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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

How do you explain this? Please do.[/quote]
You keep harping on this $600 a month rent in a great school boundary, so let's do some math together.

Our hypothetical family is a single mom and her two children, ages 2 and 6. Mom works 50 hours per week making the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour (you said you're in the south so I'm going to assume that your state doesn't have a higher minimum wage). She makes $362/week, pre-tax (for the purposes of our exercise we won't worry about taxes). She works 52 weeks a year since she doesn't have any time off, so she makes an untaxed $18,850 per year. Her $600 rent is $7200 per year. Daycare for her youngest is $100/week since you are in a low COL area, or $5200/year. She's spending $12,400/year on rent and daycare. That leaves $6,450 left. That breaks down to $537/month to cover food, all bills, transportation, insurance (her minimum wage job obviously isn't providing insurance), before and aftercare, and everything else that she might need for her family to survive.

So no, that $600 a month rent in the best school boundary no longer seems so affordable. It's all relative. [/quote]

I assume you are trying to argue that this hypothetical mom can't possibly be expected to volunteer at her kids' schools or do the things that more affluent parents say they do to help with school readiness and success?

I will get flamed for saying this, but I would argue that part of the problem is the single mother with two kids (ages 2 and 6) who cannot get (or keep) a job that pays more than minimum wage.  She likely has made a serious of less than ideal choices that got her to this place.  Why is she old enough to have a six year old but stuck in a $7.25 an hour job?  Why is there no one else contributing to the household income?  Why did she have the second child if she could not afford the first?  [/quote]

No.  A high school education will get you a minimum wage job, and a high school education is not "serious less than ideal choices."  Both the people I know who work these kind of crappy jobs are in their 30s or 40s without kids and living in apartments. Lower-level office workers or  retail managers - so more than minimum wage but not great.  They can't afford kids and can't find a decent man for two salaries (though these two salaries, if the guy is also working crap jobs, would put them in an impossible position for day care and college).  I guess they are responsible not having kids because they can't afford them.  But good god if I try to imagine my life without my kids.  I'd rather die.  They are my heart and job and reason for existing.  I know these two women well.  [/quote]

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