RVs and the migrant elderly workers of our times

[wintersun]

http://www.alternet.org/economy/shocking-picture-what-life-will-look-when-you-cant-afford-retire

[Parrothead_Mike]

Slowmover wrote:
I started seeing people living in RVs in the late 1970s. No surprise as first the blue collar economy in this country was destroyed, and that of the white collar is well underway. Outsourcing the work of new doctors and lawyers to the Third World, for example.

The buying power of the minimum wage pays half of what it did in 1968. Real wages in family-level jobs has declined by 50% since the early '70's. That's right, a 50% pay cut for the same work. And we haven't created a family-level job in this country since 1999.

Public sector pensions are next on the block. Promises made that can never be kept. Nor should they.

Get an RV that'll last about forever and find a "skilled" job classification that requires a man on the spot to do the work. Do it long before you "retire" . . that quaint 20th Cen concept.

.

Well said Slowmover! To some people SS is their "pension".

[Slowmover]

I started seeing people living in RVs in the late 1970s. No surprise as first the blue collar economy in this country was destroyed, and that of the white collar is well underway. Outsourcing the work of new doctors and lawyers to the Third World, for example.

The buying power of the minimum wage pays half of what it did in 1968. Real wages in family-level jobs has declined by 50% since the early '70's. That's right, a 50% pay cut for the same work. And we haven't created a family-level job in this country since 1999.

Public sector pensions are next on the block. Promises made that can never be kept. Nor should they.

Get an RV that'll last about forever and find a "skilled" job classification that requires a man on the spot to do the work. Do it long before you "retire" . . that quaint 20th Cen concept.

.

[RoadXYZ]

Interesting ... and if my calculations are correct then that means she interviewed 2.6 people per 1,000 ....

I believe from what I have read that that number of people interviewed is a statistically insignificant number from which to draw any conclusion. But in regard to the line in the article that people die in their RVs.

Well when we managed a Manufactured Home Community we had to call the PD twice for a "Welfare Check" due to getting reports of concern for people not arriving at work and/or not answering their doors. This happened in a 2 year span in a community of less than 150 people. In both cases the residents were dead. Since we had a range of ages in the Manufactured Home Community from young families to elderly persons can I say that living in a manufactured home is dangerous and could lead to death ? I think not. Just my two cents.

[TechWriter]

Irover wrote:
Slanted Journalism at it's best what I read of the article from the first poster.

That's just an interview with the author, not the actual article.

Looks to me that a couple of posters just used the article (which they apparently didn't read) as an excuse to express their own biases.

[stickdog]

Still sounds like economics to me.

[DianneOK]

Moderator note.....don't Let this get political !!!!

[rockhillmanor]

Irover wrote:
Ran out of room on the last post!!! I see many young folks in their 30's who still live with thier parents because

they refuse to work for minimum wages

. .....

That's because they can get WAY more money on assistance. Why get a job and take a cut in income?

I was at one CG where a woman came up to me because she saw I had a car and asked if I would drive her husband to a doctors office.

I agreed to help the couple out. Well, they went to one of the top back doctors that would take you and me 2 months to get an appointment and they got in in one call because they were on medicaid.

20 minutes later they walk out of the doctors office pills in hand, an xray taken and all they had to pay was 60.00 with a payment plan of 10.00 a month. The same visit at this top specialist would have cost us a minimum of 800.00 and I am sure they would not allowed 10 dollars a month payments either!

Then they asked if I could stop at the grocery store on the way back to the CG and the DW buys 100 worth of food (and not healthy items) with a credit card from the gov that represents food stamps.

It WAS an education for me WHY these people do NOT work. 😞

[Irover]

Ran out of room on the last post!!! I see many young folks in their 30's who still live with thier parents because they refuse to work for minimum wages. I asked a 50+ yr. old man who still lived with his parents in their 80's what he was going to do when his parents died. He scrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't know"! This was a high school acquaintance from the early 1970's who was an honor student; and had an A Report card.

[Irover]

Slanted Journalism at it's best what I read of the article from the first poster. This had been done before and most likely for a time to come. I however feel this way; "if it takes doing the labor it takes to survive it it better than living under a bridge". The not so affluent RVer's have an opportunity to locate work and maybe have a bit of dignity and pride that people lose when being employed for minimum wage jobs and it cost more than one makes to pay rent; utilities; buy food and never mind having any healthcare. For instance at The big Warehouse; one gets at least $9.90 hr.; site/utilities; employer has incentives for give-aways; some employer sponsered meals during the holiday period. And the best part it is a few thousand $$$$'s in the coffers to keep your head above water. You don't stand around during work hours sitting on your thumbs. You can work 40-55 hours a week + the 15='s 30 hours of pay.

[azrving]

2112 wrote:
As much as we would hate to admit it there is a group that do fit her description. I met one just a few weeks ago while he was hosting in a state park. He doesn't even own a vehicle. How he got his trailer there I do not know.

He's too young for SS, no disability, no income, working 100 hours/month for a FHU campsite. 'Food Stamps" only carried him for a few weeks so he ate by the goodness of others.. We fed him for 3 days and practically emptied our pantry to him when we were moving on.

He was a pleasant, considerate young man down on his luck. I wish him well.

We have only spent one season on the road but I was surprised how many people we ran into that were living in tents, cars, vans. Not camping like when my parents took us camping but living that way. The story far from covered all the different types of people rv'ing or their reasons but there probably are more and more people who choose this lifestyle because they cant make it on the low wages and high prices.

There can be endless jobs available but if they are $10.00 an hour and an apartment in a minimally safe area is $700.00 or more its probably survival at best.

[Dog_Folks]

Gunship Guy wrote:
Jobs are out there. Many companies are complaining that they have jobs they can't fill because people either don't want to work or don't possess the required skills. Some easily-obtainable skills at that.

We have a friend who runs a Kelly Services branch and the biggest complaint she's hearing from employers is just getting people to show up on time...or show up at all. People work for a couple days then quit.

And then there are those people who won't even look for a job until unemployment runs out.

Amen. Even in the 80's we had new people, on their first day on the job, leave for lunch and never come back! The job wasn't that hard!!

[HappyKayakers]

I was interviewed by the author for her feature piece in Harper's magazine (not included in the story). When it hit the stands, I rushed down to the local library to read it. I was sorely disappointed about how negative it was. There were a few positive quotes thrown in so it wouldn't look like a total hatchet job, but still ....

[Gunship_Guy]

Jobs are out there. Many companies are complaining that they have jobs they can't fill because people either don't want to work or don't possess the required skills. Some easily-obtainable skills at that.

We have a friend who runs a Kelly Services branch and the biggest complaint she's hearing from employers is just getting people to show up on time...or show up at all. People work for a couple days then quit.

And then there are those people who won't even look for a job until unemployment runs out.

[2112]

As much as we would hate to admit it there is a group that do fit her description. I met one just a few weeks ago while he was hosting in a state park. He doesn't even own a vehicle. How he got his trailer there I do not know.

He's too young for SS, no disability, no income, working 100 hours/month for a FHU campsite. 'Food Stamps" only carried him for a few weeks so he ate by the goodness of others.. We fed him for 3 days and practically emptied our pantry to him when we were moving on.

He was a pleasant, considerate young man down on his luck. I wish him well.