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The difference needed for individual earners at the low end is only a few dollars. (i.e., Maryland minimum wage, $7.25, living wage, $11.01). Living wage factors in what is needed to cover basic necessities such as food, housing, etc.
When you add on children, of course it gets higher. But, as I noted in a post earlier, the current system / pay scale is not designed to help the poor get ahead, just, keep them at bay. If you cleared up this disparity, you'd start to chip away at welfare dependency. Which, in turn, would affect pregnancy rates.
One of the things I see with the folks I work who are honestly trying to get ahead in Baltimore City, is the overwhelming abundance of service-based employment at minimum wage, and to boot, that most of this work is just offered part-time, with variable schedules, no consistency. And, even if insurance benefits are 'offered' they are so expensive many go without and end up going on subsidized insurance, cue taxpayer involvement. Lastly, childcare is so astronomical even for the middle class, that, if you aren't lucky enough for subsidized childcare, your measly $200 week salary post-taxes would mostly go to covering that one service. When you balance it all out, the current system as is, almost incentivizes those to not go out and do better for themselves.
Bottom line, this is a whole can of worms, imho, one that goes beyond just the discussion of welfare.
What is so hard for people to understand? These min wage jobs were never designed to meet a living wage, they are primarily for teens, and people wanting a part time job.
Just because the min. wage goes up slightly does not mean everyone else's wage has to as well.
In fact, the other day where I work , the cleaners got a pay rise - no-one else did, and there's been no strike or aggravation of any sort.
you are not talking slightly, you are talking at least 3 or 4 bucks an hour to really make a difference. Of course everyone else's salary would have to go up. Do you think the manager at the restaurant, with years of experience and/or maybe a college education is going to sit back and watch the people who work at the drive through window make almost the same as he/she does? You can have this explained to you 100 times in a hundred ways, you are not going to understand until everyone sees it your way, which isn't going to happen.
What is so hard for people to understand? These min wage jobs were never designed to meet a living wage, they are primarily for teens, and people wanting a part time job.
But now they are "careers" for people. No healthcare, no benefits, no pension or 401K.
Nothing. Yet you have adults with families flipping burgers for a living.
And rather than ask "What happened to America that we've come to this ?" people are asking "Why not pay him more ?"
Always the easy way out...throw money at a problem and it will solve itself..right ?
Yeah well see how well that'a worked out in education.
But now they are "careers" for people. No healthcare, no benefits, no pension or 401K.
Nothing. Yet you have adults with families flipping burgers for a living.
And rather than ask "What happened to America that we've come to this ?" people are asking "Why not pay him more ?"
Always the easy way out...throw money at a problem and it will solve itself..right ?
Yeah well see how well that'a worked out in education.
hopefully these jobs, flipping hamburgers as you mention will be short lived and we will, in time return to a normal economy..We can't possibly raise the salary of hamburger flippers to make up for what has been lost. Then what? When things get better, tell all those working the counters, sorry, we are going to cut your salary back to where it should have been before the unemployment rates got so high...
I am curious, could you afford to live the same life you do now if everything cost 2-3 times as much as it does now?
Sure, let's double the wage all fast food workers make. What do you think a hamburger would cost?
Let's double the amount of money cashiers, shelf stockers, floor sweepers, etc etc make. What about the people picking fruits and vegetables on farms?
How would you like to see your grocery bill triple, your electric bill double, etc etc.
Once prices start going up, everyone elses costs go up, then their prices go up in tandem because more income is needed to pay their workers, and cover the increased costs.
Soon, you have everything costing 2 - 3 times as much, YOUR salary has remained the same, because you already MADE a liveable wage, everyone else's salary went up, but hey, they are now worse off, because everything costs so much more, that any increase was eaten up by increased costs, by a percentage greater than their income went up.
We're in this mess because we have let big business/corporations run the country, and they're run it into the ground. The most valued traits in this country are the love of money and greed, and THAT starts at the TOP. WHERE IS THE ABSOLUTE RULE that companies never have to pay some of the costs of labor?
Personally, I'd rather have a more socialist government than the FASCIST one no one acknowledges at this point.
What is a dollar worth? It's representative of the value of that persons labor. The value of their labor does not change, the value of the dollar does.
Worker makes $7 an hour.
Worker pays $7 for McDonald's meal.
Worker makes $14 dollars an hour.
Worker pays $14 for McDonald's meal.
Worker makes $1,000,000 dollars an hour.
Worker pays $1,000,000 for McDonald's meal.
It's a vicious cycle and the worker making minimum wage will always receive the same amount of food in return for their work.
One problem with your made up ecomonics. The cost of food has gone up and minimum wage has not!
Quote:
Food prices have skyrocketed over the past couple years. While overall U.S. food prices rose about 5% last year, earlier in the year food inflation was the highest recorded in 36 years. The USDA sees food prices rising 2.5%-3.5% in 2012 but many believe that inflation could be much higher.
On July 24, three years will have passed since the last increase in the federal minimum wage. It's currently stuck at $7.25 an hour, or just over $15,000 a year for a full-time worker.
hopefully these jobs, flipping hamburgers as you mention will be short lived and we will, in time return to a normal economy..We can't possibly raise the salary of hamburger flippers to make up for what has been lost. Then what? When things get better, tell all those working the counters, sorry, we are going to cut your salary back to where it should have been before the unemployment rates got so high...
7.9% is not high, not by any means. The recession "ended" in 2009.
5% is considered full employment.
But you know what ? We're not going back to what we had before. The jobs being created today are service and leisure, most of them part time. This is what we have now.
The crash of 2008 sent whatever was left offshore that could be offshored. White collar jobs are far and few inbetween unless it requires a physical presence. That's what's left.
Companies didn't lay off like they did in past recessions and rehire when we recovered.
This time round they offshored that work so there's no re-hiring to do.
This is the painful part of globalization that we were warned about and we chose to ignore.
My personal experience..in 2009 my dept was gutted by 50% with layoffs.
When I retired in June 2012 there were 2 workers left in my dept and those 2 keep looking over their shoulders every quarter.
Oh the work is still being done, but not by Americans. China/India/Brazil go the work.
In 3 years my dept went from 25 to 2. You think that didn't happen elsewhere in Corporate America ?
(software engineering in a multinational corporation).
Well, the company I work for, pays people well, rewards hard work, gives raises, treats us fair.
I get almost 5 weeks paid vacation a year, when I work on a holiday, like today, I get paid double time PLUS 8 hours holiday pay, which = triple time.
I broke my hand in January of last year, had to have surgery and was out for almost 3 months. Received full pay all 3 months, and when I came back to work, my desk was awaiting, nothing was touched, and a welcome back card signed by all of my coworkers was waiting for me.
I get medical, dental, short term and long term disability, vision, life insurance 4x my salary, 401K with company match. as well as a separate company pension plan.
And best of all, no union, so I don't have to pay some 3rd party group to work where I want to.
The only good union is a Credit Union.
Let me guess. You work at McDonalds.
Certainly does seem that your company is a good place to work, as you are basically getting triple time pay for "working" today while you are posting on an internet forum.
7.9% is not high, not by any means. The recession "ended" in 2009.
5% is considered full employment.
But you know what ? We're not going back to what we had before. The jobs being created today are service and leisure, most of them part time. This is what we have now.
The crash of 2008 sent whatever was left offshore that could be offshored. White collar jobs are far and few inbetween unless it requires a physical presence. That's what's left.
Companies didn't lay off like they did in past recessions and rehire when we recovered.
This time round they offshored that work so there's no re-hiring to do.
This is the painful part of globalization that we were warned about and we chose to ignore.
About this^^^, I totally agree with you. Wonders never cease!
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