Only 1% of the U.S. population has wealth many times greater than the other 99% of Americans have in their hands.
Two jobs, a choice between food and medicine – The Guardian tells you how you live on the minimum wage in the U.S.
This is what The Guardian says.
Now, in the era of coronavirus, the world has seen how tens of millions of Americans are forced to make ends meet because of total unemployment. However, this is only the “tip of the iceberg”, because the problems began long before the pandemic. It is about how unfair the distribution of wealth in the United States is.
“American income inequality has reached its highest level in 50 years. The upper 1% already has more wealth than the entire lower half of the country and is now on its way to surpassing the wealth of the entire middle class”, – the article says.
At the same time it is noted that in just the last 3 months, when the whole country was in crisis, American billionaires have earned a combined total of more than 500 billion dollars. However, the taxes that billionaires now pay to the U.S. treasury are much lower than those of the working class.
There are now 130,000 coronavirus fatalities in the US. However, the infection is only a catalyst for a longstanding problem. Many people just can’t afford health care.
“Americans with a low income make a choice that nobody needs: between paying rent and debt repayment; rationing insulin and paying for food, – says the article. – In this case, what is presented as “consumer choice” is often not a choice at all”.
The minimum salary in the USA is 7,25 dollars per hour or approximately 15 thousand dollars a year. This is very little, the publication stresses.
“It’s a hungry salary that makes millions of people work two or more jobs just to make ends meet. “And it’s only going to get worse. By 2024, $15 per hour will be the minimum level that American workers need to afford the cost of living across the country”, – The Guardian writes.