Quick questions

[The Straight Story]

How many hours would someone making minimum wage (or even a few dollars more) have to work to pay for:

1) A Dr. Visit (reg, eye dr, etc) without insurance (same for 2/3) or with insurance
2) An emergency room visit
3) A stay in the hospital
4) Rent for a one bedroom apt in your area
5) Car insurance
6) Food for themselves (and/or kids)
7) utilities
8) gas for work, going grocery shopping, etc (yes, it varies with distance, just looking for general info based on your personal experience)

Etc - and with the above, how much could such a person save each month to be able to have a cushion if they lost their income?

Prices are going up, wages are stagnant and have went down (except for the wealthy).

If rent is $425/mo (for a 1 bedroom around here) and fed min wage is $7.25 that would be about 59 hours without taxes/ss/etc. Just to have a roof over your head. And if you cannot afford the utilities, and you have kids, then you could lose those kids for living in 'squalor' (unless you are Amish and don't have electric/etc to start with).

It is no wonder so many are hurting right now. Do a bit of the math, and it just gets uglier.