While I think they should raise the minimum rate, you have to be careful on how much. Double? That's crazy talk. We haven't doubled rates ever...not even close..all the way back to 1938. You can't say hey...min wage is now $200 an hour...without serious consequences. Part of the problem is that min wage jobs are not full time jobs. You can't make it on min wage at 20 hours a week so then you need govt assistance which costs you and me. Now these people could look for a full time job but lots of companies like pt workers because of benefits. I think you need to get employers to be "encouraged" to have more full time jobs. I think one way to do,that is have separate min wage rates for full vs part time. $8 for full time and $9.50 for part time would be a starting point. Now that would cause some unemployment of some part time workers but they really need full time jobs if they want to make a living.
$8 hour * 40 hours= 320 $9.5 hours * 32 hours = 304 This is a poor incentive. People will work 2 part time jobs to get paid higher. And why would you pay a part time employee more than a full time? There is something people need to accept. Minimum wage employees are paid that for a reason. It takes very little effort to shovel fries, work a register or answer a call. If someone is ambitious enough to better themselves, then they will eventually find a better paying job.
] I suggest the following field trip to gather info about the real world which could add to your fund of general info and actually help you form intelligent opinions. Go to a very busy McDonald's say in the downtown of a large city say, Houston, at lunch time, the larger the waiting lines at the counter the better, instead of playing with your cell phone actually watch the folks you can see making the fries, putting the food in the sacks, waiting on the next customer. Try doing the same in a very busy grocery store, right after work or any restaurant in which the parking lot is overflowing. Actually look at the folks who work there. Gross, I know compared to the kids that were at your college or your coworkers at your office job. Are they all teenagers who look like they are just there to buy another xbox game or whatever? Are they exerting any effort? Hey you might also try reading a best selling book called "Nickel and Dimed" by Barbara Ehrenreich, a writer in her 50's who had a PhD, who went underground and worked at some of those minimum wage jobs to further add to your fund of knowlege.
I get what you are saying regarding the minimum wage, but I disagree with two points you make. First, a lot of minimum wage jobs require a great deal,of effort. Many of them are physically taxing. To say that they don't require much effort is just inaccurate. Secondly, you state that ambitious people will eventually find a better paying job. This isn't necessarily true. Due to a lack of training or education and just some bad luck along the way, people sometimes get stuck in a dead end situation. I think you are painting with an unnecessarily broad brush.
take a job without decent pay unless such jobs are outlawed by the minimum wage... Why there are no longer shoe shine boys or people that fill up your gas tank. Can't pay someone a minimum wage for that service, not worth the money.
Those two examples have more to do with a change in what people are willing to pay extra for than what the minimum wage is. People decided it wasn't worth the extra charge for full service at the gas station and to pump their own gas.
I bet you would like Bangladesh. If they have a minimum wage it is very low and not enforced. You can still get those type of services, which you seem to think a minimum wage prevents. Another hassle in America is not even the lower rung of the one percent cannot afford full time live in servants or full time chauffeurs to gas up their cars and take them for servicing. Of course you see yourself as a bright boy anddon't see yourself as the shoe shine "boy"
I was just throwing out numbers to illustrate an example. The problem is finding 2 part time job that don't overlap hours is harder than you think. Most are given bi-weekly schedules, not a fixed day/time. So you need to have 2 companies to work with each other to make sure there isn't a scheduling conflict. That is not going to happen on a pt worker. And companies like to hire pt people because they can offer few-to-no benefits. So what happens is you have 2 20 hour people working when you could have 1 40 hour person working. The point example is to get employers to rethink that scenario and consolidate 2 pt jobs into 1 ft job. So instead of having 2 people making $600 a month and food stamps, you have 1 person making $1200 a month and fewer/no stamps.
You are correct. Some of the hardest jobs I've worked have been low paying. But what remains is that there were plenty of people to take my place. The skill level that is required to do the job reflect the amount you make. I know I am using a broad brush when I say this, but those who are usually stuck in low paying jobs usually do not have the ambition to do more with their life. Those who did not come from wealthy families and have gotten their degrees and certifications know the sacrifice it takes to get into the position where you can establish a career. Everyone who has accomplished this could have come up with dozens of reasons why they could not do it, but they put forth the effort and made it work.
You are painting with an incredibly broad brush which paints a great many people who do not deserve to be covered by the rancid color you are using.
Am I know? What "careers" pay minimum wage? Show me someone past their twenties making minimum wage that can't be easily be replaced. The fact remains that you must making yourself valuable as an employee. It doesn't matter how hard your work or how much, if you can be replaced by a kid coming out of high school, then they should not expect wages higher than currently paid. Businesses are there to make money, not to be a charity.
you do know lot of company hiring foreign people because they are better educated and cheaper too right? also lot of company is hiring contractors in other country if you are high school graduated and still making the minimum wage after 5 years then you have a big problem my elder brother didn't go to college and he's making more than $10 per hour now you just need to watch your monthly payment i know people work as waiter/waitress their wage is mostly based on tips but they paid like $80 for cable $100 for their 2 years smartphone contract driving bmw and still have to make house payment of course later they can't handle it finally settle with a honda and renting apartment you just need to watch what you're buying
I really like this idea, actually. When an employer employs someone part-time, he makes it harder on that worker to be available for the other opportunities he needs to fill the gap that's left because he isn't fully utilized. It makes sense an employer should pay a premium for the dead weight loss his employee suffers for the employer's convenience.
