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It is mathematically impossible to survive on minimum wage $8/hour type jobs in 2017, here's the math:
Assuming the person works for $8/hour and 40 hours a week
($8/hour x 40 hours) x 4 weeks in a month = $1280 before tax = $1088-ish after tax (assuming 10-15% tax bracket)
Assuming the "typical" cost of living for an average American with NO kids or welfare assistance
$800-$1000/month - Average rent in most cities for a 1-bedroom apartment
$75-$150/month - Average car insurance payment, depending on age of car etc
$150-$300/month - Average gasoline expenditure depending on vehicle and commute distance
$200-$300/month - Average food/grocery bill for one person, assuming a somewhat healthy diet
$50-$100/month - Average cost of miscellaneous household items such as toilet paper, etc
$150-$300/month - Average health insurance bill depending on a number of factors
$75-$150/month - Average utilities depending on several factors
$40-$70/month - Average cell phone/internet bill
+???/month on TOP of all this - If there is any debt service (car loan, student loans, etc) or kids involved
...and all of this is without saving any money whatsoever.
Grand totals for "typical" cost of living on $8/hour minimum wage
$1550ish-$2370/month on the typical $8/hour wage $1088ish take-home pay
$1088ish pay - $1550ish-$2370ish cost of living = negative $462-$1282 every month, literally mathematically impossible
And in many recent threads on here, Republican right-wingers have actually been advocating for no minimum wage at all
Now before you say "well, those types of jobs are only for teenagers anyway", I just want to remind you that it's the year 2017 and many full-grown adults wind up working these poverty level McJobs. We need to have some sympathy, because people end up in $8/hour type jobs for a variety of reasons.... they were laid off from a good-paying job, their bills went up and they needed more income, they couldn't find anything better in the area, no other jobs called them back, etc. The point is, the economy is much worse in 2017, and we don't live in the 1950's anymore.... plenty of full-grown men and women are working minimum wage or close to it. It's not "just for teenagers" anymore.
The cashier at the nearby 7-eleven down the street? The guy who rings up my coffee? He's like in his early 40's, but I've talked to him here and there and he says he works there because "times are tough and i need the money", so i know that these people are out there and that's just one example. If Republican right-wingers had their way, these honest hard-working people would be rounded up and shot - they would rather "brush the issue under the rug" than address it
Meanwhile America more and more resembles a Mexico-style 98% poor / 2% rich stratified society every year. But right-wingers have 0 issue with 8 individuals having more wealth as 50% of the human population, or paper-pusher executive types raking in $500k+ salaries. Instead of noticing this very real problem affecting average and lower-income Americans, republican right-wingers seem to have this tunnel-vision regarding "brown people" and other economically un-important issues..... as if the very complicated and nuanced economic issues of the day can be boiled down to "brown people", while a CEO makes more money than all his employees combined
It is mathematically impossible to survive on minimum wage $8/hour type jobs in 2017, here's the math:
Assuming the person works for $8/hour and 40 hours a week
($8/hour x 40 hours) x 4 weeks in a month = $1280 before tax = $1088-ish after tax (assuming 10-15% tax bracket)
Assuming the "typical" cost of living for an average American with NO kids or welfare assistance
$800-$1000/month - Average rent in most cities for a 1-bedroom apartment
$75-$150/month - Average car insurance payment, depending on age of car etc
$150-$300/month - Average gasoline expenditure depending on vehicle and commute distance
$200-$300/month - Average food/grocery bill for one person, assuming a somewhat healthy diet
$50-$100/month - Average cost of miscellaneous household items such as toilet paper, etc
$150-$300/month - Average health insurance bill depending on a number of factors
$75-$150/month - Average utilities depending on several factors
$40-$70/month - Average cell phone/internet bill
+???/month on TOP of all this - If there is any debt service (car loan, student loans, etc) or kids involved
...and all of this is without saving any money whatsoever.
Grand totals for "typical" cost of living on $8/hour minimum wage
$1550ish-$2370/month on the typical $8/hour wage $1088ish take-home pay
$1088ish pay - $1550ish-$2370ish cost of living = negative $462-$1282 every month, literally mathematically impossible
And in many recent threads on here, Republican right-wingers have actually been advocating for no minimum wage at all
Now before you say "well, those types of jobs are only for teenagers anyway", I just want to remind you that it's the year 2017 and many full-grown adults wind up working these poverty level McJobs. We need to have some sympathy, because people end up in $8/hour type jobs for a variety of reasons.... they were laid off from a good-paying job, their bills went up and they needed more income, they couldn't find anything better in the area, no other jobs called them back, etc. The point is, the economy is much worse in 2017, and we don't live in the 1950's anymore.... plenty of full-grown men and women are working minimum wage or close to it. It's not "just for teenagers" anymore.
The cashier at the nearby 7-eleven down the street? The guy who rings up my coffee? He's like in his early 40's, but I've talked to him here and there and he says he works there because "times are tough and i need the money", so i know that these people are out there and that's just one example. If Republican right-wingers had their way, these honest hard-working people would be rounded up and shot - they would rather "brush the issue under the rug" than address it
Meanwhile America more and more resembles a Mexico-style 98% poor / 2% rich stratified society every year. But right-wingers have 0 issue with 8 individuals having more wealth as 50% of the human population, or paper-pusher executive types raking in $500k+. Instead of noticing this very real problem affecting lower-income Americans, republican right-wingers seem to have tunnel-vision regarding "brown people" and other economically un-important issues..... as if the very complicated and nuanced economic issues of the day can be boiled down to "brown people", while a CEO makes more money than all his employees combined
I didn't read this.
Whenever you increase minimum wage, all you do is lower my once decent wage.
McDonald’s recently announced plans to roll out a new mobile ordering system at 14,000 locations by the end of 2017. In addition to the mobile push, McDonald’s will be adding in-restaurant ordering kiosks at 2,500 restaurants by year's end as part of its “Experience of the Future” initiative.
“Adoption of kiosk ordering should help reduce labor expenses by 200 to 300 [basis points], savings that can be reinvested into a stronger value offering to help recapture some of the concept’s lost traffic,” Saleh says in a note issued Thursday.
I'd rather have robots make my food than humans. I don't trust minority workers would not spit in my food because I'm white. I mean it. I haven't eaten fast food in years.
Last edited by texan2yankee; 07-05-2017 at 04:26 PM..
Nobody is expected to stay with minimum wage of their entire life.
If you do have minimum wage then get off your lazy rear end, back off the video games and get a second job and work 80 hours a week. If all you are worth is $8 an hour then that is what you are worth $8 an hour.
If all you do is worth $8 an hour what makes you think you deserve more?
To the OP.
I will try this once again, and maybe this time it will sink in.
If the cost to do business goes up, in this case wages, the cost of goods and services are also going to go up, so what did one gain by getting an increase in wages?Answer, nothing.
Business is not going to eat the wage increase.
It is mathematically impossible to survive on minimum wage $8/hour type jobs in 2017, here's the math:
Assuming the person works for $8/hour and 40 hours a week
($8/hour x 40 hours) x 4 weeks in a month = $1280 before tax = $1088-ish after tax (assuming 10-15% tax bracket)
Assuming the "typical" cost of living for an average American with NO kids or welfare assistance
$800-$1000/month - Average rent in most cities for a 1-bedroom apartment
$75-$150/month - Average car insurance payment, depending on age of car etc
$150-$300/month - Average gasoline expenditure depending on vehicle and commute distance
$200-$300/month - Average food/grocery bill for one person, assuming a somewhat healthy diet
$50-$100/month - Average cost of miscellaneous household items such as toilet paper, etc
$150-$300/month - Average health insurance bill depending on a number of factors
$75-$150/month - Average utilities depending on several factors
$40-$70/month - Average cell phone/internet bill
+???/month on TOP of all this - If there is any debt service (car loan, student loans, etc) or kids involved
...and all of this is without saving any money whatsoever.
Grand totals for "typical" cost of living on $8/hour minimum wage
$1550ish-$2370/month on the typical $8/hour wage $1088ish take-home pay
$1088ish pay - $1550ish-$2370ish cost of living = negative $462-$1282 every month, literally mathematically impossible
And in many recent threads on here, Republican right-wingers have actually been advocating for no minimum wage at all
Now before you say "well, those types of jobs are only for teenagers anyway", I just want to remind you that it's the year 2017 and many full-grown adults wind up working these poverty level McJobs. We need to have some sympathy, because people end up in $8/hour type jobs for a variety of reasons.... they were laid off from a good-paying job, their bills went up and they needed more income, they couldn't find anything better in the area, no other jobs called them back, etc. The point is, the economy is much worse in 2017, and we don't live in the 1950's anymore.... plenty of full-grown men and women are working minimum wage or close to it. It's not "just for teenagers" anymore.
The cashier at the nearby 7-eleven down the street? The guy who rings up my coffee? He's like in his early 40's, but I've talked to him here and there and he says he works there because "times are tough and i need the money", so i know that these people are out there and that's just one example. If Republican right-wingers had their way, these honest hard-working people would be rounded up and shot - they would rather "brush the issue under the rug" than address it
Meanwhile America more and more resembles a Mexico-style 98% poor / 2% rich stratified society every year. But right-wingers have 0 issue with 8 individuals having more wealth as 50% of the human population, or paper-pusher executive types raking in $500k+ salaries. Instead of noticing this very real problem affecting average and lower-income Americans, republican right-wingers seem to have this tunnel-vision regarding "brown people" and other economically un-important issues..... as if the very complicated and nuanced economic issues of the day can be boiled down to "brown people", while a CEO makes more money than all his employees combined
You have this all backwards.
Plutocracy and capitalism are creatures of the Left. People on the Right oppose the policies (mainly immigration) that create "a Mexico-style 98% poor / 2% rich stratified society". People on the Right support the decentralization of wealth and oppose the privatization of profits while costs are socialized. People on the Right oppose the privatization of the value of positive externalities created by society collectively. People on the Right understand that a minimum wage creates a floor that stops the race to the bottom (at least in regard to employers that obey the law) so that American workers don't have to compete on the terms of competing workers willing to work for Calcutta-level wages.
Your supposed averages are way to high. Who spends $300 a month on gas if they aren't in a job that requires a lot of travel or just wasting it? Health insurance paid by the tax payer. And so forth. Whether min wage is or is not good and what it should or should not be is a legit discussion. But you need to take the anger and emotion out of your argument.
And what the heck do "brown people" have to do with this discussion? Heading in a racism direction also takes away from the fundamental argument.
Isn't this where Liberals come in with, education, education, education. Minimum wage is not meant to be a life time wage, it's job force entrance wage, a bottom rung on the ladder wage working your way up as you get experience and education.
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