• dryfter@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    3 days ago

    Back when I was working, I had a job that paid close to 3x what McDonald’s was paying at the time. I could barely afford a studio apartment. And that was 5-10 years ago, it’s even worse now here in the US.

    • Wanpieserino@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      5
      ·
      edit-2
      3 days ago

      Sucks for immigrants. I’m born rich

      Median net wealth per adult in Belgium is 250k euros. It’s because the housing stock is owned by families living in them. Their kids inherit that.

      “Sucks for immigrants” isn’t even true. Social mobility is great here. Free education for them. But buying a house will indeed be very expensive for them. They have to pay for the current day economy. The economy that is attractive to immigrants.

      Housing will always be expensive in a good economy.

      Look at Singapore, it’s all owned by the country, and it’s expensive as hell.

      • dryfter@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        3 days ago

        LOL I was born into a middle class family with at least one generation on each side born in the US. Dad worked at the local factory, mom was stay-at-home, had a dog, nice house, and two cars – living the American Dream.

        Then all the factory jobs went away, I couldn’t handle college, and I job hopped for a while and got lucky landing a decent paying gig that lasted for 13 years until I went on disability. Up until then I was barely making ends meet living in a studio apartment with a used hand-me-down car that I got when my grandfather passed away.

        Now I’m on SSDI and live in a subsidized studio apartment and rely on the city bus for transportation to appointments. Living the dream.

        • Wanpieserino@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          4
          ·
          3 days ago

          What’s the value of your parents their house and how many siblings do you have.

          You’re pretty fucked being American in that situation.

          • dryfter@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            3 days ago

            No clue what my parents’ house could be worth, they’re still living in it too. I do know they paid something like $30,000 for it in the 70’s and it might be worth 5-10x more than that now – if not more due to inflation. Cars were also $5000 or so then, and now the average price of a car is $30k-$50k on the low end.

            Due to…several traumatic issues and for my own mental health…living with them isn’t an option and now that I’m on SSDI I can’t really take any of their money or it messes with my SSDI and I went through too much for too long to do anything to risk it within my control (government shenanigans these days might leave me without income and a home but that’s out of my control now). I have one sibling who has a family of their own much like how it was when we were kids but they are struggling to make ends meet in this economy too.

            • Wanpieserino@lemm.ee
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              arrow-down
              2
              ·
              3 days ago

              Why do they stay in USA then. There are plenty of countries where one can earn a better net worth.

              USA is an immigrant country. Non of you are natives. Do what your ancestors did. Leave.

              • dryfter@lemm.ee
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                2
                ·
                3 days ago

                If there is a country that will take me I’d go in a heartbeat. But I am unable to work and don’t have the financial means to just up and move. The ones that do have the ability to do that are either doing that already or are in the process of destroying the US.