I had a second interview for a job. It’d be a good job finding housing for homeless people. I’d do well. I think the interview went well. We had a nice chat. They seem like good people. They mentioned flexibility and creativity quite a bit. I like the organization’s mission.
Those are the pluses.
Not only is the office 23 miles away, but the job requires considerable amount of driving. I’d probably have to get a new car.
And it pays $16.38 an hour.
I’ve been wanting to opine about money for a while. There’s an unspoken rule in US society (as in many Western nations) that you don’t talk about income. It’s taboo.
I don’t think this is a good rule.
As a result, “low-paying” is a relative term instead of a concrete term. One person’s low-wage is another’s dream wage.
ANECDOTE #1: A few months ago, I posted on Facebook the question I got in an interview: “What’s your expected salary”. I really didn’t know how to reply to this and asked for people’s advice. One friend of mine said flatly: “$65k a year minimum plus benefits”.
Holy fucking shit, I’ve never made half that amount in my life.
ANECDOTE #2: I used to serve on the board of a non-profit that worked with low-income people. Once at a meeting, the Executive Director said he was seeking to hire a part-time staffer, .75FTE, paying $30,000 a year. Incredulously, the Board president (who, unbelievably, worked in the social-service sector) scoffed, “Who in Seattle would take a job that only pays $30,000 a year!” Three of us chimed in: “I’ve never made that much money in my life”.
Our unspoken social rules of never discussing income among your/our peers has turned concrete realities into abstract hypotheticals. “If you don’t make enough money, how will you save for retirement? How will you pay for your kids? What about a new car, and vacation cruises?”
No, that’s not what I’m talking about. Let me crunch some numbers for you:
I’m considering a job paying $16.50/hr. (I’ll leave the rant of the social costs/benefits of this position -and all social service positions- for another time. right now, let me just indulge in some self-pity).
At forty hours a week comes to: $660, or $2640/mo or $31,680 a year, all that before taxes.
My last position was in the school district, non-teacher. My hourly rate was $22, but only for nine and a half months of the year, so my annual income was usually under $30k (I think once, when I was reffing at the school as well I made over that).
But I didn’t have debt. Then I went to graduate school. I don’t even want to talk about that debt.
“No one goes into public service expecting to get rich” is the line that’s often batted about, and I agree, I never planned on getting rich. I would, however, like to pay my bills in a timely fashion.
I would like to not foreclose on my house.
I have fantasies of switching places with my girlfriend/current bread winner (making over $40k a year) so she can stay home and.. gee, I don’t know, have some kids or something. But crunching the numbers with the status quo is hard enough to stomach, let alone throwing a kid into the mix, or that my girlfriend likes financial stability, which above job scenario doesn’t include.
And did I mention needing a new car? (I love my current ride specifically because I don’t drive it regularly. It’s a 30 year old VW van! A 50 mile daily commute would kill it quickly.) There’s no math including a car that doesn’t drastically reduce the income. “Good mileage” would be lucky to be 25mpg... two gallons a day is $7 less daily income, which comes out to $1650 a year in the above scenario.
(Anecdote #3: last summer I had a p/t job with a well-known and not-well liked youth service organization. They paid $10 as “guess camp counselor” around the area. They wanted me to drive 30 miles one-way to work for an hour; They struggled to get me three hours a day of work, each site 10-20 miles from the other. I could only get mileage if I went into the office first, which was 13 miles in the opposite direction. The math came out to break even with fuel costs. Luckily, I found something better.)
Do I crunch the numbers with my potential income and expensive? Or is that just too depressing?
$2600 (let’s pretend briefly that there are no taxes)
-$1500 mortgage (currently, gf pays half; I’m in debt to her and remember above fantasy)
-$100 utilities (low-ball; electric, sewer, water, garbage)
-$200 groceries
-$50 cellphone (these are high-ball figures, just to make the math easier)
-$50 internet
-$50 car insurance
-$150 gas for commuting alone
Which leaves about $500 a month after expenses, no even getting to paying off student loans.
It ain’t a pretty picture.
ANECDOTE #4: A year ago I interned at an environmental organization. I did a good job and had a good report with the boss. A few months later, they were hiring. I asked if I should apply. “Too junior for you”, he said. Safe to guess that the position started at $40k, standard pay for an entry level environmental job
To be continued...
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