Out of curiosity, what compels people to use terms like "liveable salary"? ("Living wage" used to be more common, but whatever.)
The median salary in the US is less than 32,000/year. Do you think half the country is failing at "living" in anything but a totally fantastical definition of the word "living"? It's a cheap propaganda term--obviously--so why use it? Is it just habit?
Median salary may be less than 32,000 but keep in mind a lot of people get welfare assistance. EITC, food stamps, Medicaid, and many other programs are available for the people making very little.
Personally I started my career on what was probably a similar salary to this person’s 40k (adjusting for inflation.) I had my own experience in mind when I used the term liveable - thinking about being able to afford an apartment on my own and eventually save up to buy a car rather than use public transit/bike exclusively.
Obviously, people do make do with less. Sometimes that means stuff like spending 4 hours a day commuting on multiple buses or something, or juggling multiple jobs and increasing stress levels, etc...
The median salary in the US is less than 32,000/year. Do you think half the country is failing at "living" in anything but a totally fantastical definition of the word "living"? It's a cheap propaganda term--obviously--so why use it? Is it just habit?
(https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/central.html)