That's the way we get by

This piece about the difficulty in getting by on the minimum wage struck a chord with me. I'm young (or I was until my dad described me as "pushing 30," anyway*) and it wasn't so long ago that I moved out on my own, so I've felt a little of this.

First, let me begin by saying that when I moved into my first apartment, I was making something like $8.50-$9 an hour, and I've never had to work for minimum wage. I always puzzled over how people could make it on that, simply because I saw the hardship with the higher wages that I was earning.

I'm fortunate enough to have family close and parents I could go to when I needed help. Aside from that, I don't even pay for my car insurance. Mom handles that. When I need money to pick up a prescription, I can call dad. I've got a used car (albeit a piece of shit, but it gets me around) and I didn't even pay the three grand or whatever it cost. For all of my bitching about the rich kids with daddy's credit card, I'm still lucky and I'm spoiled.

But what if I hadn't had that help? If, for whatever reason, I didn't have family - or maybe they were dirt poor... I have great difficulty seeing how I would have gotten by. My two bedroom apartment was a steal at $450 a month. If I didn't have the extra help in my life, I would've needed a roommate. Ok, that's fair. People have roommates. But is $1000 a month really enough to make it, even if you're splitting expenses?

I had a monthly health insurance (really shitty health insurance, I might add) premium of around $350 a month, and my dad was paying for half of that. With no parental help, you can bet that would've been one of the first things to go. And the car insurance that mom so generously paid for? By law I'm supposed to have it, but you can bet that without the assistance of family, I would do without as several of my friends do.

On top of things like insurance, the odd problem - for instance, if my car broke down - could plunge me into some sort of financial hole. I don't do credit cards, but I'd probably break down and get one and end up in tremendous debt. Anyway, I'm getting way too far from my point.

All I'm saying is that I was making considerably more than minimum wage, and without the help of family I don't know how I would have made it. I'm making quite a bit more now and I still question whether or not a home and children will ever be feasible. And what of the people who don't have parents to pick up the tab on some of their bills or bail them out when the car needs fixing? And what about a single mother - what would I have done if I had a child who, along with all of the other expenses that entails, needed to go to daycare while I worked to make ... not enough to get by?

The article from CNN mostly focused on young people moving out on their own, and I know some might argue that those people could stay at home a little longer and save up. Ok, I'll give them that (of course, they've obviously never tried living with my mother). But what about the older people? ... Like the guy who rings me up at Burger King who looks like he's about 50?

I don't know ... I feel like I'm all over the place here. I'm just saying that I haven't got a clue how people make it on the minimum wage. I don't know why we don't pay Americans enough to live.

*I kid! Settle down, 30+ people!