FYI.. @50K per year= $25 hr...GROSS

[SoCalDem]

a 40 hr workweek w/ 2-wks UNPaid vacation is 2K hours

that salary some places would be plenty, but now add a spouse and a few kids, and tack on student loan costs, car payments, rent, food, health insurance, car insurance, utilities, taxes withheld. etc...

even if 50k seems great (for some areas), it probably does not allow for much, if any, savings for the future.

Spouses usually work too,m but then we have to also add childcare, costs of second commuting vehicle, and fast foods instead of meals prepped at home..and the schedules often do not mesh, so we may need to factor in a divorce lawyer or two..

I used the unpaid 2 weeks, because some companies are offering unpaid leave, and paid vacations..not so much... or at least for the first 3-5 years.
......................................................................................................
18K for the same hours = $9 hr Gross

of course, people who make $18k a year only WISH they could get 40 hours a week,
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30K = $15hr gross

No matter the gross amounts bandied about by pols, we all have to live on the net..

[Mass]

1. And it is still above the median personal salary in this country

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_United_States

and around the median household salary in 2010 (probably not much higher nowadays)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_household_income

[SoCalDem]

2. and to think our "illustrious" politicians cannot bring themselves to vote for $10

How many jobs listed these days come with $15+hr wages?

Not many, I'd venture..

[4Q2u2]

3. I make Just above that per hour

I have 4 kids, a sick wife and I am on the verge of losing everything. Also make 100.00 per month too much for SNAP and other help.
So there are not enough hours in the day for someone to 9/hr it and not struggle mightily. One has to be a special kind of ass to witness suffering and ignore it.