Originally Posted by Bladewire

When I lived in Australia the minimum wage was $17 an hour, $600 a week roughly, and rent was dirt cheap as was food. That was the MINIMUM wage. I asked this waitress at a hole in the wall cafe how much she made and she got $20 an hour.

America has been far behind the times internationally for 20 or so years.

Over the 5 year's I lived there, EVERYONE I met over 30 OWNED an apartment they rented out and OWNED a home they lived in, most owned recreational boats. These were not rich people these were people with one full time job. This is why i, as an American, went through the citizenship process in Australia