What is your cost of living?

[geochem]

or unemployed... the more likely alternative.

But terracore has missed a critical point in this discussion: if a so-called living wage (plus benefits) is more than the cost of automating (or exporting) a job, then that job disappears from the opportunity pool, likely permanently. As those entry-level positions are lost, there will be fewer and fewer opportunities for young people to learn the most basic of job skills: show up on time, show up every day, do what the boss tells you, work well with a team, etc. ...