Old man complains life costs too much

[Thorin]

What a time to be alive

Well yes and no. On the one hand, lots of cool tech. On the other hand, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/personal-finance/household-finances/poll-finds-parents-feeling-the-pinch-of-supporting-adult-children/article26190960/ says lots of young adults can't get jobs with benefits and pensions, and their parents are supporting them instead.

Also, meat prices are stupidly high even though feed prices are stupidly low yet we're still giving money to ranchers while our taxes go up. And European governments are letting fruit rot on the farm instead of allowing the price of fruit to drop.

Also, some tech is terrible, like Google Glass (I can't believe "glasshole" became such a common term so quickly).

Still, I like the idea of sticking an oversized thumb drive into my TV's HDMI port and playing movies from it.

[Mr. Analog]

Aren't we just a happy dappy sunshine rainbow sparkle narwhal today

Hopefully the kids can get jobs and houses now that the unemployment rate is dropping


(source)

I guess it could be worse, you could be a migrant camping out in Calais wishing you were in England

[Lazybones]

Get jobs yes, however the income to home cost ratio is so high now it is really a hard goal to reach..

Post secondary education cost vs income is also really bad.

[Thorin]

Aren't we just a happy dappy sunshine rainbow sparkle narwhal today

Hopefully the kids can get jobs and houses now that the unemployment rate is dropping


(source)

I guess it could be worse, you could be a migrant camping out in Calais wishing you were in England

Sorry, you're right, I was not in a good mood today.  My link's about Canadian young adults, your link is about the US unemployment rate (Alberta's is actually climbing this year: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/lfss01c-eng.htm).

Lazy's right, too, getting a $12/hr job won't even allow a young adult to live on their own in an apartment and still maintain any kind of a lifestyle.  $12/hr x 40hr/wk x 2wk/chq = $960/chq.  The CRA calculator says the take-home pay will be $817.83.  So $1,635.66 per month, with rents above $1,000 per month.  Forget saving up a downpayment or affording a mortgage on a $300,000 condo (notice not even a house).  And then throw in that the employers frequently give out less than 40 hours per week so that they can ask employees to stay longer if needed without paying OT.

I think this thread should be split on my first complainy post - it could be named "Old Man Complains Life Costs Too Much"

[Lazybones]

Lazy's right, too, getting a $12/hr job won't even allow a young adult to live on their own in an apartment and still maintain any kind of a lifestyle.  $12/hr x 40hr/wk x 2wk/chq = $960/chq.  The CRA calculator says the take-home pay will be $817.83.  So $1,635.66 per month, with rents above $1,000 per month.  Forget saving up a downpayment or affording a mortgage on a $300,000 condo (notice not even a house). 

Homeownership vs renting is a lopsided choice now in many markets. Control is about all that you gain houses don't appreciate as fast as some other investments can, if you purchase a condo you have condo fees on top of your mortgage.

[Mr. Analog]

I had a hard time finding Canadian stats, for some reason US Gov't sites are easier to get information from, as our economies are somewhat joined at the hip it's unsurprising to me that there are parallels:

http://well-being.esdc.gc.ca/misme-iowb/.3ndic.1t.4r@-eng.jsp?iid=16

Man, the early 80s sucked!

But yeah, cost of living is certainly a factor and not an easy problem to solve. interestingly enough there's a "Minimum Wage Mythbusters" page on the US Dept. of Labor site
http://www.dol.gov/minwage/mythbuster.htm

Pretty neat eh?

[Darren Dirt]

What a time to be alive

Well yes and no.

When I saw the title of this topic, my first thought was "hey am I so sleep-deprived that I don't remember starting this thread?"


[whew] [ (?) ]



So I will now step aside and let T-Bone rant alone in place of my typical negative streams o' consciousness...


but first, gotta share this that I found on a link mentioned above...
http://well-being.esdc.gc.ca/misme-iowb/d.4m.1.3n@-eng.jsp?did=8

"In 2011, 42.3% of young adults aged 20 to 29 years lived with their parent(s). This is a significant increase from 30 years earlier."

HOLY @%&#.




{ speaking of old people complaining... LRT Metro Line opening on Sunday is gonna be worse than anyone's worst-nightmare prediction #TaxDollarsHardAtWork :sigh: }

[Thorin]

Yeah Darren, that percentage caught me, too.  What I don't get is that so many of those parents are paying for their adult offspring.  I firmly believe everyone in the family needs to pitch in if at all possible.  Family helps each other.