• lapommedeterre@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    I haven’t seen it in ages, and I can’t critique the approach, but the maker of SuperSize Me tried to spend 30 days doing a minimum wage job. Iirc, it wasn’t great and they had so much debt by the end of it.

    I wish these people could get a similar perspective.

      • frunch@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Love how the breakdown of monthly expenses that McDonald’s provided includes “Heating: $0”

        Warmth really is a luxury when you think about it though…right? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

        They were basically saying it’s perfectly normal to work 70-hour weeks and still hardly be able to cover their made-up costs of living (actual costs are much higher in my area, and presumably in most others as well). Oh, and I’m using heat–so I’m pretty much gonna be in debt for life. Guess we should have gone to college/less avocado toast/whatever. But that’s just business! Don’t hate the player, hate the game! Blah blah blah (งツ)ว

        • CultHero@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          $600 for rent? I haven’t paid less than $700 in over a decade. For an apartment.

          When I first moved out on my own in the mid 90s I was paying $525/month + utilities for a 3 bedroom semi detached house.

          • TAG@lemmy.world
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            10 months ago

            That is because McDonald’s offers employee health insurance for only $10/pay period… They do offer that insurance, right?

            If it is not clear, I very much doubt that they offer such cheap health insurance (and that is assuming that they don’t have a policy in place that forbids workers from being scheduled for more than 29 hours per week per franchise so they can be classified as “part time” at each location and not offered health benefits).

      • menthol@lemm.ee
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        10 months ago

        I remember seeing that a few years ago and it was woefully out of touch then. But rent has spiked, nearly doubled here, since Covid. I guess I just need a third job and to never sleep again.

    • ZombieTheZombieCat@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Barbara Ehrenreich wrote a great book about this called Nickel and Dimed. She was a full time journalist and set out to get a job at a diner and find a place to live on the salary. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel_and_Dimed

      Matthew Desmond’s books Evicted and Poverty, By America are amazing, well researched, easily readable books about poverty in the US. I can’t recommend them enough. https://www.npr.org/2023/03/17/1158230630/poverty-by-america-book-review-matthew-desmond-evicted