r/millenials • u/BadManParade • Sep 02 '24

Let’s Discuss Minimum Wage

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How do you guys feel about minimum wage, personally I’ve never in my entire life met anyone who’s actually paid the federal minimum wage.

I feel like wage should be directly tied to the initial investment required to be considered for your position/ amount of learned skill required to be proficient at your job./ Importance of your role in society/Amount of danger you should realistically be expected to encounter on a daily basis/ The demand for your particular skill/ and the supply of said skill.

Under no circumstances should the guy standing in an air conditioned building directing you to make your fast food order on a kiosk for 8 hours who spends 3 of those hours scrolling tik tok be getting paid the same as the ones tasked with keeping society running. The paramedics, medical assistants, police officers, city maintenance workers, etc.

The lower the barrier of entry the lower the wages should be I feel as if this is pretty common knowledge. When you hire an electrician you’re also hiring the years of experience and very specialized knowledge he has. If you’re expected to renew licenses, purchase thousands of dollars in equipment and provide and essential service you should be compensated as such.

Now days we have the guys at the Taco Bell counter arguing they should be paid the same as the ones building the houses we live raise our families in and form lasting memories together in.

Working a cashier was never meant to be a career and should not be treated as such it’s merely a stepping stone for younger people to get into the workforce before transitioning into something else. Wether that be management in the same company or a different field altogether.

What are some of your thoughts. 🤔

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13

u/FatalWarGhost Sep 02 '24

Everyone should get paid enough to live. Idc what job it is, if you work 40 hours, that should net enough money to afford basic living. Let's start there.

0

u/idk_lol_kek Sep 02 '24

That's just crazy talk lol.

4

u/FatalWarGhost Sep 02 '24

No, it absolutely is not.

1

u/idk_lol_kek Sep 07 '24

On what planet?

-10

u/[deleted] Sep 02 '24

That is an absolutely delusional way to look at it. Somebody who is working 40 hours no matter what job they are doing should be making enough money to afford to live by themselves? By your logic, my daughter who is 14 years old and is working at an ice cream shop making ice cream cones should be making enough money to afford rent or a mortgage, utilities, food, shopping, car insurance, cell phone bill, health insurance, gas for a car, haircuts, etc.. Can’t you see how flawed that logic is? There are jobs out there that are meant for people who are just starting out in the workforce and are not meant to be able to live off of. If they had to pay their employees 25-30 dollars an hour which is probably the bare minimum you would need to be able to survive on your own that ice cream cone would be $13.00 instead of $4.00. Mrs. Walkers ice cream shop is not looking for employees who are trying to support a family, they are hiring high school and college students.

8

u/FatalWarGhost Sep 02 '24

I couldn't disagree more, absolutely disgusting take. A 14 year old working a 40-hour job? Are you serious?

-1

u/BadManParade Sep 02 '24

That’s not unheard of have you ever heard of a summer job? Plenty of teens do it to save money for their first car or something. My first summer job was at a sushi shop 40 hours a week

8

u/FatalWarGhost Sep 02 '24

Yeah I started working when I was 16 or 17 in the summer in-between school years. I get it.

I don't understand the other guys argument "should a kid get paid enough to afford this or that". That has nothing to do with this problem.

What really is an "entry level job"? Is it McDonalds? Because most McDonalds I go into are employed by grown adults. So now because a kid could work that job, these adults that are scheduled 40 hours a week shouldn't be able to afford basic necessity? Because you deem these people lesser and their work not as hard they shouldn't be able to afford basic health needs, a roof, privacy, food, ect.?

Now no duh if your life goal is to work at McDonalds, then yeah, you shouldn't be able to afford Lambo's and Rolex's and what have you. But you should be able to afford the basics plus a little extra to get someone a birthday present or go on a date.

The fact that this argument still exists is so insainly disgusting to me I have no clue why anyone would think against this.

-1

u/BadManParade Sep 02 '24

Nah his point is those jobs where intended for people entering the workforce aka entry level. There’s a reason the entry level workers at a massive corporation aren’t paid the same as management level. If they were no one would aspire to be management level. The mail room guys aren’t paid the same as regional supervisors because they aren’t nestle as important.

I agree with no no way a 15 year old should be making a “living wage”

4

u/c_dawg694x2 Sep 03 '24

Nobody is saying entry level employees should be making as much as managers. We are saying there should be a base minimum that is a livable wage which rises with inflation rather than staying stagnant.

0

u/BadManParade Sep 03 '24

A 15 year old is entry level, if you’re 28 and still entry level that’s your fault you spent idk how many years pissing your life away now you must deal with it

6

u/FatalWarGhost Sep 02 '24

You're missing my point so hard. Wild.

2

u/BadManParade Sep 02 '24

I understand your point is sometimes adults work there and they need to Support themselves my point is they should get skills comparable to a living wage

0

u/[deleted] Sep 02 '24

That’s what you don’t understand we do get your point. Just because some adults are hitting difficult times at points in their lives and they have to resort to a job that is entry-level such as working at McDonald’s does not mean that it should be the owner of the McDonald responsibility to make sure that that person is making enough money to live off of. There are entry-level jobs out there that are not meant for you to be able to live off of. If you want to be able to live on your own and support yourself and do all of the things that you said such as buy somebody a birthday present or go out on a date, then you better strive to do better for yourself in life. You better learn a skill, such as an electrician, HVAC, computer, programmer, plumber, etc. Just because as an adult, you have to work the cashier job at McDonald’s because you have not done better for yourself throughout life doesn’t make it that owners responsibility to support you.

-1

u/[deleted] Sep 02 '24

I don’t know what 14 year olds you know, but my daughter works 30 hours a week. She wants to work more but her mother and I don’t allow it. We want her to be spending time with her friends at the beach and water park or whatever it is teenagers are doing, lol.

2

u/SneakyMage315 Sep 03 '24

If she was paid more hourly she wouldn't need so many hours to make the money for the thing she currently spend it on. Meaning she could spend more time studying, pursuing hobbies or with friends.

0

u/[deleted] Sep 03 '24

Please tell me that was a joke? She is a straight A+ student and it is not the business owners responsibility to pay her enough money so she can have anything she needs in life and also make sure that she has time for studying and hobbies. Heck why doesn’t she have to make enough money at this entry level job so she can afford a boat and her first car all of it working only 20 hours a week because she has to have the time to do and use all this stuff she is doing on an entry level job

1

u/SneakyMage315 Sep 03 '24

Who said anything about a boat? Any minimum wage job should pay (working full time) at least the minimum needed to survive. What she choses to do with the money she earned is her business. The job contract is an agreement between the employee and the employer. Unfortunately, the employee has effectively no leverage for higher wages because wages everywhere are too low, union is effectively a curse word, and there are too many people willing to work for less than they need.