Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
PS: Stop worrying about McJobs. Most will be done by robots soon. Ms 48 year old cashier at McD's will be a kiosk. Tax the employer for her inability to get a better job, and you speed up the ROI on the robot, and the investment to automate becomes prudent faster, and Ms. 48 year old is unemployed..faster. Ms. 48 year old cashier needs to be preparing for that eventuality..NOW.
In the year 2015 maybe about 25% of all jobs pay at a rate that allows full time workers to get government benefits. Even if the current people who are working in these jobs get training and move out of the low wage workplace someone else will take their place. So the argument that low wage workers just need to get more skills and education to move up does not really help the situation. Face it, no matter who is working in these jobs at any time, a large number of jobs in America pay under $10 an hour. And these are the jobs that are growing in today's economy. If you want a job, these are the jobs the typical American can get. And they are not jobs for kids and senior citizens anymore. Lots of the folks working at McDonalds are bring up a family on that job's income.
So, who should pay for the government benefits for the 25% of households whose primary bread winner is making $8 an hour or less than $20K a year?
Is it the responsibility of the employers of low wage labor? Or every taxpayer? Or should we just eliminate things like Food Stamps, reduced lunches at school, Medicaid, government paid housing, etc. for people who work?
Remember, someone is going to be doing these low wage jobs regardless of the hopes and dreams of people in them today.
First, I don't believe your numbers.
Second, America is number 2 in the world in manufacturing.
There are PLENTY careers out there that pay very well and you DON'T need a college degree.
Many minimum wage jobs are designed to be less than full time especially in restaurants and fast food where shifts fluctuate based on customer traffic. If business is slow, managers send employees home early. These minimum wage employers hate to pay overtime especially when corporate cost constraints are enforced. I once worked a 48-hour week due to unusually high customer traffic. My boss hired a few more people and reduced my scheduled hours accordingly in order to ensure I was never again paid overtime.
When I used to wait tables at Olive Garden they would do the same with the kitchen staff. Everyone always worked between 28-32 hours. Just short of full time and the ability to get benefits.
If I stay in my menial job long enough (until my boss retires in 20 years) I might be promoted to manager and make $20K instead of minimum wage.
How many of your neices and nephews paid for their education?
It's funny my nephew works at a fast food place and HAS BEEN ALL THROUGH HIS SENIOR YEAR IN HIGH SCHOOL. Upon graduation at 18, he was made an Asst. Mgr. The owner sees the potential and he wants to groom him to be able to own his own store.
What scholarships? My grades were in the top 3 percent of my class and my SAT scores were in the top 3 percent nationally. The only scholarship I got was a New York State scholarship (similar to scholarships offered by many states) good for a whopping $100 per year for books.
Now I cannot afford education and training at all.
The "trades" are all being done by illegal aliens, with one legal running the crew, that speaks spanish, in Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Arizona & California.
Except the one legal guy no longer speaks English.
Second, America is number 2 in the world in manufacturing.
There are PLENTY careers out there that pay very well and you DON'T need a college degree.
But a lot of them DO need a least a two year certificate. And getting a two year certificate is like getting vocational training of some sort. It's expensive. And some of us can't afford it. Seriously, there's a manufacturing job that will train its workers onsite?
What frosts me so much is a lot of jobs want a degree of some sort for employment, but generally, the degree has nothing to do with what the job is. My cousin makes good money, but her job required a BS, something she says she has yet to figure out because anyone could walk in and do her job.
And a further problem is businesses that used to do their own training are now expecting you to arrive fully trained. You can't get on-the-job training in a bank anymore, as I did once, or as a police officer. To be hired on the force these days, you have to pay for your own training and then apply for the job, which you may not even get.
And there is yet a further consideration since 2008. Many businesses require you to have perfect credit and will make you submit to a credit check now just to put in an application. Many people went through financial hardships in the last couple of years and not all of them can sport a high credit score or a clean bill of credit. These are the people who need jobs the most and are the most willing to work, but when the choice comes down to an older person with a credit blemish or a younger person with a clean record, who do you think the companies will hire? Add to this the "personality" tests people are required to go through when they put in their application and you can see why so many people are still having a hard time finding work.
It's funny my nephew works at a fast food place and HAS BEEN ALL THROUGH HIS SENIOR YEAR IN HIGH SCHOOL. Upon graduation at 18, he was made an Asst. Mgr. The owner sees the potential and he wants to groom him to be able to own his own store.
How long have you been working there?
I think we see the problem.
Seven years. Some of my co-workers have worked there 20 yearsl; they make a whopping 25 cents per hour above minimum wage.
What exactly is the problem you see?
Labor surplus = Why Pay More(TM)?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
