Do You Earn A Living Wage?

Everyone needs money to survive. At a bare minimum, we need money for shelter, food, and other basic necessities. A living wage is the amount that you need to earn to have a “satisfactory standard of living.” Based on this definition, do you earn a living wage?

When you’re hunting for a job, you need to think about the amount of money you need to make to earn a living wage where you live. This should include the costs of food, shelter, utilities, transportation, taxes, health care, childcare, and maybe a small bit of recreation too. These are all things that you need to be able to afford to be able to have a decent quality of life.

There is no set amount per hour or per month that equals a living wage. Everyone must calculate their own living wage based on location and personal situation. For example, the living wage in San Francisco will be higher than in a small town in North Dakota. Check out this post on how to calculate your living wage or check out this living wage graphic from AccountingSchoolGuide.com.

Now take a few minutes and calculate your living wage. For most people, you need to make more than minimum wage in order to live comfortably. This is something that you need to consider during your job hunt. You’ll either need to to find a job that pays you more money or you’ll need to be able to negotiate a higher pay rate.

So do you earn a living wage? If the numbers that you calculated are more than you expected, it might be time to head over to JobMonkey to start researching new job opportunities. Figure out what you want to do and then it’s time to search and apply for jobs that will pay you a living wage.

See Also:

• The Best and Worst States To Make A Living
• The World’s Highest Minimum Wages