On the Areivim mailing list which I subscribe to, a highly insightful letter was pasted in from the Yated newspaper. It just emphasizes the real realities that are faced by those in the Orthodox community, especially those who do not persue some form of post high school secular education.
letter from yated excerpt——-As we see countless times, the husband will
decide that the time has come to face the inevitable: he will prepare to
enter the work force. Suddenly, as a working citizen, he no longer has
access to NJ Care, WIC, and other programs he previously relied upon,
leaving him with an even greater burden.To help out our mathematical whizzes, let me give them a start:
$18,000 – Rent for a 4-bedroom house/apt.
$12,000 – Health Insurance
$15,000 – Discounted (!) tuition
$6,000 – Prorated purchase and maintenance of one reliable car (for work),
and one not-so-reliable car
$6,000 Utilities, gasoline, phone bills
$9,000 Groceries ($175/week), including Yomim Tovim
$4,000 Clothing, medical co-pays, dentistry, miscellaneousTotal: $70,000 a year (after (!) taxes)
Remember, this is just for the basic minimum. It does not include any winter
or summer vacation, eating out, gifts (jewelry, etc.), orthodontics, day
camp (forget the dream of sleep-away!), or any hope of home-ownership.
Why in the world should these young men be making such a far-off cheshbon so
early?For one simple reason: There are few…no, let’s rephrase that…there are
zero $70,000 jobs available for an entry-level applicant with no previous
experience. The only 70K jobs out there are the ones in which the
job-holders started at 30-40K, and built them up into a 70K job.