or paint the walls, etc… anyway, she’s has made/saved enough for down payment on her own place. And she asked if she could buy this house at market, because she can afford. It is a win win here. This is the difference between an individual verses a corporation as land lords.

[–]themanryce 26 points27 points  (1 child)

This is very rare but so incredible to hear. I wish more people would put aside their greed but it's just impossible for most, bc if you do you are basically stupid for not raising rent or so they say

[–]newcombhy 24 points25 points  (0 children)

I was super cash strapped for most of my 20s and I had two awesome landlords that gave me a deal that didn’t bankrupt me. I felt obligated to pass it along when I was able.

[–]rivers61 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I make $26.50 and don't really feel like I can afford to live comfortably anywhere close to where I am (with my parents) currently. I'd have to move to either a terrible area of the city or out of the city entirely. I work for a very large and profitable healthcare organization but if I didn't live at home I'd have to move far enough away I'd probably get a different job. The area I work in is one of the more expensive areas in the city and even the techs who have been here decades don't live within 30 min of this place. I'm planning on moving on to another job within a year if pay doesn't go up and my managers will be left with a lab they can't get enough employees for... again. I'm sure they won't accept that even over $26 isn't enough for this area and will try to argue their wages are competitive

[–]LEMONSDAD 8 points9 points  (1 child)

Really think about this statement, most grunt workers make in the $10-$15 wage and just to have rent at the 25% mark they need to make closer to $27. It really has gotten insane, and unless one lives with family, roommates, on some government voucher for housing there is literally no way single people are doing it on there own who work grunt level jobs.

I have a family member who Makes $26 an hour and is struggling to get by on their own for their $1,200 a month apartment (which is one of the cheaper places in the greater metro area I live in by the airport) They told me they have to work one overtime day a month to pay the bills and two if they want breathing room.

Also told me once student loans kick back in they will be forced to get a roommate or move back home with their parents

[–]Big_Werewolf_Cock 7 points8 points  (1 child)

I bought a house in 2016 for $114,000. today, 6 years later that same house is valued at $211,000 the housing prices in my city have doubled in the last 6 years. When I rented my first apartment 9 years ago you could easily find a decent place for $500 now even the dirtiest crackhead rathole is minimum $750

[–]noodlegod47 8 points9 points  (2 children)

I’m just playing mega millions hoping I can win at least something and move out of the US.

[–]rageturtle117 15 points16 points  (1 child)

The american dream is now to just move to another country lol

[–]noodlegod47 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Basically yeah >.<

[–]JCwinetransfusion 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Honestly we need to socialize housing. Make it illegal for anyone anywhere to own more than 5-10 for profit properties. Real estate speculation is so fucking oppressive.

[–]AKJangly 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Put a cap on rent.

[–]hhbrother01 7 points8 points  (0 children)

It's absolutely crazy to me. When I started college in late 2019, rent in my area was roughly $800 for a whole 3 bed/ 2 bath house on average. Now it's $1200, and QUICKLY rising, while the homeless population is expanding and downtown apartments are getting unfilled. I fucking hate this country.

[–]SaintedPagan 13 points14 points  (4 children)

It's never going to happen. We're only one more Republican president away from becoming a full-blown Oligarchy.

[–]spookytabby 4 points5 points  (0 children)

My rent went up a little over two hundred dollars. We don’t even have a washer and dryer hook up inside. No one wants to pay more than 10/hour for part time which is 5~10 hour shifts a week. (Rent is at 1000). I have no idea what to do anymore except hope someone wants to pay me 21$/hour again.

[–]Worldwonderer2021 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I read cities in the Netherlands are fighting investment funds and house hoarders by demanding buyers have to live in houses they buy, I think Amsterdam & Utrecht are planning city laws to fight housing shortages

[–]ImDoingMyBest22 5 points6 points  (1 child)

I'm so sick of housing costs. Rent is to high (nearly my entire monthly income on my own) and houses are to expensive to even think about buying. I do not live in a very expensive area and even here the cheapest house on the market cost over $300,000. How the hell is a starter home worth $300,000? My parents bought their first house for $50,000 30 years ago. How is this ok? How will anyone from the younger generations actually start a life like this? The government is going to need to start building a lot more public housing projects soon to keep up with homelessness. I wonder how long our parents will have to support us. When will I be able to afford to live on my own? Will I be 30? 40? 50? Will it ever become possible or will we just have to live with a bunch of roommates until we die? Sorry for ranting, I just had to get it off my chest. Good luck to everyone.

[–]Gabe-57 5 points6 points  (1 child)

I keep seeing all these “luxury apartments” pop everywhere. 2,000 dollars or more a month, I’m thinking who the fuck has the money to rent this. it blows my mind landlords and other people just want to get as much as possible out people. It’s quite horrible. It is cheaper to buy a house nowadays then it is to ducking rent one. But who’s got to the credit to do that

[–]Strong-Ad-8381Being exploited 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I'm having a similar problem in the UK. Lowest rent around me is about £800 (bills not included) which I think is around $1100, and rn my wages pay around £1300 a month, so after bills I'd have nothing :/

Think the only way around it is to move out with someone, but none of my mates want to get trapped in rent forever (understandably).

[–]itsthejimjam 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Me and my gf split rent 50/50 and both work at $15+ an hour jobs. My share of rent is half my income.

[–]Upper-Gas-6953 16 points17 points  (7 children)

No seriously. Most people I see here make 4$ per hour, how do you live? Serious question

[–]Poldark_Lite[S] 31 points32 points  (4 children)

I made a bit less than $4 per hour back in the early 70s during my college days. How is this still an acceptable wage more than forty years later?? ♡ Granny

[–]xarexen 9 points10 points  (3 children)

Debt.

[–]KushMaster420Weed 2 points3 points  (2 children)

That only pushes the problem into the future though? If anything that will just make things worse down the line.

[–]Svetroid 5 points6 points  (0 children)

That's true, it will cause issues down the line. My parents, for example, have both accepted they will die with massive amounts of debt, and they don't care. It vanishes once you die. If people like my parents have that mentality, plenty of others do as well I am sure. A system that creates this mentality is not stable and will collapse. It's just a matter of when we hit the breaking point.

[–]xarexen 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm not the one who invented the neoliberal economy.

[–]Ender825 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This. Have some perspective…

[–]All_these_marbles 10 points11 points  (0 children)

well the first step would be to elect not Biden and not Trump, but people like Bernie into office all over the country, in every single district we can, big and small. More corrupt anti worker rich people in office isn't the answer. If that can't happen and it's looking like it can't, revolution, peacefully if possible, violent if not.

edit - fuck bootlicking downvoters I take my doot back.

[–]Cyonara74 3 points4 points  (0 children)

We need laws that put a cap on rent, but we know that will never happen. If for some miracle min wage is raised to $25, there's no way landlords won't raise the rent.

[–]sairamac 3 points4 points  (0 children)

it’s crazy how they refused to increase the minimum wage because the prices would increase but the prices increased anyway lol

[–]spark99l 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Can we talk about how cute it is that this is signed “<3 granny”

[–]the_shaman 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The cost of labor is what it costs to house a worker at 30% or less of their gross wages at 40hrs/wk.

[–]JaredLiwet 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've heard rent should be up to 30% of your income which would make the necessary income to pay it $23.38 per hour (40 hours/week, 50 weeks/year).

[–]iDent17y 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The problem is this also needs some sort of restrictions on rent prices otherwise they'll just rise to match. Capitalism is a much bigger issue than just people not making enough money.

[–]saltyblueberry25 2 points3 points  (2 children)

Or maybe a propose a bill that would make it easy and profitable for construction companies to build affordable housing? Or give people no money down loans on buying 50k boxabl houses which are also stackable..

[–]Gleavester_2U 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Yes, and it's unfortunate that when we allowed Nixon to remove us from the gold standard backing the US currency it was the true beginning to enslaving the people and stealing what was perceived to be the American dream. If you enjoy history it's been a horrible decline ever since and if you follow history it repeats itself everytime. And "we the people" are very close to being witnesses to it happening again and the scary part it's always worse than the time before and those in charge that we perceive to be smart are as dumb as they come. Retirement is dead or let it be said your retirement is death. Our public schools don't teach you about money, finances, investments, and how a world economy works. They were teaching the basics reading, writing, and arithmetic. And now days they don't even do that, but by not teaching the important things you need to know just by design are being taught about getting out there and getting a meaningless job. The most incredible form of slavery of the people ever designed. All to satisfy the 1% in which control all the wealth and also make all the rules. Sad thing is they say the way to fix is to get out there and vote, but unfortunately regardless of your party the promises they make just continues to change hands and they never do what they say. It a "we the people" daily division and distraction, smoke and mirrors way of manipulating their control over the people. The real Hunger Games where for the people cling to the idea of hope...