Would you work for 5 dollars an hour if you had no money and were desperate?

[ackmondual]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

Sure. If that was the only job available. Something is better than nothing until I could figure out how to make more. It's plenty of money to eat on.

I wouldn't be in that job long, because I would make a better opportunity come along.

The thing about $5 an hour is that people can make more living off the government, so many wouldn't work for that amount. They'd rather sit all day in front of the TV while the taxpayer supports them.

And as much as this bothers me for saying this, some of these people are the perceptive ones. Companies do this too by hiring H1 visa workers, finding loopholes to pay less taxes, classifying their workers as contractors, and other ways to save on expenses. It's what everyone does. The smart ones will utilize such government services, and then get a new job before the benefits run out. It takes about 3 to 9 months to get a new job in this economy anyways, so those funds are definitely getting put to good use.

[tijlover]

The answers to this question will vary by age group and location in the country. $5 an hour in L.A. or San Francisco will have you living in a homeless shelter, or on the streets. But not San Diego, as you can always go across the Border and find a cheap room in Tijuana for $100 or less a month.

If it was work that was fully satisfying, I consider that a luxury in itself, and then, yes, I'd work for $5 an hour. But working in manufacturing plant for $5 an hour, no way, no matter how desperate I was!

Also bear in mind this younger generation doesn't have the fear of death that their parents had. My niece told me that in the high school where here sons were in, 5 teenagers took their lives last year! In my day, that would seem incomprehensible! Never heard of that happening in my high school!

[Troyfan]

I'm not desperate so I can't say. But if a place were next door and the owner needed someone from 10 - 1 PM a few days a week, I'd do it for $5 an hour. Good for him and good for me.

[tijlover]

The last I read, the minimum wage was still $5 a Day in Mexico. And the cost of living in Mexico is not anywhere near as low as people think it is. Go walk into a big chain grocery store, like Gigante on Revolution, in Tijuana, and, given their minimum wage, and looking at those prices, you wonder, given their transportation costs to work and back, and rent, how on earth do they have any money to buy food?

And yet, many survive on that, and are seemingly happy!

And when they come here, $5 an hour???????