Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/02/08/find-out-where-you-fit-on-the.html
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It doesn’t say what period of time the listed income is received over. Week? Month? Year?
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“Find out where you fit on the global income spectrum”
Dear goddess, no; things are already depressing enough right now as it is…
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If you go through the guided tour, it states it’s per month.
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I’m glad she acknowledges that income levels can vary widely within a country. Too often these comparative tools are used by cynical American and British conservatives to tell poor citizens in their countries “see, you’re totes rich when you look at average household income on a global scale. Stop complaining and asking for stuff, ungrateful peon.”
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Several years ago after being told I was in the global 1%, I actually worked out that I was actually in the global 20% and doing worse every year. Telling them that and showing the work just gets you abuse.
While part of it is the moneyed classes telling us to stop complaining, I also expect there are also the “temporarily embarrassed millionaires” repeating it because they cannot admit to themselves that they are being exploited.
This site appears to put me in the top 25-30% now. Not good for a vulnerable person in one of the most expensive parts of the UK.
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If you think that’s bad, try using wealth instead of income as a measure. They hate that as it brings up what are for them uncomfortable questions related to Piketty’s discussion of r > g .
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Time out, what’s going on in the MacIntyre family, Michigan USA? Three kids on $855/month? How do they do it, or am I completely clueless?
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That’s a pretty confusing website. And looking at some of the examples from my own country, it is essentially impossible to believe that those families’ incomes are as low as it says. Is this income after housing costs or something?
Though, especially in countries like the UK, I think there is a strong case for doing that. You have to have a home if you want to participate in society and to not physically die. If you cannot sleep under a roof for less than £10,000, and you only make £11,000 a year, it’s highly disingenuous to say you’re better off than someone who makes £2,000 a year and spends nothing on housing.
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If you click on the little “i” icon next to the income listing it says:
“In this household each adult can consume goods and services worth about 855 US dollars each month. This consumption includes the things they buy as well as the things they produce for themselves (if any). The amount is based on the incomes reported by the family.”
So it sounds like it’s really per adult (which, seems like a really weird way of stating income). Going by that description, they’re living on about $1,700 a month. Still low, but much more believable or a family that goes on European vacations and buys their kids Lego sets.
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Yes, the households’ door numbers represent the consumption values (US dollars) that each adult in the household has per month, but the calculations are fairly complex. See the 12-page PDF below for more information.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B9jWD65HiLUnRm5ZNWlMSU5GNEU
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Yes, every article like this is an overly complex way of yelling “Pay no attention to the elephant’s trunk”
If you showed this in terms of nominal increase, I wonder exactly how tall it would need to be to fit that last data point in there.
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The figures are adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), so people who live in countries with high costs of living will have their total consumption adjusted downwards to account for that.
Off the chart.
At least if the chart is formatted in any way that leaves the elephant’s body visible.
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