@vib the US is second only to Luxembourg (which I dont really count) in median personal disposable income.
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/median-income-eeg?tab=table
@valleyforge@qoto.org yeah? and how much does rent and overall living in the US cost?
@vib this isnt an average. This is a median.
@whiteline @vib are you actually in the US or are you believing random junk on the internet?
on the other hand, those in the middle class (educated professionals with e.g. engineering careers) do seem to have a lot of disposable income
@vib @valleyforge
That and the homeless don't exist to obtain this metric. That's how they getcha when you don't have critical thinking skills. "Why question it when they're telling me what I wanna hear." 🤦🏼♀️
@valleyforge @vib
definition of disposable income from the OECD, consistent with Canberra Group standard used in the chart you link: https://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=3020
I had trouble finding a definition of "inter-household cash transfers," which may encompass more than it sounds like, but I don't think it includes income used on consumables or durables and things like health care costs.
also that data is 10 years old
also, medians don't tell even a large part of the story: there are percentiles below and above that halfway point that encompass most people.
@valleyforge@qoto.org ah ok well.
As if this is the only metric to go by anyway...
I will assume that number is being balanced by the rich being absurdly rich covering up for the poor in this average.
But I have a glimpse on what it's like to live in the US being in the worker class. A family with both parents working (more than on workplace each iirc) getting decent money in theory are able to barely get by paying the absurd rent (of a small modest home btw) + living expenses. And this isn't an isolated case.
Look around at the somewhat lower class. You will see poverty. americans live in poverty.
The wage gap between the poor and the rich is gigantic.
meanwhile in a place like, I don't know, Spain, a janitor can sustain themselves, a kid and even buy some nice things for themselves (yet again, this is a case I know of).