But if you work a full time job you should still make enough money to make ends meet. That is not the case these days. The minimum wage should have reached $21.72 an hour in 2012 if it kept up with increases in worker productivity, according to a study by the Center for Economic and Policy Research. The current minimum wage is 1/3 of that! People that work a full time job have a right to be able to live off their income. Try living off $7.25 an hour. Then try it with a car, a kid, a couple of bills - you just can't do it. And you forget about owning a house. And of course this is just the tip of the iceberg too - because while large corporations make millions and millions, they don't give any of it to the employees - part of the trickle-down policy that doesn't work for anyone other than the handful of those at the top.
When I was working my way through college, I had a waitress job that paid me $1 per hour, I also had several jobs tending bar where I made $3.50 per hour. And you know what? Because I could not afford much, I did not go into debt buying a bunch of things that I could not afford. I had no car. I did not make babies because I could barely afford to support myself, let alone any babies. You know what? I did not own a house either. I lived in a room in a rooming house for which I did not have to pay any rent because once a week I cleaned all the (disgusting) common areas of the house (kitchen, living room, bathrooms - yuk!) Because I was able to finish my degree without going into debt, I was able to get ahead. I simply don't believe that this is impossible today.
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