Who are these families with household incomes of $45k or $60k? $70k?

[Anonymous]

How much do you think teachers make in Nebraska?
Factory jobs in Ohio that are not union?
The paraeducator who is in your child's classroom?
The individuals in your child's daycare?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You think a Walmart worker is pulling down 70k? My goodness.

+1 I almost choked on my coffee. Not sure how much OP thinks Walmart employees make per hour? Even if they made $16 (at the high end) it would be $30K per year. A two-income household would still be within 45-60K.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/11/06/how-many-people-work-at-walmart-in-each-state-and-what-they-are-paid/42993851/

And there is no paid time off, so if you miss work, you don't get paid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP is proof that income bears no correlation to intelligence.

+1

Get out of your bubble, OP.

Visit the rural Midwest and see people’s possessions being sold for 25 cents a piece after they lose their family farm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I went to college in 1980 I got Max financial Aid. Here was my stats.

Dad died cancer two years earlier no insurance after a year long barrier. My mom made slightly under 9k income in 1979. Back then they gave you $3,000 off income per kid in college.

My mom had three kids in college at same time plus I had a younger sister. So I reported zero income. My
moms net worth was negative $20,000. She owned a small home as only asset but mortgage counted as debt. She had zero savings.

I recall my guidance counselor joked you hit the jackpot!

There were tons of kids like me. I am paying full freight all three of my kids and have literally paid millions in taxes since I graduated college. Full Financial aid is for kids like me and I pay full freight and income taxes now and hope it helps the poor kids of today get a college education

Good on you, and good for all of us.
With one dead parent when I started college, I had a bit of assistance from social security. That opportunity was revoked.
Thanks for your clear explanation.

I'm a widowed parent with one child who graduated college on full scholarship, one currently a junior on a combination of aid, contributions from me and a generous family member, and the third entering in fall of 2024. I work hard but don't make more than $80K in a year. Social Security would be an enormous assistance through college, but that benefit sadly ended in 1981.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This one wins the day!

+1 Wow OP - do you not get out much??

[Anonymous]

Lots of factors at play

-A huge percentage of American kids are from single parent households. Something like 30% of white kids, 50% of hispanic kids and 70% of AA are now born out of wedlock.
-Many families choose to have a stay-at-home parent. It's really only since I've lived in DC that I've encountered so many dual-income homes. My friends outside this area generally live in one-income households.
-A not insignificant number of child-rearing Americans are on social-security disability. As far as I can calculate it's at least 9 million adults of child-rearing age. Many of these adults have children and social security disability income is currently $11K/year.
-Minimum wage varies from $7.25 to $17.27 per hour in different states. That's $20K to $36K/year (assuming a 40 hour work week with either paid leave or no weeks off during a year).


Point: There are a TON of kids who grow up in poverty or near-poverty in America.

[Anonymous]

I'm a single mom making a salary in the 70s. I work a non-profit job in a smaller East Coast city. I even own a home I work with students and families with a median household income of 31K so I actual feel like I'm doing pretty well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are university professors who earn 70K. Sad but true.

The starting salary for professors at Frostburg State is less than $60k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You think a Walmart worker is pulling down 70k? My goodness.

+1 I almost choked on my coffee. Not sure how much OP thinks Walmart employees make per hour? Even if they made $16 (at the high end) it would be $30K per year. A two-income household would still be within 45-60K.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/11/06/how-many-people-work-at-walmart-in-each-state-and-what-they-are-paid/42993851/

And there is no paid time off, so if you miss work, you don't get paid.

And most retail places don't guarantee 40 hrs a week! They will give you one hour less than whatever your state requires for benefit eligibility (e.g. in MA 15 years ago, my 3 crappy jobs gave me 8-19 hours a week, but never over 19, and I had to quit the one with the least hours because they weren't consistent and I couldn't coordinate schedules with the 2 other jobs).

Hiding money under the mattress. Good lord, OP.

[Anonymous]

I work In higher education. Last year I earned 55,000.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are university professors who earn 70K. Sad but true.

The starting salary for professors at Frostburg State is less than $60k.

Yes, this is common at smaller schools. My partner is a professor who applied at a lot of schools in the MD/DC area in 2020. COmmunity college jobs in MD paid around $45k and small private schools paid $60-65k. Big research schools like Hopkins pay more but I think people have a skewed sense of average from them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You think a Walmart worker is pulling down 70k? My goodness.

+1 I almost choked on my coffee. Not sure how much OP thinks Walmart employees make per hour? Even if they made $16 (at the high end) it would be $30K per year. A two-income household would still be within 45-60K.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/11/06/how-many-people-work-at-walmart-in-each-state-and-what-they-are-paid/42993851/

And there is no paid time off, so if you miss work, you don't get paid.

And most retail places don't guarantee 40 hrs a week! They will give you one hour less than whatever your state requires for benefit eligibility (e.g. in MA 15 years ago, my 3 crappy jobs gave me 8-19 hours a week, but never over 19, and I had to quit the one with the least hours because they weren't consistent and I couldn't coordinate schedules with the 2 other jobs).

Hiding money under the mattress. Good lord, OP.

And OP’s ignorance and entitlement is the reason why I continually share with my 16 year old how the average person lives in the US. My kid had no idea how much the average person makes at their job, average household income, average home prices, how much colleges costs, etc. Understandable because he lives in a bubble. I even understand why my husband, who comes from a working class family, tells me that he is secretly jealous of our children. Nothing wrong with living the good life or aspiring to live a good life but we need to realize that we live our lives in a bubble.

[Anonymous]

Here you go, OP. A list of all current state job openings in Maryland. Take a look at how many max out at under $70k (and some of these jobs require a college degree) - corrections officers, human resources staff, inspectors, human services workers, etc. https://www.jobapscloud.com/MD/

[Anonymous]

I love OP’s indignation at the idea that somebody would fake being poor to get financial aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You think a Walmart worker is pulling down 70k? My goodness.

+1 I almost choked on my coffee. Not sure how much OP thinks Walmart employees make per hour? Even if they made $16 (at the high end) it would be $30K per year. A two-income household would still be within 45-60K.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/11/06/how-many-people-work-at-walmart-in-each-state-and-what-they-are-paid/42993851/

And there is no paid time off, so if you miss work, you don't get paid.

And most retail places don't guarantee 40 hrs a week! They will give you one hour less than whatever your state requires for benefit eligibility (e.g. in MA 15 years ago, my 3 crappy jobs gave me 8-19 hours a week, but never over 19, and I had to quit the one with the least hours because they weren't consistent and I couldn't coordinate schedules with the 2 other jobs).

Hiding money under the mattress. Good lord, OP.

And OP’s ignorance and entitlement is the reason why I continually share with my 16 year old how the average person lives in the US. My kid had no idea how much the average person makes at their job, average household income, average home prices, how much colleges costs, etc. Understandable because he lives in a bubble. I even understand why my husband, who comes from a working class family, tells me that he is secretly jealous of our children. Nothing wrong with living the good life or aspiring to live a good life but we need to realize that we live our lives in a bubble.

+1 same boat.

I tell my kids how I grew up, and they have come to appreciate how much we have done for them.