Do single parents actually make $260,000?

[B. de Corbin]

Here is a graphic from The Wall Street Journal explaining how a tax increase will effect "middle class Americans." Weirdly, however, these "middle class Americans" make fantastically huge salaries. Is this what folks on Wall Street actually believe middle class Americans are earning?

Wall Street Journal

[Maria de Luna]

Re: Do single parents actually make $260,000?

maybe only ones that can afford to have someone else do the "parenting" My husband and I barely crack 50k, and we dont have kids yet... thank goodness, cause they would bloody starve...

[DanieMarie]

Re: Do single parents actually make $260,000?

LOL sometimes the disconnect between what the "haves" think everyone else has is hilarious.

Anyway, I do know several people living in households with that kind of income, and they're living pretty average lifestyles. Yes, they have more than most people, but I'd still say they're on the upper end of the middle class and they're by no means fabulously wealthy (thanks, inflation). If you're somewhere more expensive like the West Coast, that also is a big factor as to how much money that really is, and if you're living in Manhattan, that's an entirely different story all together. Anyway, though I'd call that "upper middle class", I'd still call that middle class.

[B. de Corbin]

Re: Do single parents actually make $260,000?

The article mentions (if I recall correctly) that the salaries indicated are even high (about three times as high) for Manhattan.

Anyway, if K'Roe and I make $180,000 per year as retirement, I'll consider myself fantastically wealthy. I'm figuring it will be more like $15,000 per year... if that much...

[DanieMarie]

Re: Do single parents actually make $260,000?

I guess Canada is a lot more expensive. Makes sense, because even though the dollar is a bit higher than the US dollar, prices (even for goods from the US) are what they were when the dollar was worth a lot less.

In Berlin you'd be fantastically wealthy on that, but Berlin is a lot cheaper and poorer than the rest of Germany.

[Maria de Luna]

Re: Do single parents actually make $260,000?

that $650000 figure is throwing thwe heck out of me... My husbands uncle makes that kind of money and we consider them stupid rich... At their best my in laws never made that kind of money, and I would still consider them fairly affluent...


But maybe thats cause Im sorta poor, I never really thought about it much though...

[volcaniclastic]

Re: Do single parents actually make $260,000?

That figure is bullshit. As a single person, without children, on a good year the best I can do is about $70-80,000. Once I broke six digits, but when you make that much in Canada, you lose half of it to taxes anyhow.

(note: most years I don't quite make that much - this year was a bad one, I only made $26k)
(second note: I know that's a high number. What a lot of people don't realize though, is the gear that makes my profession possible, is exorbantly expensive. Also, I work about twice as many hours as normal folks, and my job is listed as "a dangerous job". I felt I had to explain myself.)

[Maria de Luna]

Re: Do single parents actually make $260,000?

That figure is bullshit. As a single person, without children, on a good year the best I can do is about $70-80,000. Once I broke six digits, but when you make that much in Canada, you lose half of it to taxes anyhow.

(note: most years I don't quite make that much - this year was a bad one, I only made $26k)
(second note: I know that's a high number. What a lot of people don't realize though, is the gear that makes my profession possible, is exorbantly expensive. Also, I work about twice as many hours as normal folks, and my job is listed as "a dangerous job". I felt I had to explain myself.)

I think you make a good point, If you had kids, would you be able to do the dangerous job, especially on a good year? What kind of job pays $260000 and allows a person to take care of children? and sleep? and stay cognizant? I want that job...
then I promise I shall never bitch about money again... I could pay someone to do it for me...

[volcaniclastic]

Re: Do single parents actually make $260,000?

I think you make a good point, If you had kids, would you be able to do the dangerous job, especially on a good year? What kind of job pays $260000 and allows a person to take care of children? and sleep? and stay cognizant? I want that job...
then I promise I shall never bitch about money again... I could pay someone to do it for me...

And that's the thing. I make money now, because I can afford to be away from home for 8 months a year, working 12 hours a day. Once I have children, I'll at least have to take a few years off work (or find office work in a city), and after that, who really wants to raise their children with their parents being away alternatively half the time? (said because SO does similar work to me)

I'm making my money now, while I still can, really. (now will somebody please HIRE ME so I can continue to do so...?)

[Dez]

Re: Do single parents actually make $260,000?

I saw this...it was discouraging. My guy makes a little over $35,000 per year. If I can find another job soon, we will be lucky to double that in the coming year, lifting us from below the poverty line for the first time in our marriage.

That's not because we're lazy, either....far from.

The fact that so many people are that out of touch with reality-- the same people who are paying the insanely low wages in the first place-- is depressing.

[DanieMarie]

Re: Do single parents actually make $260,000?

Ok I took the time to actually look at the link...I had thought that figure was for household income, just just single people. Yeah, wtf. I think it's plausible to still be middle class with that income AS A COUPLE, but if you're making that alone, you're a high earner, anywhere. I also saw that they had the married couple with kids at 650,000. That's over half a million dollars. If you're making that, you should be paying more tax. I'm actually surprised that, even with tax increases, that the tax is so low. If you made that here, you'd be paying HALF OF YOUR INCOME in taxes.

- - - Updated - - -

I saw this...it was discouraging. My guy makes a little over $35,000 per year. If I can find another job soon, we will be lucky to double that in the coming year, lifting us from below the poverty line for the first time in our marriage.

That's not because we're lazy, either....far from.

The fact that so many people are that out of touch with reality-- the same people who are paying the insanely low wages in the first place-- is depressing.

Yeah I know, right? They seem to have attitudes like "how can you live without (unnecessary product)" or "How does anyone live off 70,000 a year?" but then they're like "we can't pay you more than 30,000 per year".

I make way less than that, and I'm also not lazy, but I am a writer. If you want to make money, don't be a writer.

[Ophidia]

Re: Do single parents actually make $260,000?

I wish I could believe that someone at the WSJ got crazy w/the decimal points. It's a pretty good example of how media 'facts' can be skewed. Since I've joined this forum, I've gotten better at the whole 'correlation vs. causation' and 'surveys only represent the population that's actually taken the survey', and no matter what anyone says, 'a statistic cannot really be extrapolated to describe an entire population'.

[Gardenia]

Re: Do single parents actually make $260,000?

I think it's plausible to still be middle class with that income AS A COUPLE

For the US, the most recent census data I can (easily) find is from 2009, but it shows that as far as household income goes, all of these examples fall into the top 5% of household income distribution. I don't really see how you could still be middle class at that point...

[Maria de Luna]

Re: Do single parents actually make $260,000?

Yeah I know, right? They seem to have attitudes like "how can you live without (unnecessary product)" or "How does anyone live off 70,000 a year?" but then they're like "we can't pay you more than 30,000 per year".

I got excited when I was actually offered $30K a year, they then decided not to hire anyone for the job... it was so menial to someone...

[DanieMarie]

Re: Do single parents actually make $260,000?

I got excited when I was actually offered $30K a year, they then decided not to hire anyone for the job... it was so menial to someone...

I'd be happy to earn that here at this point. Though, it's cheaper here than in my city back home...there it's hard to live off $30K without roommates or a dual income (it's one of the most expensive cities in Canada though).