The rent really is too damn high.Minimum wage isn't supposed to be able to buy you a rocket ship. It's not supposed to guarantee lavish vacations either. However, it is expected minimum wage will provide you with minimum necessities; minimum housing (studio or 1-bed apartment), a functioning vehicle, and food. Unfortunately, for many rural workers where jobs are scarce and wages are low, or for workers who have recently lost their job and are working a minimum wage job temporarily; working a full time minimum wage job will still not pay enough to afford a one-bedroom apartment, in any state. Millennials are financially worse off than their parents. Depending on their age in the Millennial range, Gen Y individuals were either finishing up college or beginning middle school during the start of the Great Recession, which had a great impact on their journey to young adulthood. Unlike their predecessors, Millennials struggle to afford to buy their first home due to strict credit criteria and high-interest student loan debt. unemployment is low, but so are wages.Wages have been stagnant since the 1980's. Rent, and housing costs in general, are exploding annually. We interviewed a 20-something Millennial living in a Minneapolis suburb regarding her experience with housing costs and low wages: "My mom worked as an Office Manager, same position as me, in the late 1980s," she explained, "She had virtually no debt. She went to a trade school and paid for a three-month admin program, and was hired as an Office Manager making $15/hour. Her rent was only $400 for a 2 bed/1 bath. My hourly wage for the same position, almost thirty years later, is only $3 higher per hour. My rent is $1,400 for a 2 bed/2 bath. I went to college for marketing and will pay around $400/month to repay my $35,000 in student loan debt." Many millennials are choosing not to have kids.Another factor that separates Millennials from Baby Boomers; Millennials aren't rushing to have children in their 20's and 30's. While some people dream of raising children someday, many Millennials have chosen to skip parenthood altogether. For many Millennials, this isn't because they suddenly decided they don't want to have children. It's expensive. Childcare is unbelievably unaffordable. In Minnesota, the average cost of childcare for an infant is an astronomical $340/week, or $16,320/year. What can we do about it?Comment your thoughts below.
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