Serious Minimum Wage

Palamon

Palamon

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    How much do you think minimum wage should be? Why?
     
    I think it's rather hard to put an actual amount to it seeing as how its different even state to state. I know it will be different from state to state. I'm pretty sure its higher in California than it is in Michigan where I live. I feel like it should be enough to where people can afford things, pay their bills and still enjoy life without having to worry about whether or not they can pay this bill over another.
     
    It's about $11.36 CAD in my province. However, I believe it should be raised to at least $12.00 (and it most likely will increase within the next few years). Even at that it certainly isn't a wage that many can live on and I think that needs to change. Although, it is notable that many companies have cut benefits due to the increase of minimum wage and have altered pension plans.
     
    Minimum wage should be pegged to a cost-of-living index specific to each locale. Places like London, New York City, and Tokyo should have very high minimum wages compared to a small community in Alabama or something. Otherwise, it really doesn't address the problem of, you know, being able to live in a particular place.
     
    Grand-Donut said:
    Minimum wage should be pegged to a cost-of-living index specific to each locale. Places like London, New York City, and Tokyo should have very high minimum wages compared to a small community in Alabama or something. Otherwise, it really doesn't address the problem of, you know, being able to live in a particular place.
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    Even people in Alabama who make minimum wage still have difficulty paying bills or have to live in low income apartment complexes. My mom even makes above minimum wage and struggles paycheck to paycheck. It sucks.

    Minimum wage should be enough to live off of without struggling severely.
     
    It should be enough that you than can live comfortably and it should be adjusted each year with the cost of living. There's no reason why full time workers should be struggling, regardless of their job. If you think fast food workers just "flip burgers" then go get a job there and see how you last, same with retail.
    No one should have to work 2+ jobs just to BARELY live.
    This world is inhumane and many countries have systems that punish the poor and reward the wealthy as if wealthy people aren't born into it and actually deserve it.
     
    People would hate my opinion on this, but if we keep raising minimum wage, the cost of living is going to keep going up in tandem. You can see the trend happening over the years -- minimum wage was less than a dollar and people could buy things in the store for very, very cheap by today's standards. But as the minimum wage goes up, so does the cost of everything else. You can't win by raising minimum wage.

    Minimum wage jobs aren't supposed to be jobs to just live with. They're starter jobs. For very young teens and early 20s adults at the latest. Within these fields, you can get certain promotions that are helpful, but for the most part, they're starter jobs and you're supposed to get your experience and move on from there. Sure, easier said than done, but that's what these jobs are supposed to be for. This is why people need to get into trades like being a plumber or electrician, rather than waste copious amounts of money on college for useless degrees.

    And now I prepare for the enraged masses in my fortified bunker.
     
    CiCi Sama said:
    People would hate my opinion on this, but if we keep raising minimum wage, the cost of living is going to keep going up in tandem. You can see the trend happening over the years -- minimum wage was less than a dollar and people could buy things in the store for very, very cheap by today's standards. But as the minimum wage goes up, so does the cost of everything else. You can't win by raising minimum wage.

    Minimum wage jobs aren't supposed to be jobs to just live with. They're starter jobs. For very young teens and early 20s adults at the latest. Within these fields, you can get certain promotions that are helpful, but for the most part, they're starter jobs and you're supposed to get your experience and move on from there. Sure, easier said than done, but that's what these jobs are supposed to be for. This is why people need to get into trades like being a plumber or electrician, rather than waste copious amounts of money on college for useless degrees.

    And now I prepare for the enraged masses in my fortified bunker.
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    I'm not mad, but I have to disagree with the idea that minimum wage isn't supposed to be a wage that you can live off of.

    If raising minimum wage is not the answer, then what is? Regardless of one's views on minimum wage, a lot of people have to work far harder than they should have to just to make ends meet.
     
    Nah said:
    I'm not mad, but I have to disagree with the idea that minimum wage isn't supposed to be a wage that you can live off of.

    If raising minimum wage is not the answer, then what is? Regardless of one's views on minimum wage, a lot of people have to work far harder than they should have to just to make ends meet.
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    You place a cap on how much more goods can be sold for compared to how much they cost to produce. Then once minimum wage has been raised to a sustainable level, you never have to worry about raising it again.

    I'll have more to say on CiCi's take later xD
     
    Nah said:
    I'm not mad, but I have to disagree with the idea that minimum wage isn't supposed to be a wage that you can live off of.

    If raising minimum wage is not the answer, then what is? Regardless of one's views on minimum wage, a lot of people have to work far harder than they should have to just to make ends meet.
    Click to expand...

    As mentioned, they are starter jobs. You have to move into better jobs from there after you've gotten your experience. Minimum wage jobs are not jobs you're supposed to live off of, they are there for the experience. That said, it can be difficult to find a good job even after working these, but I find that people typically won't get out of their 'field' once they start it. So retailers always seem to work retailers, rather than going into a better paying field after.

    My solution was already stated: trade schools. There is a huge market for trade schools right now. College is typically a joke unless you're trying to go into a very specific field, like being a doctor or nurse. People should find a field that works well for them in the real world (hvac is good, anything involving tech is awesome -- fiancee is a programmer and he makes enough for us to live in our own home with several animals and a planned child, and then some. All without college and college debt). You can even start your own small business if you're savvy enough (cleaning is even really good to get into in this case), but that is more for people who can manage it and not everyone can. Takes a lot of advertising and the ability to travel around your area while getting a leg-up on the competition.

    But minimum wage jobs are not the answer. And I don't think anyone could convince me that they are, given everything I've seen, learned, and experienced. Plus cost of living will go up if minimum wage rises. We have evidence of this but people always want to ignore that.
     
    I think that as the cost of living rises minimum wage should go up too.

    Not everyone can go to trade school or college. Some people aren't interested In either of those. There are some people who have a lot of health issues or other stuff who can only afford or handle to work a minimum wage job.

    Sure there are chances of you getting promoted at that job but the chances are very slim. My point is some people can only handle to work at a minimum wage job due to health issues or other issues going on.

    That's my simple take on it at least.
     
    People that truly can't work are few and far between, and those people deserve help. For the rest of us, we have to suck it up, unfortunately.

    Wasn't suggesting college anyway. That's a huge money pit for the most part. Going into a trade is the more sensible option if you want to make a living.
     
    afaik cost of living typically goes up when minimum wage goes up because businesses and such increase their prices on their goods and services in response. But it's not to just simply ensure that they can continue operating, but rather to make sure that they keep raking in huge profits. The exception to this is small businesses, which don't usually generate enormous amounts of profits, but Walmart? Amazon? McDonalds? Disney? They all can more than afford to not increase prices when wages go up.

    Like, we're talking about just being able to make enough via one job to have a roof over our heads and not starve to death and feel secure in knowing that it won't be taken away from us at any time, we shouldn't have to just "suck it up".
     
    Okay, so you admitted that raising minimum wage will raise the cost of living and inflation, so I don't really know what you expect to happen when minimum wage is raised yet again. We're gonna be living in 2040 and the minimum wage is gonna be 20 bucks and people will still be complaining that it's not enough. No one's gonna convince big corporations to keep their prices the same or lower them as they have a vested interest in their profits. If they can get more money out of people, they will. The only way to stop them is to completely stop patronizing their stores, which isn't going to happen.

    When I say "suck it up", I don't mean suck it up and keep working a crappy job. I mean you have to suck it up and actually hunt for a better job. That's how the economy is supposed to work but for some reason people would rather just have wages raised so their can work a retail or fast food or what have you job instead. You don't even need to go to a trade school at all, either. There are jobs out there that don't require trade school or college or anything outside of a high school diploma or GED equivalent.

    So I'm honestly more interested to know how we're going to raise minimum wage without inflation making everything else go up soon after. That's what happens, consistently, and we're getting nowhere.
     
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