Many are sure that the USA is the promised land, where everyone has big salaries, people live in huge private houses and two-story city apartments. Why such an opinion has developed is easy to explain if we analyze the information we know about the United States and the sources of information about this country. The main source of information about the United States for most of the inhabitants of the planet, oddly enough, is American cinema. It is through American cinema that the United States shows its successful image to the world. Most American films show us a successful rich country where there is no poverty, and where children study in schools with large school grounds and many beautiful landscapes. Happy and contented schoolchildren are chatting and laughing at ease on the green lawns. Let's see how true this image of the United States is.
In this analysis, we will not rely on the statistics of fashion magazines, but analyze the economic situation on our own, as if we lived in the USA.
Let's start with a job search, let's say we are an average American and choose the most common vacancy in the US. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the most common job in the US is retail, which corresponds to 33 of the 50 states. The largest number of jobs in this area is occupied by retailers - 4.5 million people, in second place - cashiers, in third - office workers.
Let's pretend we live in New York. We use the "glassdoor" online job database in the retail industry to search for jobs. The average salary of a sales assistant in a store is from 14 to 19 dollars per hour with a working week of 32 or 40 hours.
Let's take $19 as an example, so if we work 40 hours a week, our monthly earnings will be $3,040 and our annual earnings will be $36,480. As a good US citizen, we must pay taxes and payroll deductions. The tax rate on $36,480 is 12% considering we don't have a family. The US has a very interesting tax system, it takes into account many factors, for example, if you have a large family, then the tax for you will be lower, and there are many other subtleties. In addition to income tax, we must purchase health insurance, with a national average of $456 to $648 a month. It is possible to opt out of health insurance in the USA, but this will lead to huge hospital expenses, so we will buy insurance for $456. If you think these are small taxes, think again, as income grows, the tax rate increases very much and can be 37%, in addition, starting from an annual income of $ 137,700, a pension contribution of 6.2 is added %. The total amount of tax will be 43%. If you earn from 40525 to 86375 per year, then the tax is 22%. Let's get back to our salary. Everyone needs somewhere to live, so we go to the site for renting real estate in New York. The average price for a studio combined with a common dining room is $360, which corresponds to the cost of a hostel.
If we want a small apartment of 32 square meters and furniture, it will cost us $560. However, not everything is so simple, this amount does not include utility bills and the client must pay them himself. Researcher Joe Roberts in his article "Utility Bills 101: Utilities Tips, Average Costs, Fees, and More" studied the amount of utility bills in different states and concluded that the average bill in the United States is between $240 and $400 per month. . We will save, so we will take a minimum amount of $240. The most important thing remains. Need to buy food. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2021, the average cost of food per person in the US is $250-$270 per month or $3,120 per year, and $333-$360 in 2022. Here it is reasonable to take an average between years, since not all people are ready to overpay for food and start saving. Let's take $300 a month or $3,600 a year.
So, we have determined the main costs, let's calculate how much free money we will have per month. Our salary 36480 - tax 12% - health insurance 5472 - rent 6720 - 2880 utilities - 3600 groceries and divided by 12 months = $1119 per month - this is our net money. Is it a lot or a little? Many of you will say enough is enough, because if you convert dollars into the currencies of other countries, you get a solid amount. However, you can’t argue like that, because if you live in the USA, then you pay for your life in dollars and at the price of a dollar. I have been thinking for a long time how to most adequately compare the standard of living of different countries, and the only comparison that shows the differences well is purchasing power. However, the prices of goods and services vary greatly from country to country and can often be underpriced or overpriced. It is necessary to find something in common that is important for all developed and developing countries. What could it be? Petrol? Gas? All countries that want to develop need electricity, without which there can be no modern development, the price of growing food, the price of equipment production, the price of fertilizers and even the price of our daily life depend on it. The cost of electricity in a country is a good indicator of a country's level of development and its production potential. In the US, the average cost of a kilowatt-hour is 14.83 cents, that is, for $1119 you can buy 7546 kWh. This amount is calculated from the arithmetic average of the states, of course, there are states where the price is several times higher, but we need a national average to understand the general situation. Try to find average values for your country or average prices in tariffs. How many kilowatts can you buy with the rest of your paycheck? The more kilowatts you can buy with free money, the better you live.
In addition, you can easily calculate the equivalent of your salary. For example, if you live in the Russian Federation, then the average price of electricity in the country for you will be 4.8 rubles per kilowatt, or $0.078. Thus, if we take the forecast calculation of 7546 kilowatts and multiply by the average cost of 4.8 kilowatts, we get 36221 rubles or $589, this is the amount that a resident of the Russian Federation should have at the end of the month after paying all taxes. If you add utilities, food and taxes to this amount, you get 61,481 rubles or $ 1,000, and this is exactly the amount that, in terms of living standards, will be equal to the average US citizen, whom we calculated earlier. This example clearly shows that it is more correct to use PPP to compare living standards than to consider GDP or per capita income, since a US salary of $3,040 provides the same standard of living as $1,000 in Russia.
Such a calculation of the standard of living in the country is interesting because it allows you to calculate not only the general standard of living, but also the standard of living of one or another part of the population. In addition, this calculation is independent of the total gross domestic product, by which countries are usually ordered and which in no way indicates the standard of living of the citizens of the country itself. The US was chosen for this example because it has the highest total economic income in the world, but so far this is the only study and we have nothing to compare it to. The free cash balance study in the US set the bar, and later I will make a chart of different economies to see if the GDP rating matches the real standard of living in these countries.