your real weekly wage

Arguments are raging about the minimum wage.
If, for one moment, we leave aside the question of
what age a ’man should be, and for the sake of argument
assume the case for someone who is about 30 years old.
What gives? From a ’mans wage we have to deduct

tax and other stoppages
the cost of accommodation mortgage/rent
food
power electric/gas/oil/etc
rates council tax/water/sewage
travel to work ( bus, car, train )
pension
clothes
furniture & household goods
buildings & contents insurance cover
maintenance
medicines
cost of any accidents
TV licence

telephone
car running/repairs/tax/insurance/AA/etc
holiday 2 weeks abroad?
christmas & birthdays presents/cards/fare/etc
books/magazines/newspapers

drink/cigarettes/gambling not considered

Try this for yourself
add up all the deductions and
subtract these from your total annual income
divide what’s left over, if any, by 52
that’s your real weekly wage
divide this by, say 40, or whatever, and this will give you
what you earn per hour in expendable income
that is, expendable on what you want
as opposed to what you have to spend to live.