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I don’t know the official statistics, so I’m just going to make a fairly educated guess that about 75 percent of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. If that statistic is true, that’s pretty sad. It doesn’t do justice to the phrase “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” that figures prominently in our Declaration of Independence. Is it greed? Is it corporations that value investors over employees? Is it an inept government? Whatever the reason, the majority of Americans are struggling financially. That’s backed up by this latest study that shows how much money families of different sizes need to make to live in Texas.

SmartAssest about MIT Living Wage

It costs a lot of money to feed yourself or your family. You have to have food at home for everyone to eat. That’s expensive. You need a car to get to work or school events. That’s expensive. You need health insurance for yourself or your family. That’s expensive. You need a home to live in. That’s expensive. Not to mention the amenities you want to have, like cable TV, cell phone, or streaming services.

Everyone wants our money for something.

How much would you or your family need to earn to cover just basic needs? SmartAsset was able to come up with a list based on numbers from MIT’s Living Wage Calculator. The number that came out may or may not surprise you.

Total wage demand in Texas

The first set of numbers is the total wages needed for families of different sizes to live in Texas. Note that these numbers are based only on a family’s basic needs:

• 1 adult, 0 children: $43,508
• 1 adult, 1 child: 73,609 USD
• 1 adult, 2 children: 90,695 USD
• 1 adult, 3 children: 117,742 USD

• 2 adults (1 working), 0 children: 60,091 USD
• 2 adults (1 working), 1 child: 71,638 USD
• 2 adults (1 working), 2 children: 80,178 USD
• 2 adults (1 working), 3 children: $85,843

• 2 adults (2 working), 0 children: 60,091 USD
• 2 adults (2 working), 1 child: 82,285 USD
• 2 adults (2 working), 2 children: 100,689 USD
• 2 adults (2 working), 3 children: 116,350 USD

Yes, that’s the bare minimum. Wow. The numbers can even be broken down to each individual county in Texas. For example, I live in Smith County. My house is home to myself, my fiancée, and her daughter. To cover our basic needs, each of us would need to make $19.00 an hour. Just the bare minimum. Wow. If you live in Gregg or Cherokee or any other county in East Texas, you can look up the required income at livingwage.mit.edu.

Nobody earns enough money anymore

The sad truth is that no one currently makes enough money to do anything. Not go on vacation, not indulge in a fun hobby, not go on a night out on the town more than once a month, if that. Our government is supposedly the one working for us to make this dream of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” a reality. Instead, they’re constantly arguing over a blonde in a red hat or putting an 80-something politician behind a podium to yell at us. And don’t even get me started on how out of control we are.

Companies boast about making record profits, then the next day they lay off a quarter of their workforce, saying they can’t pay salaries. The next day it’s announced that the company’s CEO took a $15 million bonus and gave record dividends to investors. That’s not business, that’s a problem.

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