[beach43ofus]

Minimum wage is not meant to be a living wage, and raising minimum wage harms entry level workers.

When minimum wage raises, jobs are lost because businesses must contain overall costs to compete, & owners require an acceptable return on investment.

People who complain about minimum wage, generally speaking, do not have the education, expertise, skills, work ethic, or experience, to be worth more. They should look within for improvement, not big government.

I'm glad Florida's wage picture is improving, but I think its due to past stock market investiments, & high earning newcommers moving here. Demand for good and services in general due to increased population is also a contributing factor.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by beach43ofus

Minimum wage is not meant to be a living wage, and raising minimum wage harms entry level workers.

When minimum wage raises, jobs are lost because businesses must contain overall costs to compete, & owners require an acceptable return on investment.

People who complain about minimum wage, generally speaking, do not have the education, expertise, skills, work ethic, or experience, to be worth more. They should look within for improvement, not big government.

I'm glad Florida's wage picture is improving, but I think its due to past stock market investiments, & high earning newcommers moving here. Demand for good and services in general due to increased population is also a contributing factor.

Spoken like a true out of touch dinosaur.

Minimum wage needs to be a living wage because these jobs are no longer the starting point for pimple-faced adolescents but by working adults, often supporting at least one child. 50% of those working at minimum wage are over the age of 25, 25% are supporting children and nearly a third have some college experience and the average age is 35. (BLS stats-2021). If the 73 million minimum wage workers all decided to "improve themselves" and heighten their skill set who do you suppose would fulfill the role of these essential workers, as categorized during the pandemic? And what professions have that kind of occupancy for new workers? Furthermore as a capitalist free-market economy we Americans tend to love so much, if you can't compete while paying a living wage within your business model you probably have no valid reason to be in business.

[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by sinatras

State income tax or not, cost of living in Florida is vastly outpacing wage growth.

Originally Posted by Lillie767

At some point it all balances out.

Florida pays more then inflation crushes that raise, then the landlords figure well since everyone is making big money then the rents go up $500 a month and suddenly Mr $17 burger flipper is poorer than he was 2 years ago making $10 an hour!

The living wage idea was a fantasy and now a Big Mac Meal is $10 vs. $6.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by City Guy997S

Florida pays more then inflation crushes that raise, then the landlords figure well since everyone is making big money then the rents go up $500 a month and suddenly Mr $17 burger flipper is poorer than he was 2 years ago making $10 an hour!

The living wage idea was a fantasy and now a Big Mac Meal is $10 vs. $6.

It's called capitalistic corporate greed as public companies have illustrated via record quarterly and annual profits along with supply/demand in terms of how much the consumer is willing to pay before business suffers. Rather than talk smack about the people working for them trying to make a living, try and utilize some critical thought as to how we got here.

[sinatras]

According to this article it takes a minimum $26 an hour to afford a 2-bedroom rental in Florida. Good luck finding an entry level frontline retail job that pays that in Florida! Florida is stuck in the dark ages on many things, and wages is high on that list.

https://infogram.com/aug-2022-housin...xwk10dx6k?live

[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

It's called capitalistic corporate greed as public companies have illustrated via record quarterly and annual profits along with supply/demand in terms of how much the consumer is willing to pay before business suffers. Rather than talk smack about the people working for them trying to make a living, try and utilize some critical thought as to how we got here.

Nah, you are overthinking it..........McDonalds whole business is price point! The reason people eat there is because it is quick and cheap. $1 cokes were a thing, I got one the other day and its $1.70 now!

The real estate/utilities/overhead are pretty fixed (locked in for years). The labor and materials have exploded in cost and the company will choke on net profits unless they can get a higher volume. Though some patrons might skip mid-level dining like Chilis and eat at McDonalds to save money.

Also consider, a raise in the past was usually performance based. A person hit a certain time of employment (1 yr, 5 yrs etc) or they were excelling at their job, doing more tasks or doing harder tasks.

What was the last raise for? Living wage seemed like a good plan but it certainly wasn't going to get everyone a new car/home/higher standard of living like it was pitched as! Same guy emptying the trash is just getting a few bucks more to do the same job but now the cashier is balking because they feel their job is more important so they think $20 is their new living wage but wait that is what the manager makes so they want $30 an hour. The business can't eat this, so they raise the prices and suddenly Joe Consumer is paying more for the identical product that was 40% less a year ago.

Hope Joe Consumer got more than a 40% raise!

[sinatras]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

It's called capitalistic corporate greed as public companies have illustrated via record quarterly and annual profits along with supply/demand in terms of how much the consumer is willing to pay before business suffers. Rather than talk smack about the people working for them trying to make a living, try and utilize some critical thought as to how we got here.

Publix starts cashiers at $10 an hour yet the company is making money hand over fist due to inflated prices people are paying for groceries. Shameful.

[MOforthewin]

Originally Posted by beach43ofus

Minimum wage is not meant to be a living wage, and raising minimum wage harms entry level workers.

When minimum wage raises, jobs are lost because businesses must contain overall costs to compete, & owners require an acceptable return on investment.

People who complain about minimum wage, generally speaking, do not have the education, expertise, skills, work ethic, or experience, to be worth more. They should look within for improvement, not big government.

I'm glad Florida's wage picture is improving, but I think its due to past stock market investiments, & high earning newcommers moving here. Demand for good and services in general due to increased population is also a contributing factor.

Do they include pensions as income as well? A lot of big, fat pensions down here from the baby boomers up north.

[kona2019]

At seeing $1200 plus per week average in Florida had me laughing so hard I almost soiled myself .Just had to remind myself of Lake City Reporter front page stories and local job ads ...You can have the ""honor" of being a firefighter in Lake City for $12.35 per hour ...WTF...that is CRAZY ...and the city council thinks that is more than adequate ...from the IDIOTS that all make six figures ....this is NOT made up ...flip a burger ...it is safer and pays more ...

[MOforthewin]

Originally Posted by kona2019

At seeing $1200 plus per week average in Florida had me laughing so hard I almost soiled myself .Just had to remind myself of Lake City Reporter front page stories and local job ads ...You can have the ""honor" of being a firefighter in Lake City for $12.35 per hour ...WTF...that is CRAZY ...and the city council thinks that is more than adequate ...from the IDIOTS that all make six figures ....this is NOT made up ...flip a burger ...it is safer and pays more ...

Wow. My part time night job at Publix pays more than that lol for cleaning!

That's sad.