30 Sep 08
1 edit
Want to see what a worker in your community would have to earn to keep their housing affordable? Are you curious to know if you are paying more in rent than what is considered affordable (30% of income)? Type in the monthly rent for your home, or a home in your community, and see what income you need to earn for it to be affordable.
http://www.nlihc.org/oor/oor2008/calc.cfm
I will give an example from California:
In California, the Fair Market Rent (FMR) for a two-bedroom apartment is $1,249. In order to afford this level of rent and utilities, without paying more than 30% of income on housing, a household must earn $4,162 monthly or $49,940 annually. Assuming a 40-hour work week, 52 weeks per year, this level of income translates into a Housing Wage of $24.01.
In California, a minimum wage worker earns an hourly wage of $8.00. In order to afford the FMR for a two-bedroom apartment, a minimum wage earner must work 120 hours per week, 52 weeks per year. Or, a household must include 3.0 minimum wage earner(s) working 40 hours per week year-round in order to make the two bedroom FMR affordable.
In California, the estimated mean (average) wage for a renter is $16.67 an hour. In order to afford the FMR for a two-bedroom apartment at this wage, a renter must work 58 hours per week, 52 weeks per year. Or, working 40 hours per week year-round, a household must include 1.4 worker(s) earning the mean renter wage in order to make the two-bedroom FMR affordable.
30 Sep 08
Originally posted by jlillyI'd like to discuss this further with you. May i have your phone number? jk.Want to see what a worker in your community would have to earn to keep their housing affordable? Are you curious to know if you are paying more in rent than what is considered affordable (30% of income)? Type in the monthly rent for your home, or a home in your community, and see what income you need to earn for it to be affordable.
http://w ...[text shortened]... worker(s) earning the mean renter wage in order to make the two-bedroom FMR affordable. [/quote]
GRANNY.
01 Oct 08
Originally posted by jlillyThe problem is if you don't force the average Joe to spend 33% or more of his wages on housing, you're going to destroy the economy. People would end up spending more money on other things, increasing inflation.Want to see what a worker in your community would have to earn to keep their housing affordable? Are you curious to know if you are paying more in rent than what is considered affordable (30% of income)? Type in the monthly rent for your home, or a home in your community, and see what income you need to earn for it to be affordable.
http://w ...[text shortened]... worker(s) earning the mean renter wage in order to make the two-bedroom FMR affordable. [/quote]
Of course, the average Joe could also opt to work less hours. I mean, obviously you don't need as much money if only 20% of your wages are spent on housing. But this, in turn, would lead to people spending less on other things... increasing inflation.
Naturally, as we see in every day life though, even with houses costing the average Joe 33% of his wages, the economists, banks and institutions still cause inflation, no matter what.
Oh wait.
Inflation is needed. No. You don't have to think about the reasons why, but you need a certain amount of inflation to keep the economy going. Just like you need a certain amount of unemployment to keep wages down. Just like you need people owning homes so you can twist their balls more effectively to get them to do what you want them to.
Don't worry. As soon as you all realise you're just instruments of production to keep a few people very rich, the sooner you'll learn your place on this planet.