Oh, you’re not a street person, not by any means.
You have a job. You even work overtime. You got a raise — the biggest in years!
The only reason you’ve set up housekeeping in your car is because you can’t afford apartment rent anymore.
The math is simple: If inflation is 6%, and you got a 3% raise, your income is 3% less than before. And if your employer pocketed the difference, he cut your wages by that 3%.
This Vox article explains it more colorfully:
” … [I]f you made $20 an hour in 2020 and worked 40 hours a week every week of the year, you would have earned $41,600. … [Y]our total wages would have been enough to purchase a new vehicle outright at the end of December 2020, when they cost $41,000 on average …. Now, let’s say you got 5 percent raise to $21 an hour in 2021. … [Y]ou would have earned $43,680 but no longer would be able to afford a new vehicle, which now costs $47,000. You made more money, but that money was worth less.”
That’s pretty much the situation in the U.S. economy: While most workers are getting raises, few are keeping up with inflation. Meanwhile, corporate profits — and stock prices — continue to rise. That means businesses effectively are cutting wages and pocketing the difference. This isn’t just conjecture; a Columbia University labor specialist cited in the Vox story says, “We have historically high profit margins right now.”
The Vox story is blunt about it: Their headline says
“Wages have been declining when factoring in inflation.”
Moreover, “work has gotten worse for many since the onset of the pandemic. High rates of people quitting their jobs have meant that a smaller number of people are shouldering the workload that used to be carried by a larger number of workers, contributing to high rates of burnout.
“That’s not to mention the added risks of the pandemic itself, creating more dangerous work environments and adding additional labor like making sure customers are wearing masks.”
Did I say something about living in your car? Certainly, housing is one of the economic sectors most impacted by inflation. But so are cars, especially used cars. How are people going to live in cars, when they no longer can afford cars?
I have no answer for that. However, if you’re lucky enough to have a car, you want to make the most of this unique freedom from walled-in living, so here are some handy tips for car living: https://www.wikihow.com/Live-in-Your-Car
And the video below explains how to stay warm in your car during winter.
This is all aimed at the working class, of course. This blog’s advice for vagrants and street people is: Get sober, get a haircut, get a job, and get a car!
Photo above: Upscale working class housing in Seattle