How do people survive on minimum wage?

[High_Gravity]

Here in Australia we know well how dreadful the wages are in the US,here the minimum wage is $25 per hour,the average wage is $1700 per week,not forgetting its all free health care,etc,.

$7.50 per hour really is 3rd world wages,I just don't know how folk manage!!!! well they don't do they,they just live on their credit cards.

steve

The minimum wage is $25 per hour? so if you work in McDonalds thats what you make?

Can't really believe that.

Me either, a Big Mac would cost $30 in that scenario.

 

[Againsheila]

Thats a terrible attitude to have.

I both agree and disagree. If I was in the US earning, say, $7 an hour, and I worked for 8 hours a day, 7 days a week, I would be earning $393 a week. How would I find a place to live and pay the bills on that? I couldn't.
If I worked 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, I not only wouldn't have a life, but I'd be pulling in just $588 a week. That is what my average paycheck is working just 25 hours a week!

I couldn't work for such a small amount of money because I couldn't survive on it!

What is the point of having a job when that job doesn't enable you to pay the bills, or have the heating on in winter? Granted, being on welfare sucks (I have been on it once before and I hope never to end up on it again) but so does working for hours and hours every day, but never earning enough to pay the rent.

That is why I think the US should raise the minimum wage, although I know the majority of you would disagree.

MW should be enough for ONE person to put a roof over his head, pay for his utilities, transportation to and from work, medical bills and food.

 

[Againsheila]

The minimum wage is $25 per hour? so if you work in McDonalds thats what you make?

Can't really believe that.

Me either, a Big Mac would cost $30 in that scenario.

Really? MW in our state is $9.04 an hour, our Big Macs cost a lot less than $9.00. I think there is something wrong with your knowledge of economics. In fact, our Big Macs cost $4.20 while Big Macs in Australia cost $4.94.

Daily chart: The Big Mac index | The Economist

 

[High_Gravity]

Thats a terrible attitude to have.

I both agree and disagree. If I was in the US earning, say, $7 an hour, and I worked for 8 hours a day, 7 days a week, I would be earning $393 a week. How would I find a place to live and pay the bills on that? I couldn't.
If I worked 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, I not only wouldn't have a life, but I'd be pulling in just $588 a week. That is what my average paycheck is working just 25 hours a week!

I couldn't work for such a small amount of money because I couldn't survive on it!

What is the point of having a job when that job doesn't enable you to pay the bills, or have the heating on in winter? Granted, being on welfare sucks (I have been on it once before and I hope never to end up on it again) but so does working for hours and hours every day, but never earning enough to pay the rent.

That is why I think the US should raise the minimum wage, although I know the majority of you would disagree.

I wouldn't have a problem with the minimum wage being raised but it depends how much, jobs are paid minimum wage for a reason because you can pretty much fill those positions with no problem and almost anyone can do the job. Minimum wage jobs are supposed to be something temporary for high school kids or people working through college not for adults trying to support a family. I worked in McDonalds when I was in high school and the only people there working with me were a few illegal aliens, high school kids like myself, ex convicts who cant get anything better and 30 year old burn outs. Nobody was there trying to support a family off that pay except the manager because you can't.

 

[Againsheila]

Thats a terrible attitude to have.

I both agree and disagree. If I was in the US earning, say, $7 an hour, and I worked for 8 hours a day, 7 days a week, I would be earning $393 a week. How would I find a place to live and pay the bills on that? I couldn't.
If I worked 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, I not only wouldn't have a life, but I'd be pulling in just $588 a week. That is what my average paycheck is working just 25 hours a week!

I couldn't work for such a small amount of money because I couldn't survive on it!

What is the point of having a job when that job doesn't enable you to pay the bills, or have the heating on in winter? Granted, being on welfare sucks (I have been on it once before and I hope never to end up on it again) but so does working for hours and hours every day, but never earning enough to pay the rent.

That is why I think the US should raise the minimum wage, although I know the majority of you would disagree.

I wouldn't have a problem with the minimum wage being raised but it depends how much, jobs are paid minimum wage for a reason because you can pretty much fill those positions with no problem and almost anyone can do the job. Minimum wage jobs are supposed to be something temporary for high school kids or people working through college not for adults trying to support a family. I worked in McDonalds when I was in high school and the only people there working with me were a few illegal aliens, high school kids like myself, ex convicts who cant get anything better and 30 year old burn outs. Nobody was there trying to support a family off that pay except the manager because you can't.

I don't think anybody expects to support a family on minimum wage, but they should darn well be able to support themselves.

 

[High_Gravity]

Can't really believe that.

Me either, a Big Mac would cost $30 in that scenario.

Really? MW in our state is $9.04 an hour, our Big Macs cost a lot less than $9.00. I think there is something wrong with your knowledge of economics. In fact, our Big Macs cost $4.20 while Big Macs in Australia cost $4.94.

Daily chart: The Big Mac index | The Economist

Do the grill cooks and fry boys in the Australian McDonalds really make $25 an hour though?

 

[Againsheila]

Me either, a Big Mac would cost $30 in that scenario.

Really? MW in our state is $9.04 an hour, our Big Macs cost a lot less than $9.00. I think there is something wrong with your knowledge of economics. In fact, our Big Macs cost $4.20 while Big Macs in Australia cost $4.94.

Daily chart: The Big Mac index | The Economist

Do the grill cooks and fry boys in the Australian McDonalds really make $25 an hour though?

Who cares, according to you, we should be paying more than $9.00 for a Bic Mac and we aren't, your whole premise is wrong.

 

[High_Gravity]

Really? MW in our state is $9.04 an hour, our Big Macs cost a lot less than $9.00. I think there is something wrong with your knowledge of economics. In fact, our Big Macs cost $4.20 while Big Macs in Australia cost $4.94.

Daily chart: The Big Mac index | The Economist

Do the grill cooks and fry boys in the Australian McDonalds really make $25 an hour though?

Who cares, according to you, we should be paying more than $9.00 for a Bic Mac and we aren't, your whole premise is wrong.

Ok damn, my bad.

 

[Douger]

Really? MW in our state is $9.04 an hour, our Big Macs cost a lot less than $9.00. I think there is something wrong with your knowledge of economics. In fact, our Big Macs cost $4.20 while Big Macs in Australia cost $4.94.

Daily chart: The Big Mac index | The Economist

Do the grill cooks and fry boys in the Australian McDonalds really make $25 an hour though?

Who cares, according to you, we should be paying more than $9.00 for a Bic Mac and we aren't, your whole premise is wrong.

Only a fucking moron would eat one.....even if they were free !

 

[High_Gravity]

Do the grill cooks and fry boys in the Australian McDonalds really make $25 an hour though?

Who cares, according to you, we should be paying more than $9.00 for a Bic Mac and we aren't, your whole premise is wrong.

Only a fucking moron would eat one.....even if they were free !

True that.

 

[Againsheila]

Do the grill cooks and fry boys in the Australian McDonalds really make $25 an hour though?

Who cares, according to you, we should be paying more than $9.00 for a Bic Mac and we aren't, your whole premise is wrong.

Only a fucking moron would eat one.....even if they were free !

I agree, but that wasn't the discussion.

 

[Inthemiddle]

That is why I think the US should raise the minimum wage, although I know the majority of you would disagree.

Raising the minimum wage is only marginally effective, though. It's like taking cough syrup to treat pnemonia. The real changes that the country needs are things more ingrained into modern society. Labor is a market just like any other, and prices are set based on demand. But where many on the right (particularly the far right) go wrong is maintaining a perception that the demand is a one way street. It's not just about the demand for labor, it's the demand for income too. And society, in general, has gotten lazy when it comes to its demands on income.

What I mean is this: Nobody gets paid what they are "worth." You get paid what you are convinced to settle for. Employers don't pay you the top dollar they can. They pay you as little as they can get you for. As employees, we have to have a responsibility to advocate for ourselves and to, in turn, try to convince the employer to pay us as much as we can convince them to pay us. So what's happened across the lower and middle classes is that people have been settling for a very long time. In doing so, those toward the top have come to keep an increasingly larger slice of the pie for themselves.

The collective result is that as many people sell themselves short, it becomes more difficult to leverage one's employer to agree to a higher wage for you. Because there are so many people who are willing to do the job at a lower wage. On an individual level, you can try to leverage your employer as much as you want to convince him to grant you a higher wage. But your employer is going to strive to maintain the same approximate ratios as the rest of the market out there. If less income were directed toward the higher ends, and in turn was going toward the lower ends, a true living wage could be able to result at the bottom levels of the pyramid. But until our society as a whole is ready to start being more assertive with things like negotiating our compensation (particularly on the lower ends of the pyramid) raising the minimum wage is only going to be a superficial solution.

 

[theliq]

---(They don't they just exist after 3 years they become zombies)----

Article> One of my clients recently reported getting a job at a fast-food restaurant. Since she's been unemployed and desperately looking for work for nearly a year, I was thrilled for her. She was very excited that she'll be making $7.50 an hour -– a whole quarter more than minimum wage.



After she left my office, I got out a calculator. I've never worked for minimum wage, so I didn't know exactly how much -- or how little -- money that is.



Assuming 80 hours per pay period, my client will be bringing home around $462 every two weeks. That's with no health insurance or retirement contributions.



If I brought home $924 a month, would I even be able to survive? I decided to find out.

read more How do people survive on minimum wage?- MSN Money

Here in Australia we know well how dreadful the wages are in the US,here the minimum wage is $25 per hour,the average wage is $1700 per week,not forgetting its all free health care,etc,.

$7.50 per hour really is 3rd world wages,I just don't know how folk manage!!!! well they don't do they,they just live on their credit cards.

steve

The minimum wage is $25 per hour? so if you work in McDonalds thats what you make?

Hi Grav,Well maybe not in Big Macs but I am told that the starting pay there is $7.95 per hour for the kids,but between $10.50 and $15.60 is the average so I'm told by my friends children....I suppose its a start and Maccas are a notoriously bad payers.....as you would know.

But we don't look to a company like Maccas to decide our pay scale,why ever would we,they are the dregs when it comes to pay.....some call it exploitation.

We also export worldwide and have had double digit growth every year for 34 years,but it does take a lot of skill,communication and a quality product to achieve such growth.

In the West,employers do on average pay more because of the mining boom here.

I'll give you an insight to Maccas,my son James was invited/selected to enter the Bodyboarding Championships in Hawaii and he wanted a Big Mac,when it came to pay(there was much confusion in the store)I found that the imported Filipna employees did not know how to use the till......so I did it for them.....their upline employee was out at the time!!!!!!!!!steve

 

[theliq]

That is why I think the US should raise the minimum wage, although I know the majority of you would disagree.

Raising the minimum wage is only marginally effective, though. It's like taking cough syrup to treat pnemonia. The real changes that the country needs are things more ingrained into modern society. Labor is a market just like any other, and prices are set based on demand. But where many on the right (particularly the far right) go wrong is maintaining a perception that the demand is a one way street. It's not just about the demand for labor, it's the demand for income too. And society, in general, has gotten lazy when it comes to its demands on income.

What I mean is this: Nobody gets paid what they are "worth." You get paid what you are convinced to settle for. Employers don't pay you the top dollar they can. They pay you as little as they can get you for. As employees, we have to have a responsibility to advocate for ourselves and to, in turn, try to convince the employer to pay us as much as we can convince them to pay us. So what's happened across the lower and middle classes is that people have been settling for a very long time. In doing so, those toward the top have come to keep an increasingly larger slice of the pie for themselves.

The collective result is that as many people sell themselves short, it becomes more difficult to leverage one's employer to agree to a higher wage for you. Because there are so many people who are willing to do the job at a lower wage. On an individual level, you can try to leverage your employer as much as you want to convince him to grant you a higher wage. But your employer is going to strive to maintain the same approximate ratios as the rest of the market out there. If less income were directed toward the higher ends, and in turn was going toward the lower ends, a true living wage could be able to result at the bottom levels of the pyramid. But until our society as a whole is ready to start being more assertive with things like negotiating our compensation (particularly on the lower ends of the pyramid) raising the minimum wage is only going to be a superficial solution.

Well we don't adhere to the above,never have.steve

 

[thereisnospoon]

Thats a terrible attitude to have.

I both agree and disagree. If I was in the US earning, say, $7 an hour, and I worked for 8 hours a day, 7 days a week, I would be earning $393 a week. How would I find a place to live and pay the bills on that? I couldn't.
If I worked 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, I not only wouldn't have a life, but I'd be pulling in just $588 a week. That is what my average paycheck is working just 25 hours a week!

I couldn't work for such a small amount of money because I couldn't survive on it!

What is the point of having a job when that job doesn't enable you to pay the bills, or have the heating on in winter? Granted, being on welfare sucks (I have been on it once before and I hope never to end up on it again) but so does working for hours and hours every day, but never earning enough to pay the rent.

That is why I think the US should raise the minimum wage, although I know the majority of you would disagree.

You are missing the point. Your are blinded to the fact that the money HAS TO COME FROM SOMEWHERE. A business does not simply pluck money from a magic tree and send it on to their workers.
Minimum wage jobs are not intended to support anyone. Never were. These are entry level, low skill jobs which are stepping stones to work that requires more skills and thus is better compensated.
The pay of a position is based on the demand for the skills to perform the work.
There are millions of people capable of working in a convenience store.
There are far fewer people capable of being nuclear engineers. Guess which job pays more?
Your lack of understanding of the economics and realities of business is remarkable.
It's almost laughable.
You expect a business owner to "just pay up"...They should pay high wages just because the worker "needs the money"?
Please stop the nonsense.

 

[Noomi]

The minimum wage is $25 per hour? so if you work in McDonalds thats what you make?

No! Not even close. The wages of a casual worker at McDonalds (over 21) has just been raised by an extra 56 cents an hour. Before tax, they are paid $18.15 per hour.

MW should be enough for ONE person to put a roof over his head, pay for his utilities, transportation to and from work, medical bills and food.

I agree - but the question is - how many hours would a person on minimum wage need to work in order to cover all their costs?

I wouldn't have a problem with the minimum wage being raised but it depends how much

Raise it by 20c an hour every 12 months. That way, if prices need to go up, they go up slowly, over time, not all at once.

 

[thereisnospoon]

Can't really believe that.

Me either, a Big Mac would cost $30 in that scenario.

Really? MW in our state is $9.04 an hour, our Big Macs cost a lot less than $9.00. I think there is something wrong with your knowledge of economics. In fact, our Big Macs cost $4.20 while Big Macs in Australia cost $4.94.

Daily chart: The Big Mac index | The Economist

If that is the case then there is no way in hell the minimum wage for an Australian fast food worker is $17 per hour.
BTW, a Big Mac sandwich only is $3.29. The MEAL with fries and medium beverage is $5.09 That is at the Mickey D's right down the street here.

 

[Noomi]

Me either, a Big Mac would cost $30 in that scenario.

Really? MW in our state is $9.04 an hour, our Big Macs cost a lot less than $9.00. I think there is something wrong with your knowledge of economics. In fact, our Big Macs cost $4.20 while Big Macs in Australia cost $4.94.

Daily chart: The Big Mac index | The Economist

If that is the case then there is no way in hell the minimum wage for an Australian fast food worker is $17 per hour.
BTW, a Big Mac sandwich only is $3.29. The MEAL with fries and medium beverage is $5.09 That is at the Mickey D's right down the street here.

A Big Mac here costs $5.15, if I recall correctly. And the minimum wage for a fast food worker (at least at McDonalds) is just over $18 an hour, for those over the age of 21.

 

[thereisnospoon]

The minimum wage is $25 per hour? so if you work in McDonalds thats what you make?

No! Not even close. The wages of a casual worker at McDonalds (over 21) has just been raised by an extra 56 cents an hour. Before tax, they are paid $18.15 per hour.

MW should be enough for ONE person to put a roof over his head, pay for his utilities, transportation to and from work, medical bills and food.

I agree - but the question is - how many hours would a person on minimum wage need to work in order to cover all their costs?

I wouldn't have a problem with the minimum wage being raised but it depends how much

Raise it by 20c an hour every 12 months. That way, if prices need to go up, they go up slowly, over time, not all at once.

Cannot work. Here's why. If min wage is pushed up ward, the people who's wages are not moved upward are penalized wiht higher consumer prices. So as the lowest wage rises, the others do not.
Of course in the real world, min wage increases always hurt the lower skilled workers.
Easy...If a hardware store owner has say two full time, three part time and three min wage high school kids that work in the afternoons and weekends.
If the min wage was increased by 50 cents per hour. That store owner will have to absorb an instant increase in his expenses. His lowest end labor now costs $1.50 per hour more. Now, the part timers and full timers will have to be given raises because of thei loyalty and for reasons of equity. They also receive 50 cent raises. Now that payroll is costing another $3.50 per hour. Also, with the increase in wages comes an increase in worker's compensation premiums because those rates are tied to the income level of the employee. Social Security becomes more costly...Taxes rise as well.
What the store owner will do is make a choice. He can raise his Prices. UNlikely given the existence of local competition. He can reduce the hours of the high school kids. Or he can keep the same hours for just TWO of the kids.
The result is the same no matter which path is taken.
All because the busy body federal government at the behest of YOU demanded business simply "pay them more"...This is what is referred to as an "unfunded mandate"..
See unlike many socialist democracies, we here in the US save for certain industries, offer NO government subsidy to business.
In countries such as France, Germany, the UK heavily subsidize businesses.

 

[Noomi]

Cannot work. Here's why. If min wage is pushed up ward, the people who's wages are not moved upward are penalized wiht higher consumer prices. So as the lowest wage rises, the others do not.
Of course in the real world, min wage increases always hurt the lower skilled workers.
Easy...If a hardware store owner has say two full time, three part time and three min wage high school kids that work in the afternoons and weekends.
If the min wage was increased by 50 cents per hour. That store owner will have to absorb an instant increase in his expenses. His lowest end labor now costs $1.50 per hour more. Now, the part timers and full timers will have to be given raises because of thei loyalty and for reasons of equity. They also receive 50 cent raises. Now that payroll is costing another $3.50 per hour. Also, with the increase in wages comes an increase in worker's compensation premiums because those rates are tied to the income level of the employee. Social Security becomes more costly...Taxes rise as well.
What the store owner will do is make a choice. He can raise his Prices. UNlikely given the existence of local competition. He can reduce the hours of the high school kids. Or he can keep the same hours for just TWO of the kids.
The result is the same no matter which path is taken.
All because the busy body federal government at the behest of YOU demanded business simply "pay them more"...This is what is referred to as an "unfunded mandate"..
See unlike many socialist democracies, we here in the US save for certain industries, offer NO government subsidy to business.
In countries such as France, Germany, the UK heavily subsidize businesses.

Then why does this work in Australia, where we get a pay rise every 12 months, but it can't work in the US? The adults in the US are earning as much as a 15 year old minimum wage worker here! There is something seriously wrong with that, and something has to change.

The minimum wage has to rise eventually. As the cost of living rises, their wages stay the same, meaning it becomes more and more difficult to survive on such wages.

The minimum wage in the US must have risen in the last ten years, surely? I would find it hard to believe if it hadn't!