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The Catch 22 of Living Paycheck to Paycheck
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| By Venchele Saint Dic |
Jim is an air traffic controller living in New York. He and his wife have four children. His wife is a stay at home mom raising their four children. Jim earns $60,000 dollars annually. The extent of his education is a high school equivalency test. He has worked for his agency for 30 years. They own a home and depend on one income to pay the expenses incurred monthly for the household.
Carla is a single mother of two children. She works as a contractor for a trucking company based in California. Due to the lack of support afforded to her, she rarely dedicates time for self-care because she is working two jobs to pay the mortgage and child care expenses. She has been working with her company for five years. Carla earns an annual salary of $50,000 dollars.
The assumption here is that both cases rely on one income. Therefore, it is safe to say that without an income stream coming every month, it would be increasingly hard for Jim and Carla to maintain their respective lifestyles in the states they live in. At first glance, they are in two different tax brackets and salary ranges. They live in different states with their own unique topography, economic and social capital. As it is common knowledge, this is a very typical situation wherein the net income you earn determines whether you can afford the commodities and lifestyle in a particular state.
