Just in case you weren't already aware of how difficult it is to survive on minimum wage, allow McDonald's to lay it all out for you. The fast food giant has partnered with Visa to release a just-shy-of-condescending "budget journal" to help their employees manage their finances. In a hilariously obtuse budget breakdown, the Big Mac purveyor's first piece of advice to employees: get a second job. Yup, even McDonald's knows that workers can't survive on the pittance they make flipping patties and fighting off customers.
Who needs heat?
Let's take a look at what else McDonald's imagines its employees' expenditures should look like. First off, the site sets employees' mortgage/rent at $600, which even if we didn't live in an outrageously expensive city is still a laughably small figure. Next, the site tallies health insurance at a mere $20 per month. Where is this magical land of nearly free independent healthcare? We want Obama's unicorn to fly us there! Also as a McDonald's employee, your cable and phone bills should only come to $100 a month (HA!), your electric bill should hover around $90 (for serious?) and apparently if you work at a fast food chain there's absolutely no need to ever buy any food ever. Maybe they offer employees a lifetime supply of fries?
So tallying up all of these totally realistic expenses, a McDonald's employee would need to net $2,060 per month to make this budget work. Broken down, that would mean working at least 40 hours per week and making at least $15 an hour pre-taxes to earn the necessary $12.86 an hour. Currently, McDonald's workers earn an average of $8.25 per hour, barring any funny business.
[h/t Low Pay Is Not Okay]
