Matthew Walsh 30 Days Living at Minimum Wage

2) Budgeting played a huge role in the survival of Alex and Morgan during their 1 month of living on minimum wage because it allowed them to get food and shelter, what they needed to survive. Minimum wage is only $7.25/hour and as mentioned in the video, sometimes people on minimum wage don’t even get that much, because they are expected to get tips from customers in jobs like working at a cafe. This in addition to needing money for food and shelter makes living at minimum wage very difficult as money starts running short. They needed to plan what their apartment costed, what their electricity costed, and they needed to budget what their food would cost and what it would be. In addition they accumulated medical costs over the course of the month. They tried to budget as much as they could but the medical bills that they got at the end of the month, just from going into the emergency room twice, totaled at around $1,000, which they mentioned would take almost 3 months to pay off. This makes budgeting even more important. There was even an argument part of the way through the month, when they went to the movies, about how Morgan was spending too much money on the children and how they should be spending less and budgeting more. All of this shows the importance and stress put on budgeting during their 30 days. This stress was caused by the fact that they needed food and shelter to survive for the one month.

7) I don’t agree with Senator Ted Kennedy’s argument to raise minimum wage. Raising the minimum wage only helps families if they don’t lose their jobs because of it. If the minimum wage is increased companies are just going to start firing people because either they don’t have the profit to support those people, or they would lose too much of their profit on paying said people. A company's first priority is to their investors not to improving the situation of their employees. It should not be expected that companies will willingly take on a minimum wage raise without massive employee cuts. While a low minimum wage may not seem to help the working poor, or those who are earning minimum wage and are constantly working but fall below the poverty line, it can because it provides them with jobs that pay money instead of unemployment which pays nothing. There is an argument for a higher minimum wage though. A higher minimum wage would allow families to have a much better quality of life and they wouldn’t have to live paycheck to paycheck, and they would become less dependent on others to survive. This itself could help people get more money and therefore spend more money for companies to get and they themselves spend. But overall a much better strategy to help the poor is to allow them to actually get jobs and have a lower minimum wage, freeing up companies money, and support themselves instead of having no money or income at all.

30 Days on Minimum Wage- Kendall Coleman

2) Budgeting played a big role in the survival of Alex and Morgan, if they were to not spend their money wisely they would have been without money for a long period of time. When they both began to have health problems they had to get some type of help so they ended up going to the hospital and will later have to pay an expensive bill.

4) It would be very likely for me to just walk away from the landlord without paying the entire sum because if I know that I don't have enough money to give him and still try to survive with the little money that I have, I would't be able to survive. If I had little to no money he wouldn't get it because I still need to eat and pay for public transportation. I will just have to find someone to stay with or find a shelter until I know I have enough money to pay for a cheaper apartment.

Marc Dahlman (Living For 30 Days on Minimum Wage)

9. Why Do you think that Alex Became so emotional about the services that were given to her and Morgan at the Free Store?Alex became emotional because she never has had to experience something like that or even know that there were people like that in the world. most people including myself would never have to go through something like this and even imagining that people have to do this makes us think of things differently. I know that i view things like giving to the less fortunate as more of a thing that i see myself doing because we don't really know just how much it means. This emotion form Alex is also tied into all of the other struggles that she and Morgan were facing while living on minimum, and to think that people have to do this day in and day out instead of just 30 days is something that is hard to handle. It is because of this that makes me wonder why the goevernment and politicians wont raise the minimum wage whether its raised a dollar or 3 dollars it is obvious that they change needs to come from the higher level of america

12. While Morgan and Alex spent their 30 days on minimum we see them get into arguments over spending and things like food and furniture. For example when Morgan is buying food for the kids in the market and Alex is getting upset because she has been walking to work and Morgan is just spending it on extra food. This happens all over the country is is the main root to most divorces in the United States. The conflict of money is something aimless face every day and is yet another reason for people to push the government for a higher minimum wage.

Kayla Lesch - 30 Days Blog

Living 30 Days on Minimum Wage Blog!

7.  In 2009, the federal minimum wage was raised to $7.25 per hour. Since then, the cost of living has greatly increased. Over 150 million families are living on minimum wage jobs, yet since 2009 inflation has caused everything from apples to energy to become more expensive. Sen. Ted Kennedy gave an inspiring speech in 2007 for raising minimum wage. Since then, many more congressmen have joined his argument such as Bernie Sanders. They argue that it has become impossible for families to live on $7.25/hour and want to raise the minimum wage to around $15/hour. I agree that for the short term, raising minimum wage is necessary to save families struggling to survive. However, in the long term I do not believe this one change would fix the system of poverty in our country. Opposing views to raising the minimum wage argue that because businesses would have to pay their employees more, they would not be able to hire as many people and many people would be fired. In addition, to compensate for the increased salaries business owners are paying their employees, they may choose to raise the prices of their products. This would once again cause the cost of living to increase which would lead to raising the minimum wage once again and it just continues in a circle. Something must be done about the minimum wage in this country, but I do not think that making one change would fix the entire system.

11. In the movie, the electric company asks Morgan and Alex for a deposit. Unfortunately, I am not surprised by this request. Because they were living in low income neighborhood, many of the people there probably cannot always afford to pay the monthly bill for electricity and the electric company must lose money to this. Although it is not these family’s faults for not being able to pay every month when they are also struggling to feed, clothe, educate themselves and stay healthy, the people working at the electric company also need to be payed so they can support their own families. Because the address where Morgan and Alex live had a history of not being able to pay for electricity, the company tells them they must pay a deposit so the company can ensure that they will still make money.

Living for 30 days on Minimum Wage - Cj Bolling

#8. Define who the working poor are.

In terms of the American economy I believe “working poor” means people living check to check just to survive. They work everyday and as many hours as they can to make ends meet. I know many people like this and even though they keep pushing on to stay alive and somewhat housed. They are very depressed and honestly it’s no way to live for any human being of modern time, because we are better than what we were a couple hundred years ago in regards to living conditions. This low-end life entails “working yourself to the bone”, barely having any food, paying bills back to back, and not having too much free time causing miserability. Alex and Morgan handle this seemingly okay because even though they weren’t used to the conditions, they had each other (and a show to finish) which motivated them to suck it up. People in this real situation are less fortunate in most aspects and have to deal with this type of living for years or even their whole life until something changes for them. The situation is quite dire if you have children.

#11. Are you surprised about the electric company deposit request? Why?

This is very expected from a company that’s overseeing an obvious underdeveloped housing complex and the people that rent this housing cannot guarantee they’ll have the rent every month like they should, due to the job they’re working of course. Which is usually very low paying, aka minimum wage. Because people can’t always pay rent the company running the housing requests a down payment of the rent which is the deposit so if people don’t come up with the money or run out they’ll have some type of payment for letting them live in the apartment when they did. In a more positive manner, some landlords do it to let an unqualified person, be qualified, with bad credit or doesn’t meet the income metric for the apartment they they are trying to rent.

  

(Miles McKenna) 30 Days on Minimum Wage 

#3: Do you feel that race was a factor in getting hired or finding an apartment for Morgan and Alex?

What about the fact that they had no children?

Yes, definitely they were able to find an apartment within less than a month. Sometimes for a family of color people are reluctant to let the live there because of racial profiling. When my parents moved here from France they were able to find an apartment in Rogers Park in less than two months and they barley spoke English. While a family friend of ours who is black was looking for a little over a year. The Slum Lord also gave them more time to pay their security deposit which I believe that decisions was influenced by his thoughts on their security deposit and I highly doubt he gave anyone else moving in of color time to pay the security deposit.

#12:Observe how easy it was for Morgan and Alex to get into an argument over finances.  What is the underlying feeling that you think is at the cause of the conflict?

I think the underlying feeling for Alex and Morgan was the lack of trust that the had for each other. I think they both think that their spouse is not making as many sacrifices for each other. For example Morgan isn't too good at handling money because he already has a decent amount of money in real life. Morgan has different expectations and standards from Alex so they aren't on the same page. For example when Morgan and Alex brought their niece and nephew to the super market Morgan bought a pastry while Alex was gone and Alex was upset because she thinks it was too costly for them but because Morgan has a different exceptions he thought it was okay. 

Brianna Williams 30-Day Minimum Wage Project

Brianna Williams

Period: 6

2-17-16

30-Day Minimum Wage Project

When my class was watching the movie, and it got to the part where they had to look for an apartment they chose a cheap apartment but the apartment was empty, and they didn’t have enough money to good furniture, so when Alex said enough is enough, they went to an all free store and that’s when they got the free furniture, and when that happened Alex started to cry. I believe that Alex started to cry because she felt bad because when the thirty days was over they’d go back to their rich lives, where that have a lot of money, and whatever they wanted they could buy. But the way they were living, some people live that life for the rest of their lives. I believe that she was also happy because if people didn’t take out their time on their lives to give things away so people who work on minimum can have a comfortable home, then, they wouldn’t have any furniture.

During the movie in the middle of the movie Morgan and Alex started to argue because when they had his niece and nephew they wanted to go to the movies and they wanted candy, and they spent about forty dollars that day, and Alex got mad at Morgan because Alex said that she worked too hard for the money that they have and he just spent the money too easily, but Morgan wanted to have a little fun, because they were always in the apartment, and he just wanted to take the kids out for some fun instead of being bored in their apartment. I believe that the cause to that conflict is how people who work on minimum wage stress over how they going to get by with the money that they have and if one of their partners just spend it for fun it angers them.

Living for 30 Days on Minimum Wage Response (Nikita V. Kondratyev)

Living for 30 Days

on Minimum Wage

By Nikita V. Kondratyev

8. The working poor are the group of people who have some type of work, but the work they have isn't able to keep them afloat. Whether this means that they are unable to purchase food, pay for rent, or acquire other basic necessities, the inability to get the money for these things, while still having a job puts an individual or a family under this oxymoron. This problem is one that the government has to address, minimum wage should give an individual the bare minimum in order to live independently of others, instead in today's world, minimum wage pays well below that line. Living in a first world country should create a better living for all citizens, not just lucky ones, and for the U.S. to be fighting over raising this wage is simply an embarrassment. Anyone who watches this episode of 30 days can see the neglect the government gives this group. Alex and Morgan had no luxuries whatsoever. Injuries were a death sentence for an individual's bank account and there are no vacation’s ever due to the individual living from check till check. The rich are able to rake in billions and keep most of it while the less fortunate suffer at the bottom, this is a huge red flag that our system we have today is flawed and any sensible person can see this.

10. Alex and Morgan were placed in a horrible situation that many have to deal with daily. Does one take care of their injuries and break the bank or do you simply hope that it gets better? Alex and Morgan eventually decided that they would get their injuries and infections checked out, which cost them nearly 1500$ dollars and amount that could pay for more than 3 months of rent. In their shoes I would've done the same thing, if you leave an injury alone it is likely that it will get worse, until you cant work. A hospital visit may be a huge setback but it is one you can come back from, unlike permanent damage to your body from which there is likely no recovery from. This dilemma is one that shouldn't exist, it is the government's duty to its people to allow them to not have to decide between survival and curing of pain, but today we have made only small steps toward this ideal. Hospitals shouldn't try to be a business like they are today, the wellbeing of the people should be the number one concern of the hospital and the government.

Isabel Walker - 30 Days on Minimum Wage

3. Do you feel that race was a factor in getting hired or finding an apartment for Morgan and Alex? What about the fact they had no children?

Race was definitely a large factor for Morgan and Alex when searching for jobs and an apartment. Even when living in poverty, they still experienced “white privilege”. With these “white privileges” came unearned credibility. This credibility helped both Alex and Morgan, especially Alex, find a job within their first day of looking. Finding a job is not always as easy as it appeared to be for these two; for many people, finding a job can be a very difficult challenge, even when it is one paying minimum wage. When buying their apartment, Morgan and Alex were cut a lot of slack. The landlord allowed Morgan and Alex to pay half their payment at the start, trusting them to pay him back later. This trust he had for them, was not because they had steady jobs or a high credit score, but (it can be assumed it was) due to them being white. If he had not shown this unearned trust in them, Alex and Morgan would have not been able to find an apartment as quickly or as affordable for them. Throughout Alex's and Morgan’s thirty day challenge of living off minimum wage, their race played a large factor in their experiences and results. The other major factor that worked to Alex and Morgan's advantage was not having kids. Not having kids not only took away the stress of entertaining them and keeping them safe and happy, but also was substantially cheaper for them. Their debt would have been significantly larger, had they had kids. Extra food, clothes, furniture, and childcare would more than double their normal spendings, which would make their debt extremely larger.

2. Do you agree with Sen. Ted Kennedy’s argument that raising the minimum wage helps families?

Regarding minimum wage, I agree with Senator Ted Kennedy. Senator Ted Kennedy was a large advocate for raising minimum wage for the benefit of those who are living off it. Alex and Morgan’s experience over the 30 day period helped me see that living on only minimum wage really is not something that is achievable. Alex and Morgan did everything right: budgeting, finding jobs, and keeping track of their bills. Regardless of their responsibility and work ethics, they still ended their 30 day period with a debt of around $1,000. Raising minimum wage would allow minimum wage workers to pay their bills on time- resulting in higher credit scores, provide for their family, and hopefully lead a slightly less stressful life. Those who argued against Ted Kennedy, big businesses, are against for reasons solely based off selfishness. Yes, raising minimum wage would take away from their annual profits, but when you have billions and billions of dollars, like these big businesses, you can afford to spare a few dollars. It is not sensible or fair for people to be spending their whole lives working and yet always be in debt, it causes endless cycles of poverty for families. Raising the minimum wage would help these families escape debt and this seemingly endless cycle.

30 DAYS ON MINIMUM WAGE  (Nick Andrews  7th period)

1. Morgan and Alex budgeted as much as they could for 30 days. Living on minimum wag for 30 days proved to be difficult especially if emergencies like having to go to the hospital happens. Morgan says at the beginning of the movie he has never been good at budgeting. Alex is the  person that made sure they stayed in realistic range. Morgan tends to spend more on stuff he doesn't necessarily need. In the end they budgeted pretty well but still not good enough. It was still impressive they found a place to stay for less than $500. Granted when you're only paying that much for somewhere to stay you will encounter problems like ants and crack houses right next to you. After finding out how much they are paid they make calculations to see how much they should spend on everything which is a key step in budgeting. They find a store where everything is free which is also a good way to budget. They get most of their furniture for free. So in the end Morgan could've tried harder to spend less on food and entertainment.

8. The working poor is all the people who work but fall under the poverty line. Poverty is usually linked to not working however most poor people are employed, they receive minimum wage. They make enough money to barely live. They have to live on the lowest standard possible. It's also impossible to save money because they constantly have the spend the little money they have for food etc.. Many people have fought to raise the minimum wage but have not succeeded because of giant companies like Walmart who are owned by billionaires who have a large political influence and who are too powerful for anyone to take down.

Elizabeth Baker

10. I can’t imagine making that decision. Sometimes injuries can seem minimal but they are underlying very serious. But if you don’t go to the doctor, you may never find out if it’s serious or not. Going to the doctor is a necessary part of life, but, if you are living on minimum wage, you don’t have access to that, even though it’s necessary. If I went to the doctor, It would depend on the injury. If my wrist was bothering me, I know that the doctor couldn’t do anything more than give me a split and I can buy one myself so I wouldn’t go. But, if I was very ill, I would. I sometimes have bad breathing problems and start wheezing when I’m sick and I have to see a doctor whenever that happens because sometimes my inhalers aren’t enough. Seeing how much that money that visit would be if I didn’t have healthcare is insane. The system is so messed up that even though my life depends on the visit, I might die from starvation in the month after because the visit would make me go into debt. If one of my children was sick, I would immediately take them. I couldn’t take the risk of hurting them and that’s the most important thing. If it was me and my health, I can decide that for myself and make that choice. But I could never take away someone else’s right and need to see a doctor. That’s not my decision to make. I would be so worried about them if I didn’t take them. If they were sick, I may buy over the counter medicine at first and then if that doesn’t work I would take them. But if they were very very sick or had a broken arm, there would be no question in my mind to take them. In other countries, health care is free. We are one of the only countries with such high health care costs. What we put our money in is in all the wrong things. In America, the capitalistic society makes an environment where everyone is only out for themselves. That's why there is so much uproar about providing equal health care, because the rich don't want taxes to be raised and insurance companies don't want to lose money. I'm fortunate enough to have health care coverage, but most people aren't that lucky. I don't have to live in fear of spending thousands of dollars on a hospital visit and going into debt. I would only go under very extreme circumstances but if I had kids, I couldn't deny them a doctor's visit if they needed it.

7. I agree with Senator Ted Kennedy’s argument that raising the minimum wage helps families. Big business owners and the rich want to keep minimum wage the same because that would mean they want to keep their workers wages low so they can get more money. That's why places such as the Gap used child labor from other countries to avoid paying workers fairly. Minimum wage is supposed to be the minimum amount you can get paid and still live. But that’s all they are doing. Just surviving. Not really living. They can’t enjoy life. If they want to go to a movie like Morgan and Alex did, they have to measure out every penny they pay with. The cost of living has risen dramatically since the minimum wage was set. It doesn’t take into account the much higher cost of living now. Time’s have changed, but the wage stays the same. Raising it not only helps families live and be able to pay for heat and rent and medical bills, but raising it would allow for families to  enjoy life more and to have more fun. They wouldn’t have to live under the stress of not knowing if they’ll have to go to the hospital the next day, they may not have money for food after that. There is no freedom if you live off of a minimum wage salary. Choices are taken away from you. I understand that raising wages may affect businesses, but if people have more money, they also have more money to spend. I think that it would all balance out at some point. It may be hard at first, but it would all work out eventually. If it does affect the economy, I think that’s the price we have to pay for people to be treated like humans and be given the necessities required to not only survive, but to live. Many of these business owners such as McDonalds or Starbucks have billions of dollars to spend. They can afford to pay workers higher. They just want to keep every cent they can, even when they have more enough. I think that making sure the people who are keeping the business afloat are paid fairly and don't have to live in terror of getting sick and paying a hospital bill is more important then these business owners having five cars and a mansion.

Isaac Diop 30 Day Min Wage

BY Isaac Diop

9) Alex became so emotional about the services that were given to her and Morgan at The Free Store because she realized how important it was to receive these free items. She now had somewhere to sit in her house and a table to eat her food properly. Alex has realized that it would be a challenge to go on without the essential items that The Free Stores gifted, so she is grateful and thankful that she can have these items for free. Also because she doesn't have the money to pay for these essential items, getting them for free is a plus and Alex realizes this.

8) The working poor are people that spend 27 weeks or more in a year “in the labor force” either working or looking for work but whose incomes fall below the poverty level. In 2016, $11,880 per year is the poverty level per individual. In 2013, the working poor were 13% blacks, 13% Hispanics, 6% whites, and 5% Asians. The majority of people who live below the poverty level do not work. Since because they are earning such low wages, the working poor face numerous obstacles that make it difficult for many of them to find and keep a job and save up money.

Minimum Wage for 30 Days- Will Pingry

Will Pingry
Living on minimum wage for 30 days

9. Going from being extremely wealthy to barely living in a broken down apartment can take a metal toll on you. Alex had never experienced this before and so it made it very difficult for her to get used to and live with. I think alex became emotional at the store because she had never been in that position before. They didn’t have any money and she had been so upset about not being able to sit at her own table instead of on the floor, so when they got to pick out a table and chairs for free she was extremely happy. Also the fact that there were people who were just giving away free household items to people that needed them was really revealing for her. Since she was in this position of need and there were people willing to give away their own possessions for her it made her so happy and relieved.

1.  Not spending money on a daly basis is hard for me so thinking of someone having almost no money to live on is not easy.  I think that Alex and Morgan were very good at budgeting at first. Morgan would take the bus to work and try to spend as little money as possible. They ate left overs and looked for places that gave away furniture for free. They even managed to get by despite the very expensive visits to the doctors office. But then when Morgan invited the kids to say with them they spent a lot of money and Alex and Morgan started to argue over expenses. When they had the kids Morgan keep spending money on the kids to make them happy. Although he still looked for the cheapest items to buy they still spent a lot of money and were left with barely anything at the end.  It shows how hard it is living on minimum wage with kids because you have to provide for them and make them happy. For being in a minimum wage situation for 30 days they managed to spend their money well.   

Evan - 30 Days Minimum Wage

30 Days Answers

8) The working poor are people that work full time minimum wage jobs, and still fall below the poverty line. This makes up an unfortunate amount of the United States population, because minimum wage is as low as seven dollars in some areas. They were only making around forty dollars a day while working all day!

11) No, because people probably go there, use the electricity, then leave before paying the bill. The electric company is making sure that they get paid. They decided to move into an apartment in a not so good neighborhood, so it was expected that they would have to pay more on a down payment.

Mason Conn (living ffor 30 days on minimum wage)

#1. How good were Morgan and Alex at budgeting for the 30 day period?

Many people have problems with budgeting. It makes it harder to manage money when the job isn't paying well enough. When it comes to Alex and Morgan, life wasn't going to easy. They were not living comfortable and satisfied. Overall, their budgeting was good, but they just weren’t making enough. For example, their niece and nephew came to spend the day with them. Morgan spent what they have worked so hard for in order to show the kids a good time and live a little. Alex wanted to spend the least amount of money as possible but Morgan felt as if they needed to do something a little fun. that is where the financial disagreements come up. They aren't doing to good, but they are surviving.

#8. Define who the “working poor” are.

Many Americans are living in an economy of low pay  for many hours of work. For example, Gerard is struggling even more than he was 25 years ago. Why is it that it is harder to live in the present society now than it was back then. Most people are working enough just to survive, with no extra money left over to enjoy life.

  

30 Days Minimum Wage Ben Ellman

1. I thought that Morgan and Alex did a decent job at budgeting, but towards the end they did not do so well. Morgan towards the end spent his money on careless things, especially when the kids came. For example, they went to the movies and bought food their, which is expensive. He spent their money on too many little, needless things. However, Morgan and Alex did a surprisingly good job considering they have never had to budget before. They bought a really cheap apartment, bought cheap food, and saved their money. They also got almost all of their furniture and some clothes at the free store. Morgan and Alex did a good job, but they could have done better.

9. Alex became emotional because of how desperate she was. Morgan and Alex had almost nothing, and their lives were miserable, so the fact that people were willing to give her free things was tear-jerking. She was very grateful and touched that people would do this for her. Alex was incredibly happy, and it moved her to tears.

30 Days Minimum Wage - Keziah Yarnoff

12. Observe how easy it was for Morgan and Alex to get into an argument over finances. What is the underlying feeling that you think is at the cause of the conflict?

Living on minimum wage was an extremely stressful experience for both Morgan and Alex, and the two of them dealt with that stress in different ways, which led to arguing. In Morgan’s view, it was necessary for them to indulge themselves a little with the kids in order to de-stress. This is something that we talked about in class; the idea that you can’t live on bread alone, basically, that entertainment and relaxation are necessary parts of your life. However, this just made Alex even more stressed out and worried about their financial situation. Her response to stress was to budget and manage their finances more strictly. When Morgan started spending money on things they didn’t need, it freaked her out and she couldn’t focus on relaxing or having fun. These different viewpoints are what led to the arguing between them.

Though it turned out fine for them, because at the end of the 30 days they could go back to their normal lives, financial issues are the #1 reason for divorce. Financial issues can be a huge dividing line in relationships no matter what their income level, but that line could turn into a ravine when the stress of living paycheck-to-paycheck is also a factor. This leads to broken families, such as single mothers who are working two or more jobs to support multiple children. Single parents who have to support children have to work longer hours, which means they don’t have time for school or education for themselves, which means they can’t get a higher-level job, which means they can’t support their children financially or get themselves above the poverty line...and so on. This is just one of the ways that poverty tends to be a self-perpetuating system, and why it’s so difficult to get out of if you’re stuck relying on minimum-wage jobs for your living.

3. Do you feel that race was a factor in getting hired or finding an apartment for Morgan and Alex? What about the fact that they had no children?

Despite how difficult it was for Alex and Morgan to live on minimum wage, they actually had a remarkably easy time in finding an apartment and getting jobs. They managed to find an apartment immediately that was within their price range--the landlord barely asked them any questions, not even their credit score--and they also both managed to find jobs, Morgan even taking two jobs after getting his first. This was incredibly lucky for them, but it wasn’t just luck at play; it was privilege. Being white certainly helped them a great deal, as well as being childless and well-educated (something many people don’t have the advantage of).

Unfortunately, race plays a huge factor in getting a job. Some studies have been done showing that employers will reject resumes with “black-sounding” names significantly more often than they will reject applications--even the exact same application--that have more white-sounding names. This study done by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) found that "job applicants with white names needed to send about 10 resumes to get one callback; those with African-American names needed to send around 15 resumes to get one callback”. Because of systematic racism in America, it’s harder for black people to get hired than it is for white people, and when they do get hired, they get paid less--nearly 25% less, according to the NBER.

Even though Morgan and Alex had an extremely hard month trying to scrape up enough money to get through the month, they could have done much worse. They both had jobs, and Morgan even managed to get two. If it hadn’t been for their two hospital bills, they would have been in the black at the end of the month (I think). Imagine how much harder those 30 days would have been if even one of them hadn’t been able to get a job, even just for a week? Although they placed themselves in a disadvantaged situation, they still had inherent privileges that helped them during that time, such as their race and education.