Big Mac Index: Americans work approx 13 min to afford a Big Mac, Kenyans 158 minutes

Posted August 24, 2009 Un-Fast Food: The 158-Minute Big Mac
By Althea Chang

Many Americans might wish for higher pay, but at least we don’t need to work three hours just to afford a Big Mac. Workers in many other countries don't have it so easy.

The burger buying comparison, which compares how long an average wage-earner has to work in order to afford a comparable item, and other measures of purchasing power parity (like how long it takes to earn an iPod), comes courtesy of a recent 73-city international prices and earnings guide published by UBS. (The UBS study is also known as the "Big Mac Index.")


Of the American cities studied, residents of Chicago have the easiest time affording a McDonald’s (Stock Quote: MCD) Big Mac, working only 12 minutes on average to make enough money to buy one, according to the UBS comparison of global wages and prices. Los Angeles and Miami residents have to work about 13 minutes and New York residents have to work 14 minutes to afford the burger, the study found.

Meanwhile, the average hourly worker in Jakarta, Indonesia has to work about 136 minutes to pay for a Big Mac, and in Nairobi, Kenya, the average worker has to spend 158 minutes on the job just to afford that burger.

http://www.mainstreet.com/article/lifestyle/food-drink/un-fast-food-158-minute-big-mac?cm_ven=msunited

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