According to a new survey by InvestorsObserver, Americans now work up to 25 extra days a year to maintain 2007 basic living standards.
How much of your year do you think you spend working just to cover the basics of living?
I don’t mean including vacations. Or savings. Just survival.
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Canva / Townsquare Media
Canva / Townsquare Media
Rent. Groceries. And a used car so you can get to work.
A new analysis from InvestorsObserver looked at how many extra workdays Americans now need compared to 2007 just to afford those three basic things.
The numbers tell a pretty frustrating story.
Canva / Townsquare Media
Canva / Townsquare Media
And even though wages have risen about 66% since 2007, the cost of living has risen even faster.
Housing, food, and cars are eating up a bigger share of people’s paychecks than they used to.
According to the research, comparing hourly wages with the cost of rent, groceries, and something to put away for a used car, a few states are at the top of the list for how hard people have to work for that money.
The survey said in Delaware, the hardest hit state, you’d have to work 25.4 extra work days just to cover those basics compared with the same numbers in 2007.
Next, Maryland and New York at 18.5 and 18.4 respectively. Coming in at four is us here in New Jersey. The numbers show that we need to work 16.2 extra work days every year just to afford the basics. again, that’s just the basics.
It just shows that even in states like ours where we make a lot of money, relatively speaking, we still feel very squeezed.
About 1/3 of Americans are actually hoping for a housing crash just so homes can become affordable again. That’s sad.
That’s not exactly a sign of a healthy economy.
For a lot of people right now, work isn’t about getting ahead anymore, it’s about keeping up and not feeling like we’re drowning.
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