Fox Noise Sez: Keep America Great! No Vacations, Slaves!

[Zac Naloen]

I get 25 days full pay, with 5 days currently for sick leave and I can "buy" extra days off work should I want them. There are the other national holidays, like Bank holidays and Xmas etc. I'm also flexible with working hours, so long as I do 7.5 hours a day, five days a week, it doesn't matter when I do them.

As a note, I have a cousin who is a maths teacher at secondary school level and she should be on around $50k a year, while myself as a "trainee" scientist am on only $35k a year for the time being.

The pay differences between America and the UK never fail to shock me, I'm way down the bottom of the scale at the moment (due to being trainee tech support) but still earn the equiv of $28k.

Are things that much cheaper in the US that those wages are survivable?

[Dahak]

Well, I have my standard 30 days a year plus 12 days of bank holidays (and should I be ill, I am legally entitled to 6 weeks of full payment).
I dunno, with just 10 days of holidays for one year... Would be hell...

[Admiral Valdemar]

Germany has a problem with the workers expecting too much though. I often hear stories of how antsy they can be without all those benefits and high salaries, despite industry not being what it once was.

[Broomstick]

The pay differences between America and the UK never fail to shock me, I'm way down the bottom of the scale at the moment (due to being trainee tech support) but still earn the equiv of $28k.

Are things that much cheaper in the US that those wages are survivable?

No.

Real buying power in the US has been falling for most of the past decades. The average person is, at best, holding even.

[Lost Soal]

While I'm entitled to 28 days holiday and some sick leave, not sure how much, I'm a contract worker through Hays, meaning I don't get the leave paid. Of course on the flip side, I'm allowed to do as many extra hours as I wish (so long as we have the work), and I get paid for them while the actual company staff is on Salary so if they have to work longer they get nothing for it.

[General Zod]

I get 25 days full pay, with 5 days currently for sick leave and I can "buy" extra days off work should I want them. There are the other national holidays, like Bank holidays and Xmas etc. I'm also flexible with working hours, so long as I do 7.5 hours a day, five days a week, it doesn't matter when I do them.

As a note, I have a cousin who is a maths teacher at secondary school level and she should be on around $50k a year, while myself as a "trainee" scientist am on only $35k a year for the time being.

The pay differences between America and the UK never fail to shock me, I'm way down the bottom of the scale at the moment (due to being trainee tech support) but still earn the equiv of $28k.

Are things that much cheaper in the US that those wages are survivable?

One of the big contributors is the Federal minimum wage barely changing at all in the last 20 years. Since many places like to be as cheap as fuck, especially in the "at will" employment states, you'll be lucky to earn more than that if you're not working in a good job. ($5.15 might put you at just above the poverty line if you're working full time).

I'm better off than a decent chunk of people in my state at $30k, (which is "at will") but I'm still in the lower end of the pay scale. Of course one big thing that will contribute is your rent costs and whether or not people attempt living within their means. A lot of people tend to try and live like millionaires on a small budget, or the rent just isn't that affordable unless you want to be in a real scummy part of town.

[Admiral Valdemar]

I almost lived in a house in an area not unlike the one I'm in where rent was $1500/month. Needless to say, I made a better choice coming to where I am now with a newer house that was just renovated and more local amenities in a quiet village. It's not as close to work, but it'll do me with the 10 minute drive and I only have a Fiesta Flight, so fuel is dirt cheap for me.

Much better than the minimum wage, that's for sure, which for my age range is $11 or so, last I checked.

[Pelranius]

Fox News is cribbing Stephen Colbert again. Back this February, Colbert did a "Frenemy" report on China and asked for pretty much the same thing.

[Darth Wong]

Are things that much cheaper in the US that those wages are survivable?

How many people actually live in trailer parks in the US? I wonder if there's a reliable figure for that. Think about it: actually living in something that was meant to be towed behind a car. A glorified aluminum-sided camping tent with wheels that you park in a spot and hook up to some basic utilities, and actually call "home". Frightening.

[Flagg]

Are things that much cheaper in the US that those wages are survivable?

How many people actually live in trailer parks in the US? I wonder if there's a reliable figure for that. Think about it: actually living in something that was meant to be towed behind a car. A glorified aluminum-sided camping tent with wheels that you park in a spot and hook up to some basic utilities, and actually call "home". Frightening.

It's an interesting question. Though alot of it depends on what your definition of trailer is. Alot of people live in 'manufactured homes' which are essentially glorified trailers without wheels.

[Darth Wong]

Are things that much cheaper in the US that those wages are survivable?

How many people actually live in trailer parks in the US? I wonder if there's a reliable figure for that. Think about it: actually living in something that was meant to be towed behind a car. A glorified aluminum-sided camping tent with wheels that you park in a spot and hook up to some basic utilities, and actually call "home". Frightening.

It's an interesting question. Though alot of it depends on what your definition of trailer is. Alot of people live in 'manufactured homes' which are essentially glorified trailers without wheels.

I would call "mobile homes" trailers too, even if you need to load them on a flatbed to move them around. A home should be fairly immobile.

[Flagg]

How many people actually live in trailer parks in the US? I wonder if there's a reliable figure for that. Think about it: actually living in something that was meant to be towed behind a car. A glorified aluminum-sided camping tent with wheels that you park in a spot and hook up to some basic utilities, and actually call "home". Frightening.

It's an interesting question. Though alot of it depends on what your definition of trailer is. Alot of people live in 'manufactured homes' which are essentially glorified trailers without wheels.

I would call "mobile homes" trailers too, even if you need to load them on a flatbed to move them around. A home should be fairly immobile.

There were tons in FL. Alot of retirees lived in them since they are cheap to buy outright and then all you have to do is pay the utilities and rent for the lot. As far as I'm concerned they should be banned in the south and midwest.

[Uraniun235]

Are things that much cheaper in the US that those wages are survivable?

How many people actually live in trailer parks in the US? I wonder if there's a reliable figure for that. Think about it: actually living in something that was meant to be towed behind a car. A glorified aluminum-sided camping tent with wheels that you park in a spot and hook up to some basic utilities, and actually call "home". Frightening.

I have to admit that's not something I think about much, even though there are a few trailer parks within a few miles where I live.

I wonder if these people own their 'mobile homes', or if they're on a rental basis. If it were the former, I could easily see some people preferring to have a trailer they could call their own rather than perpetually renting an apartment. Of course, I rather doubt that trailer parks are free to park in, so there'd still be an ongoing payment of some kind... but then, homeowners have to pay property tax as well.

Huh. I wonder how that all adds up.

[Uraniun235]

There were tons in FL. Alot of retirees lived in them since they are cheap to buy outright and then all you have to do is pay the utilities and rent for the lot. As far as I'm concerned they should be banned in the south and midwest.

Due to weather risks (hurricanes/tornadoes)?

[Gil Hamilton]

How many people actually live in trailer parks in the US? I wonder if there's a reliable figure for that. Think about it: actually living in something that was meant to be towed behind a car. A glorified aluminum-sided camping tent with wheels that you park in a spot and hook up to some basic utilities, and actually call "home". Frightening.

I don't know about mobile homes in America, I can't find a figure for it, but there are, in America, according to a business website I found, no less than 947 companies registered on the site that sell them, if that tells you anything (Texas has more than a tenth of them). There are ALOT of trailer parks which are used as permanent residences about, particularly in rural area.

[Flagg]

There were tons in FL. Alot of retirees lived in them since they are cheap to buy outright and then all you have to do is pay the utilities and rent for the lot. As far as I'm concerned they should be banned in the south and midwest.

Due to weather risks (hurricanes/tornadoes)?

Exactly. In the west, especially the arid states, these things are practical substitutions for 'regular' houses. Especially the doublewide variety. But they are fucking deathtraps in any active storm region, such as almost the entirety of the southern states and midwest.

[Broomstick]

Are things that much cheaper in the US that those wages are survivable?

How many people actually live in trailer parks in the US? I wonder if there's a reliable figure for that. Think about it: actually living in something that was meant to be towed behind a car. A glorified aluminum-sided camping tent with wheels that you park in a spot and hook up to some basic utilities, and actually call "home". Frightening.

I have to admit that's not something I think about much, even though there are a few trailer parks within a few miles where I live.

I wonder if these people own their 'mobile homes', or if they're on a rental basis. If it were the former, I could easily see some people preferring to have a trailer they could call their own rather than perpetually renting an apartment. Of course, I rather doubt that trailer parks are free to park in, so there'd still be an ongoing payment of some kind... but then, homeowners have to pay property tax as well.

Huh. I wonder how that all adds up.

The typical scenario is that the resident owns the trailer, but rents the lot. I won't say "parking space" because for the past 2-3 decades the trend has been towards units that have no undercarriage, wheels, or the like. They are intended to be moved once, to a permanent location. In the Midwest the preference is to somehow affix them to a solid foundation.

The problem comes in when the land underneath the trailer is sold (typically to developers). So now you have people on a fixed income who are being evicted from the land their property resides on - but most of these units can no longer be safely moved, even if the owner had the money to do the move. Can't sell 'em for anything other than scrap at that point - and in some areas this can cause a significant spike in homelessness.

That said - on the high end "manufactured housing" is comparable to built-in-place, including such items as basements. Properly installed, they are supposedly as solidly in place as scratch built as well. From the exterior they are indistinguishable from scratch-built as well (having looked into this at one point for housing I can spot certain popular models of these, which is about the only give-away) Such units, however, typically are installed on property that's owned by the resident... definitely a crowd with a higher socio-economic status that the average trailer park resident.

The mere fact that manufactured housing is being seen more and more as a respectable option for the middle-class is, I think, significant.

On the flip side, more and more people are living permanently in RV's, which wasn't such a terrible thing back when gas was cheaper but now... very expensive.

[Ritterin Sophia]

My boss, George W Bush, gives me 30 days paid vacation every year. Ha ha to the rest of you.

Too bad, his boss, the United States Citizenry, let's him off with as much paid vacation as he deems necessary for us to allow him.

[Sea Skimmer]

I wouldn’t claim a mobile home is a particularly good place to live, but it does give more privacy then an apartment (especially a cheap apartment with paper thin walls), and the prices usually better. I think the main reason you find so many in the US is because its way cheaper to build them in a factory then to build an apartment building on site, and the extra land they require doesn’t matter in most areas. For the same given floor area, it isn't necessarily any worse then an apartment in quality and with proper anchoring its better then an apartment building vs. weather in some respects. A big building can be rendered uninhabitable by only partial damage, while each trailer has to be individually wrecked.

Its also worth noting that in the US many permanent homes are also built in a modular fashion in factories, and are then assembled on site from 6-12 pieces. You don’t have to do all the work on site to construction a decent building.

The only limitation on this kind of construction is that the transportation costs of moving the units will after a certain distance outweigh the savings of building with modules. A single given factory also can only churn out a limited verity of modules without once more losing its cost advantage.

Now the people living in actual RVs, that is just depressing.

[K. A. Pital]

30 days is the right, and standard, for the worker (in our country too thanks to the Soviet labour code).

U.S. vacations are ridiculous.

[Stuart Mackey]

Are things that much cheaper in the US that those wages are survivable?

How many people actually live in trailer parks in the US? I wonder if there's a reliable figure for that. Think about it: actually living in something that was meant to be towed behind a car. A glorified aluminum-sided camping tent with wheels that you park in a spot and hook up to some basic utilities, and actually call "home". Frightening.

The old term was hovel and its inhabitents peasants.

[Dahak]

Germany has a problem with the workers expecting too much though. I often hear stories of how antsy they can be without all those benefits and high salaries, despite industry not being what it once was.

Well, I'm the first to admit that we certainly like our priviliges. I do...
Though there are an increasing numbers of people for those these things are more academic, especially in the very-low pay-grade department.

[PainRack]

Has any other news anchor/politician seize on this and point to George W Bush yet?

He's the Decider after all.

[andrewgpaul]

Man, I read these stories and think "I'm glad I don't live there". My first job, working retail, gave me 4 weeks paid holiday a year (although there were plenty of restrictions on when I could take it). My current job gives me 25 days paid leave a year, plus 10 bank holidays, with no restrictions I can see on when I can take them. I'm off on holiday for three weeks as of tomorrow, thanks to that.

[Drooling Iguana]

Too bad, his boss, the United States Citizenry, let's him off with as much paid vacation as he deems necessary for us to allow him. :roll:

To be fair, he can do a lot less damage on vacation than when he's actually working.