Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

In the US, we have more than 10 different income levels and a basic consumption guarantee of about 20k/year (i.e., even people earning $0/year tend to consume about $20k/year).

ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/ce/standard/2009/income.txt

http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/h150-07.pdf

This doesn't stop large chunks of our society from opting out of work.

http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswp2010.pdf

http://apps.npr.org/unfit-for-work/



Does that mean, on average, the minimum anual pay to get someone off the couch in the U.S. is $20K+? My wife is from Colombia, and she tells me people there are motivated to go work and hustle each day for a few bucks. Of course that's off the books. I wonder how off the books work, if counted, would change those U.S. statistics?




Consider applying for YC's Fall 2025 batch! Applications are open till Aug 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: