Apparently, earning $1,466.00 a month is not enough to meet the needs and living costs of a millennial working and living in San Francisco. Being one of the most expensive cities to live in, this does not come to much surprise. The average rent for a 1-bedroom is $2,575.00 in San Francisco, while Talia Jane pays $1275.00 to live in one these homes for rent alone. Struggling to make ends meet, Talia Jane wrote a letter to the CEO of the company that she worked for, Eat24, a Yelp delivery service, about her struggles in not being able to purchase groceries. She mentioned how she could not even afford to $6.00 train ticket to work until someone overheard her woes and and donated some cash. Prompting sympathy from many individuals, more than 65 people have donated to her GoFundMe reaching $2,300.00 in just two days of reading her letter on a public platform. However, that was evidently not the only reaction she received. Others backlashed on her for her sense of entitlement and blamed her for picking an expensive city to live in and a low-pay job. Some others said that she was not struggling because she has health insurance and receives free snacks at her workplace. Furthermore, she was criticized because she should have known that her small salary would not have been able to pay for both rent and groceries. The company also fired her within a few hours but denied that it had anything to do with the letter. The question here is if the American Dream is attainable for millennials like Talia Jane, or are they suffering from an attitude of entitlement? In a recent survey from Bank of America, 40% of millennials receive financial aid from their parents, and 1 in 5 receive assistance from them to pay off college debt. She also has a degree in English Literature, which doesn’t seem to helping her a great deal. The median income for recent grads has grown to $43,000.00, but this number varies by major. For example, median salaries for English majors is $32,200.00 in the early stages of one’s career, and grows to about $55,000.00 by mid career when engineering salaries can start at that number. What do you believe is the main problem in her situation?
Questions:
- Do you think Talia Jane’s act of writing a letter to the CEO and receiving donations occurred through an attitude of entitlement?
- What could she do to alleviate her financial situation?
- Why do you think San Francisco has such high living costs?
- Do you think millennials are "entitled", or do you think they are underpaid?
I think Talia Jane could use her experience at Eat24 to get a better job if she is not satisfied with her pay. San Francisco has such a high living cost because it is a popular city for headquarters of companies and a lot of people need/want to be here and businesses and renters know that and raise their prices.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure there are a bunch of other millennials like Talia Jane that are dealing with the same problem and not just in San Francisco. To alleviate her financial situation, however, I don't think her GoFundMe was a good idea. Although she got $2,300, that money can only last for awhile. If anything, she should definitely get some financial help from her family until she starts earning more.
ReplyDeletePeople chose to help Talia because there's goodness in their hearts. It is pleasing to know that there's people out there who lends a helping hand out of pure kindness.
ReplyDeleteNot only has apartment costs increased over the years, but also student loans. It's scary to imagine how much life will cost once we're out of college, four years later, if this trend continues.
ReplyDeleteI do not think it was entitlement, but I do think that she should have not made the whole situation so public and started a GoFundMe. She knows SF is very expensive so I think it would be worth it to move, get another job, or find a way to pay less for where she lives, like getting roommates or something like that.
ReplyDeleteI think that San Francisco has such high costs in living because everyone wants to live there because of its tourist attractions.
ReplyDeleteThere are many millennials struggling with the same problem and I don't think writing a letter to the CEO would help much. I think she should look into alternative jobs or maybe pick up a second job. She should also consider moving to a more affordable city to help her with her financial problems.
ReplyDeleteI think its really tragic how when she finally spoke up about her situation, she got penalized for it. Many people have the same struggle as her but never say anything about it. I think its brave of her to try to make a difference.
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