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minimum wage
- Thread starter ChrisN
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velocityg4
macrumors 604
The Department of Labor
http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/flsa/
Though your state may have additional rules and higher wages.
http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/flsa/
Though your state may have additional rules and higher wages.
Several states have enacted a higher one because the federal one is such a joke. a single person cannot support themselves with a decent standard of living on min. wage alone. imagine someone with a kid. federal min wage is laffable.
GfPQqmcRKUvP
macrumors 68040
GfPQqmcRKUvP
macrumors 68040
Haha.
More on topic: I think it should be low and left up to the states to determine anything further past that depending on the economy in the region and all the other factors.
JNB
macrumors 604
And a good argument for minimum wage. 😛
Thing is, is you think people gripe about the cost of everything now, just think what it would be like if the minimum were raised to $10-$12/hr. You know, a "living" wage.
zelmo
macrumors 603
It's a vicious cycle, it is. Raise the minimum wage and watch the cost of goods rise as manufacturers raise the prices to maintain profitability at higher production costs. Hear public cry for an increase in minimum wage.
washrinserepeat
themadchemist
macrumors 68030
Would have been an amusing pun, if you're thinking what I'm thinking...Though I guess it wouldn't have made that much sense.
GfPQqmcRKUvP
macrumors 68040
It would have gotten a good laff. No, not very related at all, but amusing nonetheless.
4JNA
macrumors 65832
try burger king, or taco bell... thanks, i'll be here all week!
actually, it is a shame that it has stayed so low. i'm freaking old, and it's not much above what i remember from the days of candles and coal.
dukebound85
macrumors Core
i believe in a low min wage as it encourages people to better themselves and get out of that posistion
i personally know no one my age that works for that little. granted we all did back in hs but thats "expected"
so states raise the min wage and the prices go up which essentially hurts me financially
if min wage workers get higher wages, may i please get a wage increase as well? pretty please??? but crap that would defeat the point....
i personally know no one my age that works for that little. granted we all did back in hs but thats "expected"
so states raise the min wage and the prices go up which essentially hurts me financially
if min wage workers get higher wages, may i please get a wage increase as well? pretty please??? but crap that would defeat the point....
4JNA
macrumors 65832
wow. you really live in a bubble, and i don't mean that in a bad way. it's just that lack of experience can be a real liability, and lead to statements like the one above.
have you ever lived below the poverty line? have you ever wondered if there would be food for supper/dinner/lunch/etc? have you ever needed medical care, and didn't have a insurance card to present at the desk? have you ever had to support yourself with no chance of help from a parent/relative? have you ever had to talk to someone calling about the late payments due to the supporting yourself thing and not having enough to cover the basics? have you ever been without basics like heat/water/electricity?
working 2 jobs with no benefits does not help a single parent 'better themselves' and it provides them no time to seek assistance from the 'programs' you are likely to recommend next based on the comment above.
i think the best line i can come up with would be 'college was supposed to teach you how to think, not what to think'. how about doing a bit of volunteer work with all that free time which would give you a broader perspective in your local community, and something else to add to the resume besides school related activities. military, peace corps, something... you wouldn't believe how the rest of the world lives. go see. really.
kinda long, but watching the 30 days episode on minimum wage might also be a good use of your time. peace.
dukebound85
macrumors Core
4JNA
macrumors 65832
fair enough. me too. i still refuse to eat popcorn as we needed to survive on that for a bit. but the good news is that if you're broke, there can't be much financial injury...
your belief is your business, but i volunteer and can tell you that based on helping people at the bottom edge (also not illegals), you are wrong. there are no better jobs or chances to get ahead, and it doesn't matter how motivated they are. comes down to the 'don't throw a drowning man a manual on how to swim' effect, but still...
what is really interesting to me is that if their kids are sharp, they can take a better tangent and pull the whole family up along with them. there are lots of decent programs in place to assist the school age crowd which can impact the whole family.
lots of times the parents aren't willing to ask the kids for help, or the kids aren't willing to help. kudos to you for taking care of the family. hope it all works out.
Well, I kinda agree on this point. I worked minimum wage before, wearing a paper hat at a drive-through, and it did wonders curing me of apathy towards school and getting an education. Also, the humiliation of having friends from high school drive up in nice cars asking me, "what are you doing working here?" I finished college at 30.
But if going to school problematic (problems with English, learning disabilities, single parent, etc.) minimum wage is hard to live on.
GfPQqmcRKUvP
macrumors 68040
That's not true. It might be hard, but it can and does happen. If we (the population) had some personal responsibility instead of believing that we are just the victims and should have things handed to us, then we'd all be better off. Instead of having a family of four by the time you're 22 and not able to provide for your family, use contraceptives (which you can find for free). The list can go on, but I understand where you are coming from, really I do. I just take exception to your statement that there are no better jobs or chances to get ahead. You had to survive on popcorn? Well it seems you're doing better now (on the internet talking about it), so you must have had opportunities and capitalized on those opportunities through hard work and perseverance.
4JNA
macrumors 65832
fair enough. and i agree with most of your statement. too broad with my late night blanket statements... take 2.
there is a large percentage of people at the bottom edge of society earning minimum wage, who do not have the life and/or job skills necessary, or the opportunity to take advantage of the better jobs and chances to get ahead.
you took me a bit out of context, but still, if you are working 18 hours a day at 2 minimum wage jobs, going to 'skills training' is not a viable option. that's all i actually meant. in the context of the thread, a higher wage might give the same person a chance to work less and take advantage of the resources and opportunities that we know to be available. i agree with you that they are there.
in my case, being active duty enlisted, and working a second job at night was enough to get me going. not something everyone would be able to accomplish in that there was a high level of physical fitness required, a technical background, and the drive to study/work and still put in evening hours at a retail job.
themadchemist
macrumors 68030
Having managed a McDonald's for 10 years, I can't even begin to tell you how many people with no job skills that we hired, trained for that "minimum wage burger flipping job" that everyone loves to rant about, and then based solely upon their motivation to want to do more/have more responsibility, trained and promoted up to crew trainer, crew chief, swing manager, assistant manager, and higher.
Virtually every crappy job (i.e. burger flipping) has the chance to get ahead.
GfPQqmcRKUvP
macrumors 68040
I will not let you drag me unwillingly into a pun war, I'm a friedman and don't have to take orders from you.
Thats also an evil cycle- You have a dude working at BK, but wants to better him self or whatever, well making min wage and struggling to pay for an apt and transportation, drains most every dime he has and he cannot afford to gain the skills to better himself therefore he is stuck. Even if he gets a scholarship or grant money, if they don't give him any more than the cost of whatever education he is seeking, then he still has to work full time, plus his education requirements- something could suffer, and he fails at the education etc etc.