This is why we need a living wage

[HereWeGoAgain]

When minimum wage was created it could sustain a family of 3 over the poverty wage. You really don't think people work less hard today than they did then do you?

The current MW is just shy of supporting a family of two at poverty level. If someone had a family of three to support, the earned income tax credit around $5K would kick in to lift you up up slightly above the poverty level for a family of 3.

Where are you getting your figures. Today's minimum wage won't even support one person at the poverty level.

Do what all of us did when starting out...Get a damn room mate!!!
Your view is so myopic it's laughable. Please tell me you dont vote. Because I find it hard to believe you have the brain power to make a bowl of Ramon noodles without burning em.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

Another problem with the "living wage" argument is that it shifts responsibility off of the individual. Essentially you are saying that it is not the individual's responsibility to provide for him/her self and/or family. You are moving that responsibility to either the company or to society in general. In either case you are shifting the responsibility away from where it should rest.

It the richest country in the world, the lowest paid worker should make a living wage. In truth the low wage workers in this country have a huge disadvantage. We bring in more immigrants than all other nations combined, and that's just the legal immigrants. Add the illegals and it's even worse. Since the 70's Americans have limited their birth rate to less than replacement value. If our government had kept our immigration rate at what it was in the 70's, the lowest paid workers would be making a lot of money right now as they would be in great demand.

We're not competing on a level field and it's killing us.

So you're saying you're against wholesale immigration?
With your attitude I somehow find that hard to believe.

 

[Againsheila]

Where are you getting your figures. Today's minimum wage won't even support one person at the poverty level.

40 hrs x $7.25 x 52 weeks=$15,080.

FPL 1 person=$11,670
2 person HH=$15,730
3 person HH=$19,790

http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/14poverty.cfm

Ah, yes, except for the fact that minimum wage jobs only employ you for 30 hours a week, on average. That's to avoid paying any more benefits than they have to.

 

[syrenn]

Another problem with the "living wage" argument is that it shifts responsibility off of the individual. Essentially you are saying that it is not the individual's responsibility to provide for him/her self and/or family. You are moving that responsibility to either the company or to society in general. In either case you are shifting the responsibility away from where it should rest.

It the richest country in the world, the lowest paid worker should make a living wage. In truth the low wage workers in this country have a huge disadvantage. We bring in more immigrants than all other nations combined, and that's just the legal immigrants. Add the illegals and it's even worse. Since the 70's Americans have limited their birth rate to less than replacement value. If our government had kept our immigration rate at what it was in the 70's, the lowest paid workers would be making a lot of money right now as they would be in great demand.

We're not competing on a level field and it's killing us.

funny you should bring up that point. You do realize that immigrants both legal and illegal.... are willing to work to death to try and make their lives better don't you.

Ive had whole crews working two jobs and have tried to accommodate that by adjusting when they have to clock in and out.

so if the soft entitled Americans cant compete...that is their fault.

 

[syrenn]

Where are you getting your figures. Today's minimum wage won't even support one person at the poverty level.

40 hrs x $7.25 x 52 weeks=$15,080.

FPL 1 person=$11,670
2 person HH=$15,730
3 person HH=$19,790

http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/14poverty.cfm

Ah, yes, except for the fact that minimum wage jobs only employ you for 30 hours a week, on average. That's to avoid paying any more benefits than they have to.

and what do these people do with themselves the other 50 hours a week they could be working other jobs?

 

[Wake]

If wages go up for the same work, prices will shoot up, too.

What will be the difference when everything costs more?

if wages go up.... are employers able to expect more work from said worker? Will the low paying worker getting a 50% raise have to work 50% harder for that raise? Will they have to be 50% more productive?

If wages shoot up to $15 from minimum wage, that's going to put far more burden on the employer when it comes to dishing out money. I'm not sure if the workers will be expected to work far harder, but I'm certain the employer will have to make up for his/her losses by charging much more for those goods and services... to cover the difference. A lot of fast food workers work very hard as it is, like those at Jimmy Johns, and I'm not sure how much harder they'd have to work to reach 50% more productivity.

 

[dblack]

Where are you getting your figures. Today's minimum wage won't even support one person at the poverty level.

40 hrs x $7.25 x 52 weeks=$15,080.

FPL 1 person=$11,670
2 person HH=$15,730
3 person HH=$19,790

http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/14poverty.cfm

Ah, yes, except for the fact that minimum wage jobs only employ you for 30 hours a week, on average. That's to avoid paying any more benefits than they have to.

Yeah, dumb regulations cause all kinds of these "unintended" consequences.

You know, I usually try to avoid insinuating someone is stupid merely because they disagree with me. But in this case, I have to make an exception. MW is little more than a political tool to stir up the ignorant.

 

[syrenn]

If wages go up for the same work, prices will shoot up, too.

What will be the difference when everything costs more?

if wages go up.... are employers able to expect more work from said worker? Will the low paying worker getting a 50% raise have to work 50% harder for that raise? Will they have to be 50% more productive?

If wages shoot up to $15 from minimum wage, that's going to put far more burden on the employer when it comes to dishing out money. I'm not sure if the workers will be expected to work far harder, but I'm certain the employer will have to make up for his/her losses by charging much more for those goods and services... to cover the difference. A lot of fast food workers work very hard as it is, like those at Jimmy Johns, and I'm not sure how much harder they'd have to work to reach 50% more productivity.

lots of people going to lose their jobs too.....

 

[Mathbud1]

Another problem with the "living wage" argument is that it shifts responsibility off of the individual. Essentially you are saying that it is not the individual's responsibility to provide for him/her self and/or family. You are moving that responsibility to either the company or to society in general. In either case you are shifting the responsibility away from where it should rest.

It the richest country in the world, the lowest paid worker should make a living wage. In truth the low wage workers in this country have a huge disadvantage. We bring in more immigrants than all other nations combined, and that's just the legal immigrants. Add the illegals and it's even worse. Since the 70's Americans have limited their birth rate to less than replacement value. If our government had kept our immigration rate at what it was in the 70's, the lowest paid workers would be making a lot of money right now as they would be in great demand.

We're not competing on a level field and it's killing us.

Why should the lowest paid worker make a living wage? And what is this should?

Is it the responsibility of a company to make sure each employee makes enough money to live off of? Or are you saying it is the responsibility of society to make sure each person makes enough money? In your view, where does the responsibility fall?

 

[Ernie S.]

So 3 who hate the poor and want to force them to go to college or school of some kind to rack up more debt instead of letting them earn a decent wage at a job they enjoy.

No one hates the poor. Speaking only for myself, I'd be more happy if the poor became rich and shared more of the tax burden.

BUT, it is not my job to make them rich, make them want to work hard to be successful or to remind them that cranking out babies is counterproductive.

 

[Asclepias]

Another problem with the "living wage" argument is that it shifts responsibility off of the individual. Essentially you are saying that it is not the individual's responsibility to provide for him/her self and/or family. You are moving that responsibility to either the company or to society in general. In either case you are shifting the responsibility away from where it should rest.

It the richest country in the world, the lowest paid worker should make a living wage. In truth the low wage workers in this country have a huge disadvantage. We bring in more immigrants than all other nations combined, and that's just the legal immigrants. Add the illegals and it's even worse. Since the 70's Americans have limited their birth rate to less than replacement value. If our government had kept our immigration rate at what it was in the 70's, the lowest paid workers would be making a lot of money right now as they would be in great demand.

We're not competing on a level field and it's killing us.

The reason we are not competing on a level field is because in general we have become lazy. People come from other countries and outwork us. Never underestimate the power of working hard and sometimes for free so you can gain a skill. If you feel that everyone should make a living wage what is the point of calling it a wage?

 

[Ernie S.]

So 3 who hate the poor and want to force them to go to college or school of some kind to rack up more debt instead of letting them earn a decent wage at a job they enjoy.

Whats wrong with going to college instead of being a perpetual bagger? Once they automate the bagging then they will be obsolete.

What's wrong with doing what they enjoy? I HATED school and would only go back to a tech school of some kind without all the goofy pointless classes. I know others who are completely different and enjoyed school and want to go to college. Wages should be tied to inflation after we bump the minimum wage up to at least 10$ an hour.

So 3 who hate the poor and want to force them to go to college or school of some kind to rack up more debt instead of letting them earn a decent wage at a job they enjoy.

I don't think I've ever met anyone who enjoyed their min wage job or would want it as a career.

I have. Many times.

So what you're saying is school was unpleasant for you so you are stuck flipping burgers and you think you are owed more money to do it?
Sorry, Charlie. Sitting right next to you in high school was another guy who hated school as well, but instead of dropping out, he sucked it up and graduated and got into a decent college. Guess what? He's making 10 times what you're making because he made himself more valuable to an employer.

 

[sameech]

Ah, yes, except for the fact that minimum wage jobs only employ you for 30 hours a week, on average. That's to avoid paying any more benefits than they have to.

Seems like you are trying to move the goalpost now. MW can provide someone with an above poverty level pay. Even at 30 hours a week they would make $11,310.00 a year which is just shy of the $11,670 and the earned income credit would still push them over the finish line (Earned Income Tax Credit; Do I Qualify?).

 

[kiwiman127]

I just really don't understand why folks why people think low wages are OK.
I would guess that most folks posting here are Middle Class. When wages go up at the bottom, typically it spreads to the next group, which would be the Middle Class.
While the Middle Class in America has seen flat/stagnant wage growth (in Real Dollars), other industrial nation's Middle Class has seen wage growth. Canada recently passed the US as having t
the best pad Middle Class and other countries are poised to do the same.
This shouldn't be a partisan subject. Wages for the working Middle Class have been stagnant under both Republican and Democratic presidents and congresses.
I've posted this before, working Americans didn't cause flat wages, the didn't ship jobs offshore and they didn't bring in automation into the workplace. They didn't benefit at all. But someone reaped the rewards of those policies.
A weak Middle Class symbolizes a weak economic environment. While the US spins it's wheels economically, other countries are moving forward.

They are ok because the whole concept of wages is getting paid for the worth you provide in the time you provide it to the company paying you. If your skill set is only worth $10 to them you have to either accept it or decide you are worth more by acquiring the skills to get paid more. Even when I was minimum wage I knew that and accepted it.

American worker productivity has climbed while wage growth has been stagnant. Profits have climbed while wages growth has been stagnate. It's been happening for three decades.
One doesn't have to wonder why the US Middle class has been weakened.

 

[Mac1958]

.

So we're pretending that someone who can only get 30 MW hours at one job can't add a job?

.

 

[dblack]

Another problem with the "living wage" argument is that it shifts responsibility off of the individual. Essentially you are saying that it is not the individual's responsibility to provide for him/her self and/or family. You are moving that responsibility to either the company or to society in general. In either case you are shifting the responsibility away from where it should rest.

It the richest country in the world, the lowest paid worker should make a living wage. In truth the low wage workers in this country have a huge disadvantage. We bring in more immigrants than all other nations combined, and that's just the legal immigrants. Add the illegals and it's even worse. Since the 70's Americans have limited their birth rate to less than replacement value. If our government had kept our immigration rate at what it was in the 70's, the lowest paid workers would be making a lot of money right now as they would be in great demand.

We're not competing on a level field and it's killing us.

Why should the lowest paid worker make a living wage? And what is this should?

Why shouldn't someone be allowed to work for less than the minimum wage if they want to? I've yet to hear a good answer to this. It's really no one else's business.

 

[hadit]

The bottom line question is:

Should there be any job anywhere that pays less than enough to fully support the lives of a given number of people? I contend that there should be, because there is a need for starter jobs, jobs that those new to the job market can get that pay little, but provide vital work experience and skills. Make every job pay enough for an adult to totally support him or herself, and you eliminate the job market for the young and unskilled. Then what happens when you have high unemployment among that demographic? Ask France.

 

[Asclepias]

So 3 who hate the poor and want to force them to go to college or school of some kind to rack up more debt instead of letting them earn a decent wage at a job they enjoy.

Whats wrong with going to college instead of being a perpetual bagger? Once they automate the bagging then they will be obsolete.

What's wrong with doing what they enjoy? I HATED school and would only go back to a tech school of some kind without all the goofy pointless classes. I know others who are completely different and enjoyed school and want to go to college. Wages should be tied to inflation after we bump the minimum wage up to at least 10$ an hour.

If they enjoy their work then they need to enjoy the worth that work is to the company paying them their wages. If you like being a bagger then also accept your pay. Baggers are a dime a dozen. Why should I pay you more than the going rate for that skill set? Exactly what value are you bringing to me when a 11 yr old kid can do the same thing?

Wages being tied to inflation makes sense in theory if you ignore everything else. What causes inflation? Surplus money in the market place. Its a never ending cycle.

 

[KissMy]

no, i think they DO enjoy their minimum wage jobs.

they just what to be paid MORE for the very little that they do.

Tell me, what walmart greeter doesn't want $15 an hour?

Every worker should be paid more than what they could get sitting on the couch collecting from tax payers. They should not have to stay latched onto the government tit while they are working. Tax payers should not be paying wages for another persons employee.

Government exploded causing inflation to take care of all those underpaid employees. Government shrinks & prices go down every time minimum wage was raised above government dole poverty levels.

People working more than 40/hrs should have money for college savings to better their life. They should not be just surviving or living on government backed student loans.

 

[sameech]

.

So we're pretending that someone who can only get 30 MW hours at one job can't add a job?

.

Even if that were the case, I still do not see why employers in small towns should be burdened when someone making MW couldn't stay with friends/relatives, get a flat mate, etc. I guess it is a matter of one's experiences. I started at MW and was making above MW in my primary job before I ever left high school, and have never made MW since except when I was trying to help people out on the side where the wage wasn't even a factor in why I was doing it.