I Make $20/Hour And I'm Still Homeless (The Sad Truth) 

"It's more expensive to be poor." I hate that so many people don't realize this.

Pre covid, i was living like a KING on $17 an hour.

Graham, ignorance is bliss is not a viable option in that situation. She has to prepare her child. As someone with first hand experience as the child in that situation, it would have been much more traumatic when we became homeless if I had no heads up whatsoever. At least with knowing what the struggles were, I was able to prepare myself when we became homeless during my childhood.

I was a smart kid probably around his age when my parents lost everything in 08’. Trust me he knows just from analyzing everything. You can’t hide everything from your kids. And sometimes it’s just good to be transparent with them because life is life.

Kids are more aware than you think. They pick up on any issues in the home.

When you grow up in poverty (or very close to it) it’s impossible to ignore it as a kid. I agree that they should try making more money but that’s a lot easier said than done when you’re stuck in a perpetual loop of just getting by. If you go to school, who’s paying the rent that you can barely afford already? How can you work part time and feed yourself or worse, others? I’m not saying it’s impossible but it’s close to it when you’re in these situation. If it were easy there would be no classes. I’ve lived poor and have lived comfortable in my life and from experience, it’s not as easy as a middle class or rich person thinks it is. We take SO much for granted that we can’t begin to realize.

Buying groceries is ridiculous now

Everyone always says "Why don't they just move?" Do you have any idea how expensive it is to move? Uhauls cost an arm & a leg. You have to find a job, build up savings for the first, last and deposit in a new rental in a new town where you don't know anybody. The costs just go on & on & on. Moving is not a solution or even an option for people that can't afford to live in an area they're stuck in. You either stay and figure out how to make it work, usually by working multiple jobs and never seeing your family, or you become homeless. Maybe once you're homeless you can walk to a new place with whatever you can carry on your back but good luck getting a job or a home in a new town or city as a homeless person.

Kids are young but they are not stupid. It’s very easy for them to pick up that there’s a bad situation happening, even if their parents try to hide it. Their classmates may have newer, better quality toys, backpack and school supplies than they do. They can tell if there’s not enough food to feed everyone in their home. Even babies can tell emotions from facial expressions alone, and notice a lot more of them than we can as adults.

$50 an hour in 1992 you’re well off $50 an hour in 2024 you’re getting there keep grinding bro

That kid knew what was happening because poverty forces kids to grow up faster. You can't "just be a kid"...

As someone who lives a few hours away from Jackson, the problem is real. People will travel 2.5 hours away to go to Jackson to work at 20+ an hour and back every night.

The wealthiest people are often the CHEAPEST, they will pay their staff the lowest possible wage, even breaking min wage laws with forced OT.

"I would question why anyone would choose to live here." And you win the golden ticket. If you're in the service industry to NIMBY rich people, then you're going to get treated like this. The borders are open. Leave. The only reason the rich people in that town can get away with the arrangement is because YOU let them abuse you. Get out. When nobody's there to clean their toilets and make their coffee, they'll rethink their strategies: either high density, cheap housing, or higher wages. And this isn't the only place like this. Aspen is awful for it. San Francisco is bad as well.

The guy needs to contact the labor board because he is owed money

My living situation is owned and covered fully by my employer.. I joke that i'd otherwise would be homeless, but the reality is that I would immediately take my skills to another employer if i got fired (unlikely) and would only have to couch hop for a very short period, if any at all. The whole "we dont have money to leave." Is that they let themselves get so broke over the years that its now almost impossible to leave.... they didn't want to leave when they first started getting priced out and had enough to leave. They would rather stay broke and homeless where they are instead of roughing it by moving somewhere else that would give them the ability to get back on their feet. Not owning a home allows me to up and leave at any time, which includes when I start to get priced out of an area..

Ignorant is not bliss thats why America has a financial problem. The earlier you teach your children the value of money the more financially responsible you will raise your children to be

Society is the problem, when developers only want to build mansions to make money 🤦‍♂️

I guess the wages will have to go up as much as living cost is. People will just move to the lower living cost areas if they can find good wages but the issue is the lower living cost areas pay less too! That's why working from home wad the solution for a lot of people. They left the expense cities and moved to lower cost living places but unfortunately brought up the cost of living in those areas!

This reminds me of the issues I've been hearing about in the Lake Tahoe Basin between CA & NV. Resort area, but limited in space around the area (geography) and locals get pushed out by people who buy their vacation home.

This doesn't get resolved without major legislation (which gov't representatives don't want to do because it means less money in their pockets) or a civil conflict of some kind.

"i dont know why they dont live somewhere else".... Its getting like this everywhere

If you have ever been to Jackson hole, you will understand why they want to live there. It’s one of the most amazing places on earth that’s why all the rich people are there. The problem is it is on affordable for a job to pay $20 an hour, but I can seemoving there to try to figure out how the heck you can make it work work or whatever but there’s a reason everybody’s there you have to have been there to understand it’s pretty easy to get hooked on that mountain lifestyle. I don’t wanna move there for tax purposes. I want to move there because it’s amazingly beautiful, but I’m also not rich so here I am stuck in Ohio.😂 love ya Graham 🎉

My cousin makes 17 an hour and takes home 800 after taxes. He pays his 1k rent, 120$ car insurance and has a paid for car. With his income he qualifies for food stamps so he heats for free and has MORE money left over a month than me. I don’t get how you can be homeless

Great video, clicked the thumbs up and subscribed. Only one correction: since you’re a Las Vegan now, it’s Nev-A-da, not Nev-Ahh-da 😉🍻 That is all, Party on!

Great video

2:45 very nice of you, knew you were a good guy!

Even when paid more, can't really do it alone. If you're not partnered up with someone you love and trust, expect a MUCH simpler life.

I know I don't understand all of the barriers to relocating to another city or state, but that seems like the best solution for the homeless individuals that are willing and able to work. George Kammel recently made a lot of people mad with his comment that no one is entitled to live in any city they want if the cost of living is too high for them, and I would tend to agree. Perhaps if enough people left and the labor shortage was great enough, the demand for labor would force employers to pay more if they want to stay in business.

I am a parent, and yes, I would keep it from the child until the days leading up to something happening. Months of anticipation and not knowing is very hard on a kid. Plus they always blame themselves. Very sad.

Hey Graham, Jackson is a major ski town. Most of the big ski towns (Jackson, Park City, etc) have similar problems where they have become so expensive that most people actually working there can't afford to live there. Something this video doesn't mention is that Jackson is particularly bad because (I think) 95-98% of the land around there is public lands (National Parks/Forests) so can't be built on. So even though it LOOKS like there is a ton of land to expand, there really isn't. Also, a huge percentage of houses in these towns are airBNBs or second homes which limits actual housing. Many workers still want to move to these cities because they love skiing or other outdoor sports and these cities are the best places in the USA to do them. These are small towns so most jobs are lower-paying service jobs, but people are still willing to move there to do them because it let's them live their passions in their spare time. But now these towns are getting too unaffordable to allow for that.

Maybe it is time for a change. Don't give up. Look through temp services.

"Patrick wanted to quit(his job), he became homeless" don't quit your job without having something else planned. Smh. He chose to lose everything. He is not a victim, it's a choice

Graham another great video--hey I know you’re super busy just wanting to stay top of mind with the IG messages and would love to connect to get you this new site 😊👍🏽

20x40 is 800 minus taxes let's say 650 650x4 is 2600. I live in ny and a nice studio is 1300

I don’t see what’s so hard about leaving. If your whole family is homeless, buy a tank of gas and leave with everyone. $300 in gas can get most cars anywhere in the country from Wyoming.

Look up Martin county Florida. Same problem.

I saw the video you were watching and Let me tell you the problem. The issue is the is actually NOT paying people more… it’s the fact that the housing “zoning” laws prevent housing to be constructed ANYWHERE! It’s really is as simple as having a mix used space where there are apartments on top buildings where the tenants just have to go down some stairs or the elevator to the first floor and go straight to work. That’s what Miami has been doing. Because mix used spaces are more tax lucrative. But the US has soooo many restrictions on the zoning and in each council meeting home owners say they want it “but not in their backyard”! At one point they were going to just designate an area farther from the town but that would intrude on the local population of deer 🦌 and other wildlife… Again sure let’s not destroy wildlife however where else can these “undesirables” be!? You don’t want them within the town… you don’t want them by your mansion… where?! Also unfortunately those jobs are seasonal! At $20 a hour (40 hours a week) housing/ rent should be $800 a month (25% of your income). Where in this area are single income people going to find affordable apartments like that?!

When there's a mass migration of urban residents (living in densely populated cities) relocating to single-family homes, which typically require large amounts of land, it's no wonder there's an instant shortage of housing.

Real question is do they care more about making a great profit with low # of employees or high turnover or would they prefer to make a decent profit but retain employees by paying them more? Their actions pretty much says it all

Not to detract from these peoples difficult situation but I feel like there’s got to be more to the story… Debt, bad habits, poor choices etc. And it’s not just the fault of the “evil rich man”

We hear all the time about raising wages. Very few ever talk about lowering the cost of living.

Yeah, but it also deals with behavior. If they are close to homeless, you should have close to nothing. So, moving should be easy. It is the lifestyle they are living. There has to be a leak of money somewhere. If they really wanted to leave, they would. Yeah, there is more to the story. And I do understand that if the job goes, the housing goes too.

If it's not sustainable, something will unfortunately break. But it will resolve over time... One hope's

The problem is needing three times the rent

Im in northern New Jersey right outside of New York City and I thought it was bad here. Dang!!!

Grocery store parking lot where I live is filled with cars and the grocery store closes at 2am and the windows are fogged on the cars

It costs too much money to leave and they’re emotionality and mentally broken so they don’t even think they can

Graham you should do a collab with the remote job guru channel. You guys are my two favorite channels ever ever Who doesn’t love money and remote work LOL

I visited Jackson hole on a ski trip and it is a very desirable place so I can see why people would want to live there.

You can’t always live where you want. If you can’t afford to live in Jackson Hole then go to Guernsey where you can easily get an apartment for $600. There are places I would love to live but I won’t go there because it is too expensive.

Hey Graham, when you live in poverty and in tighter quarters with your family, there is no hiding the situation from the kid. It’s just not doable, he’s gonna overhear talk, it’s gonna be on the mind of the family, children included.

❤❤❤

J.H. was started by very rich men back in w.w.2 days. They chose that place because it was placed in a circled in mountains and one way in then they made it to bomb the entrance to be safe inside and no one could get in "the enemy" times were different back then. But I am going to sale my house and I guess I will buy a van to live in until I find a place to live.😢

Cheapest new construction here is a half a million townhouse it’s been rough searching as a first time homebuyer

This is why people should pay off your house as soon as possible, I don't care if your interest rate doesn't beat the S&P, if you lose your job and your home is paid for then that peace of mind is priceless. I am 47, I own mine, I can live off of $2k a month comfortably if I needed to. Why because I had the bottom fall out in 2009. I never want to go through that again.

🙏🙏🙏

6:50 @The Graham Stephan Show , children in lower socioeconomic status (impoverished, low-income households) tend to understand more of their families’ financial situations for many reasons such as a parent telling a child ‘ we can’t have ice cream because ___ bill is due’. Children of immigrant parents who don’t speak English also have to assist their families to communicate. This is how the son can know so much about his mothers housing situation.

I actually have a bit of input on this scenario. So Jackson hole is like Williston ND it's surrounded by the oilfield boom. $30 per hour is like $20 per hour everywhere else. I have worked in both States.

This is basic economics, the people have to leave (reduce supply) in order for wages to increase. Right now there are too many people playing at the bottom, meaning the services needed by the rich are being met.

Didn't I request a discussion on homelessness on a previous video? Damn, well done My outreach trips living with the poor around the nation- paths up can feel almost unattainable, it's something we should all think about, the decline of so many people, that otherwise could be good

So let them leave the city. The city will then raise pay rates to get employees. It's really simple. Why are the workers trying to fight this? They will not win, this is capitalism.

LA is the same there's empty buildings that could be made into low income housing

Graham... You LIVE in the state I want to move to... You should learn how to pronounce it... It's not NEV AH DAH... Like ‘lad dee dah’... It's Nevada like data, strata, and pro rata... LOL (Being from New England I am having to TRAIN HARD to NOT say NevAhhhhDa like I'm frickin' John Kerry)

If you raise minimum wage prices go up to make up to pay employees. That means you might pay more at the restaurant.

Depends on where you live , 20 an hour buy you a tent to live in San Francisco . That would rent you places in MS

Rents are too high n incomes are too low, a revolt is coming

Him and Jack goes down there on a moped. Who will be the driver?

I saw that it was an older gentleman and I felt like I see someone that didn't think about the future wrong person to have on the thumbnail.

There is so much money to be made in Jackson Hole but because so many people want to live there because of how incredible the mountains, lakes, rivers, snow, views, oh i could go on and on, people are willing to live in crazy circumstances including in their cars, to live in the most amazing outdoor playground in the US and it's got all kinds of regulations to keep certain businesses OUT and keep the city looking a certain way and so it is also a tight knit community where the people who actually live there sort of understand that most people live there are there to serve all those wealthy people who come to visit or stay in their summer homes, and they can make a lot of money during peak season but never enough to live a comfortable life there, but the lifestyle sucks people in and then the cycle continues, people taking jobs to earn an unlivable wage to have access to the mountains...etc. I worked on the Rockefeller's private guess ranch before they donated the land back to the national park and then i worked on a private dude ranch where guests paid $14k for a week to stay in cabins and ride horses and i would drive them to the rodeo and Yellowstone and i lived in cabins with my co workers and it was a great time, would go back in a heart beat, but the money that is coming in from tourists is insane, absolutely insane to comprehend and i hear its even worse now than it was almost 20 years ago when i lived there. If your employer isnt providing housing, hope you like living in your car!

I make $19 an hr and im living check to check. I stay in Memphis. Im just fortunate to have my apartment even tho Im barely surviving.

Study company mine towns of the past, that's what their plan is, the big corporations. It's never going to get better for the working class. In the last 20 years it has only gotten worse.

Strange to see America hitting the housing shortage problem the U.K. has been experiencing for 30 years. In the U.K. there’s a shortage of land to build on (due to laws concerning where new homes can be built), I don’t understand the issue in America - they have enormous land reserves, and land is incredibly cheap in the US compared to the U.K. There must be money to be made building starter homes on virgin land.

Hey Graham I like that jacket your wearing in your profile picture, what’s the name of it😅

I saw the Jackson Hole vids days before the banker's meet

Simple solution. MOVE

Graham, I think it’s safe to assume you’ve never been to Jackson Hole. You might want to take a trip out there. Not sure raising the wages is the answer. If everyone gets paid $50/h, rents will all of a sudden be 10k/month. Building employee housing is also not affordable in Jackson for employers since building anything would cost in the millions.

Hi Graham.

If you want cheap housing than move to Mississippi where anyone can buy a home

Yup. If it wasn’t for my mom allowing me to live with her, and pay a few utility bills, and buy my own food, I’d be homeless too, and make 20 an hour, and work more than full time to the point of exhaustion with zero time or money to do anything fun, don’t even want to think about what I’m going to do when she passes, this inflation is unsustainable, we’re headed for a revolution no doubt about it, we can’t live in a country where there are tens of millions of people living like this

Playground for the rich I got an idea let’s make $20 an hour and then complain that we can’t live in a playground for the rich he’s living out of his car. He has no utility bills no rent making $20 an hour. What’s he spending his money on?

News flash. Some people who are making 40 bucks an hour are forced to live in their cars.

$20/hour was a "a lot" when i was 14 years old. get ur money up.

“They made me homeless” yea that’s it it’s everyone else’s fault . Grow up.

Instead of letting immigrants flood over the border (which only makes the problem worse -- more competition for housing), the politicians should be incentivizing builders to build homes and apartments. Of course, since most of the politicians own real estate and/or have buddies who do, and are benefitting from increased property values, they're doing the exact opposite. Increasing property values is all well and good, but some people don't want a house as an investment, they just want a home, somewhere to live, preferably one they can afford.

But Graham, if businesses paid people enough to live in one home, the business owners would have to give up their 4th home!

This ever growing idea that x number per hour isn't enough now is a fucking joke to me. Lol I can show you mathematically how to not only survive on $15hr, but also invest for retirement, and have some left over for fun. We live in a world where most people have lost any sense of what is a want vs a need and they stay broke because of it instead of looking at themselves as the main problem.

Ya I'm not gunna cry over people who can't afford Jackson WY because most people cant. It sucks, but you need to move

Go Mr. Beast on them Graham...use that star power to help them. Drop $1K and hire someone for $500 to create a nice fundme page. Resources pool, allowing them to get collectively relocate. You were on Ramsey and have leverage down that entire path...so many paths to help. You get the idea. Right now you're leveraging their struggle for your own views and financial gain. You're not harming them...sure. But, I'd still feel scummy in your position. Do you feel any of it?

My dearest RU-vid, Sir, You are so very much inspiration

How sad

Do you have a car and insurance? If so, you can live on twenty dollars an hour. Get a gym membership for showers. You’ll be fine and save money.

very good video thanks! Been watching since 2017. 🙂

When Graham discovers LIHTC

Kids r very nosey and the boy probably overheard his mom conversations and thats how he knows

It doesn't matter what they raise it up to because they are just going to raise the price of everything else, I just don't get why people don't understand that. Suburbs aren't profitable how about we make apartments with store on the bottom and good pj lic transit where people can walk to stores and take a bus or train to work and not have to go I to debt jut to own a car. Building Suburbs is not the answer.

This argument drives me nuts. Its obvious to just move somewhere with a low cost of living. Then they respond but this is my home. Ok but it’s not liveable? Boils down to do you want a happy life or not. Gonna stay and be homeless on Principle?

Not sure what the video is about yet but I will say I’ve been living not great but living off of 15 an hour just recently 18 it’s fully possible if you just pay attention to your bank account and don’t buy stupid stuff!! Also before anyone says anything negative I started with zero dollars and a car found a good price on an apartment and started there and beginning of the year found a 3 bedroom with over 2x the sf for $100 more a month. Don’t feel stuck in one area in my area at least even moving 30 mins further in a direction you can save so much money

Sadly I notice no dad's with these examples.....

What do you think the minimum wage should be