50% of American workers make $30,000 a year or less in the richest country that has ever existed.
It’s not what they make, it’s what they spend.
That seems very low. My 17 year old son made $4K last year as a waiter in a restaurant.
Some of those people bring in two incomes, have a small house or rent they can afford, use public transportation when they can, only buy things within their means. Back in my substituting days, a low of fellow substitutes, Aides, secretarial/custodial and Security Guards were in that spot. I was impressed by how well they knew their limits and lived within them.
You are mistaken.
The Median Household income is 60,000 thus half have incomes MORE that the median, half are less than 60gs. No ways statistically that that half has only 30g in income.
Until a few years ago, I was definitely in the under 30k club.
Most of that was as a state employee.
I’ve seen both sides of the issues. The largest problem? The young are not taught to put anything away from the very start. I tell young folks that aside from tithing (if they do choose that that), they need to save 5% from EVERY SINGLE PAYCHECK, no matter how tight it is. Skip everything except what they must have to exist safely (food basics are not expensive even at the lower end of the earnings ratio). Why safely? You cannot experience life later on if you’re not alive to spend it. No partying, no smoking, no snazzy gold chains, nada. Sleep safely, eat wisely, save rationally. And as you increase in wages/salary be sure to keep increasing the amount saved. This would also include no credit cards...a gas card for starting the credit rating would be the exception.
Median household income for 2017 was close to $60,000. Different sources report different individual median income levels, ranging from $31,000 in 2016 to about $50,000 in 2017.
In any event, 50% of Americans do NOT support a family on $30,000 per year or less.