The View From Your Recession II

A reader writes:

Short and sweet.  I am the entire news department for a small weekly newspaper in the Northeast.  Been here a year and a half, and by all accounts am a strong asset to the company.  I make $11 an hour.  Haven't gotten a raise in 13 months.  I get 38 hours a week, max.  After taxes and my health insurance contribution, which is $22, I take home about $300 a week.

Last Thursday, my boss announced that they weren't going to shoulder their part of health insurance anymore.  My $22 a week becomes $66 a week, effective immediately.  My take-home goes down to $260ish.  You do the percentages.  I can't live on that.  Hell, I can't live on $300, but I do enough on the side to get by. So now, do I look for a new gig in a better paying field (hard but not impossible to find)?  If I leave, not to be too arrogant but there's a good chance the struggling paper goes down.  Conscience.  I asked them to throw me another buck an hour, at least I can live with that. We'll see.