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What's the price of a paycheck? |
Case Study
Job Description: Cleaning specialist
Wage: $10/hr without benefits
Commute: 100miles/day at five days per week over a two lane
windy mountain road for a total of 80min round-trip (I’m only including the
time she is in the car but her roommate’s commute would be close to 160min)
Work Food: $3/day
Work Clothes: Uniform and shoes had to be purchased by her
Let’s now figure out how much she actually takes home.
Her wage is $10/hr which would be great if she didn’t have
to pay taxes. I pay approximately 23% of my income into Medicare, Social
Security, federal and NC income taxes. After all of those government inflicted
deductions, her pay drops to only $7.70/hr.
Taxes: 23%
Pay: $10 = $7.70/hr
Well, she is still above minimum wage at this point. Her
second greatest expense involves her commute. Now let’s assume her car can drive for 25miles
per gallon of gas. It is probably a little less than that because the road is
steep and windy but we will give her car the benefit of the doubt. A gallon of
gas currently costs about $3.36/gallon with her car using 4 gallons a day which
comes to $13.44. I pay about $20 for an oil change every 4,000miles. If she
pays the same amount, then her oil cost per day is about $0.50/day. The road
she drives is particularly harmful to brakes. If she buys brakes every
10,000miles for $50, then the wear-and-tear on the car’s brakes is also
$0.50/day. I’m not including other expenses car insurance or car payments
because she and her roommate would have a car regardless if she had that particular
job.
Commute Cost Per Day: $14.44
Pay: $1.805/hr deduction on $7.70/hr = $5.90/hr
By my calculations, her pay is now below minimum wage. What
is her other major work related expense? She does not bring her lunch but the
employee food is reasonably priced at only $3/day.
Food Cost Per Day: $3
Pay: $0.375/hr deduction on $5.90/hr = $5.52/hr
I do not know many people who wear the same clothes at home
that they wear at work. The job she has requires a uniform. I’m assuming the
least amount of wear on the clothes as possible to be $0.50/day. There are
other expenses like make-up and hairspray which I included in this amount.
Uniform Use: $0.50
Pay: $0.0625/hr deduction on $5.52/hr = $5.45/hr
I will not go so far as including the amount of water and
electricity used exclusively for the cost of her job but I will include the
time she uses. For me to prepare for work is about 40min. which includes the
2.9mile one-way commute. If it takes her 20min to prepare for work and then
drive 40min to work and another 40min to her house, she adds an additional
100min each workday. She is really not working only 8hr/day but really
9.667/day
Time: 8hr/day = $43.60/day
Pay: $43.60/day for 9.667/day = $4.51/hr
Actual Pay Per Day = $36.08
What is the price of her paycheck? It is the illusion her
life is only worth $4.51/hr.
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