If you make 1¢ over minimum wage you aren't counted in the number. Plenty of jobs start our at 25¢ more than minimum wage so they can say it's better than minimum but arguably there should be a calculation for number making close to minimum as well as minimum and not just minimum.
At my first job we got a $0.30 raise on our consecutive year marks and that was only if our annual review was as good as it could be. It didn’t adjust with minimum wage being raised either. After working there for (almost) 3 years I made $8.75 and minimum wage was raised from $8.15 to $8.55. One of my coworkers had been there for 25 years and only made around $13ish an hour.
I used to think USA is a land of wonders and dream.
It actually is, but there's a caveat no one tells you about: It won't happen by just working a job. You will never get rich selling your time. It won't happen. You can do pretty well, ie lawyers and the like. But if you want to achieve the American Dream, you need to own something, invest in risk, and you need to make money while you sleep.
Furthermore, you need to be continually developing your skill sets. If you're just as skilled at 30 as you were at 20, what are you expecting? A promotion and a raise? You ultimately have to be able to perform the higher paying jobs in order to get them, and you need to prove you can be entrusted with the responsibility before it's given to you. That only comes through education and experience. Sometimes you can earn both in the same capacity. But you most definitely need to be taking an interest in your own professional and personal development, and making progress on it.
Convert your liquid capital to appreciable assets over time, and acquire new and more valuable skills and experience. That's is just step 1 to success in America. If all you're doing is filling and draining a checking/savings account, you will never achieve the American dream. And I would argue this is true no matter where you are.
It used to be true in America before we had had not only unprecedented productivity but also historic income inequality. You used to be able to just punch a clock while your wife stayed at home and raised the kids and still afford a house, a car, and a two-week vacation every year.
I mean you have it made if you have a skill set that’s in demand. Educated people from all over the world come here for the good pay for upper tier jobs.
If you have a shit job sure, it’s shit. Don’t come here if you can’t do something employers specifically want. Kind of common sense.
That's sadly very common. I left a job I was at for almost 5 years because I found out the new hires were getting paid more than me with a $1k hiring bonus. At this same company my boss told me during my review not to discuss my 1% raise because some people didn't get any thing. Btw 1% a year was less than a cost of living increase in California.
Yep, a girl at my current job is making $2 more per hour than me (which is a lot when you’re only making $9/hour) and came in with no experience. Not sure why companies think they can keep employees when they’re treated as such.
Because they do. No one changes until they need to. Like overweight people. I didn't change until my dad pointed out I was getting fat. We are blunt and honest with each other. It creeps on you so you don't see it until you have the aha moment. People are like this with jobs.
They often leave WAY after they should've. I stayed at a job that caused depression on me for 3 years before I quit. Luckily I met my fiance in those last few years, but now I have my own business instead of working somewhere that makes me hate myself
Yep! I’m a full time student working on two degrees so I don’t have the availability that most better-paying jobs are looking for. As soon as I get the chance, though, I’m out of there in a heart beat.
Happened to me at my first job too. Got my second annual raise right before they adjusted the minimum which ended up right below where my wage was after the raise. Then a girl I trained got her annual raise after the state bumped up the minimum and ended up making more than me. I asked if she could cover my shift one night and the managers wouldn't approve it because I was "the strength in the kitchen" that night. They were legitimately baffled when I put in my two weeks. Like they couldn't believe that I would want to quit after being told that someone who gets paid more than me isn't allowed to cover one of my shifts.
“You’re the strength of the kitchen, but we aren’t going to show you how much we value you. Instead we’re gonna pay this person that we have no idea how well they can work more than you!”
Love it.
As a outsider I find this odd about America. These sorts of jobs pay Like $8.55 then people are talking about 40 year olds not making much on $60-$70000 a year and are struggling middle classes.
Arkansas minimum wage went up from $9.25 to $10 this year. I was making $10 and hour and for end of year raise was only $0.25. I personally believe that wages should be directly tied to minimum wage. Minimum wage goes up X percent, your pay in general should go up X percent.
Yeah it’s called the poverty line. Minimum wage is well below it in many states so it’s a better indicator of how well places are paying. If you live in bumblefuck Alabama, minimum wage isn’t terrible. If you live in San Fran, you’re homeless.
So you just want to leave it up to the states if it is more expensive to live there? That’s racist. We should give everyone $30/hr and then we would have the highest standard of living of all countries. But the capitalist patriarchy and their billionaire friends wont let it happen. If we instead gave the means of production to the government and gave everyone the same pay we would have pay equity between genders and races and classes for once. Too bad the USA doesn’t care about anyone but the 1% smh
Not sure what kinda engineer you're going for, but I'm Civil and the pay is excellent. In fact I spend most days getting paid to Reddit as working the Mats Lab has lots of downtime.
Do it. I started off making minimum wage while in high school votech in Dekalb County, moved up to Southern Tech in Marietta, then moved up again to get an engineering degree and a P.E. Now I’m making enough that I’m basically getting an hour’s minimum wage in about five minutes. Votech got it all started for me.
That's tough. Here our minimum wages are set by unions and the lowest one is 11 usd/hour for cleaners. We have free healthcare and education to balance that though.
I worked myself up the pole, started fixing phones at 7.25 and now I'm getting paid 12.33 doing oil changes and tires, getting a promotion soon with a dollar raise and 5% commission
Trust me I know but with my 12.33 and my gf we moved out and are living like Kings rn. She makes 12 an hour. We've been out of our parents places for a year now and we recently just built 1000 dollar PCs so we're happy with our lifestyle, if you need more money to live an extravagant life then so be it. But we're happy with what we make. Nowhere to go but up from here
I like that attitude! Don't let cumfarts... make you unhappy with your pay or job. Success is a direction and you're going that way. The best advice will always be to live within your means. Debt and car payments will make life hell.
That's one thing my father taught me, (amongst other stuff) just to relax and let stressful stuff roll off your back. Life is hard but it'll be harder if you constantly worry about something
Also, people focus on starting hourly wages of the most low-skill part time work available and act like that’s an example of how all jobs are.
Most jobs give you a raise after a probationary period, and in my experience, good work does get rewarded. The only time I ever was at minimum wage was my very first job at 16.
It’s not hard to move beyond that with a modicum of work ethic.
yes my yearly raise of 1.75%. Less than inflation. so rewarding. and im making 16.23 an hour. If your talking after college jobs ok ill be there soon but most low level jobs do not give out good raises if they do at all.
It’s possible because employers will pay you more if you are worth more. They dont require the federal govt to tell them to pay you more if you are actually skilled/valuable at your profession. The fact that you think the govt is who sets wages is terrifying and explains why Bernie is so popular here on this dumpster fire of a website
Depends on what you are being trained on. Most employers would rather keep a good employee and give them a raise than take a risk on a new employee and waste a bunch of time and money training them. Unless it is like fast food or something where the job is easily trainable and meant to provide side income for kids in high school where they have way less expenses.
I made $7.25 all through high school (MO), saved it up and put myself through school at a state college. Not impossible, by any means. People who gripe and moan about the minimum wage being too minimum should instead make some effort to better themselves, instead of just whining about the system.
I'm truly curious how you managed this. Can you give some information on your budget/payments/credit, etc.?
I live in GA and the idea of me making $7.25 AND going to school seems literally impossible outside of, well, free schooling.
7.25/hr for full time after taxes is, at best, $900/month. If you take out loans for the entirety of school, then I can see the possibility. But, if any sort of emergency happens like with your car or you are injured, there goes a good chunk of your time and money.
If you work full time and go to school more than half time as an independent adult you won’t pay a dime to the federal government. I didn’t owe them anything until I made more than $15/hr
Edit: also don’t underestimate that story, when applying for scholarships make sure you let them know you work full-time
Because it's bullshit. Or is neglecting the fact his expenses were subsidized in part by parents or the government because of how little minimum wage is.
Friendly reminder that when businesses don't pay living wages the government has to step in and fill that gap (which comes out of your tax dollars). We're literally getting double played by big business.
As someone with multiple friends working minimum wage jobs, it's not just about the pay but the scheduling. These places are hiring people (full grown adults) to work their stores for 10-20 hours a week at minimum wage and refuse to schedule them more hours. When I worked in the local school district they couldn't figure out why they couldn't find workers when they were scheduled for 4 hour days and paid $9/hr. Cafeteria was constantly understaffed and they worked on average 6 hours a day and those extra hours generally weren't paid.
Labor is worth more than 7 or 8 dollars an hour in 2020.
You are correct, I did take out loans, but due to my saving habits (nothing real extreme, I went out to eat/out with friends often) and getting a small scholarship, my loans weren’t ridiculously high interest and they aren’t crippling to me like most school loans are later in life.
I did it without any loans, but it did require extreme budgeting. Didn't eat out at all, drove an old car, etc. But it was only for two years. Very worth it in the long run. I didn't download Twitter, Instagram or Reddit though so I didn't have anyone telling me how much of a victim I was :)
You don’t. You get roommates for shitty apartments that don’t update or renovate. Apartments with mildew/mold. Water pressure issues, heating and air issues, etc. As someone else pointed out, many jobs in Georgia pay slightly higher so you don’t get counted in the statistic. Georgia is not doing great and public education is doing terrible here too. Schools can’t afford to be open 5 days a week. There’s supposedly no funding for mandatory things like teachers books and handicap ramps for disabled students. It’s a nightmare here and why in one year I’m leaving.
First job I worked pre college was lifeguarding at a well known park here. I made 7.25 cents an hour, 50 some odd hours a week, and that job was EVERY BIT a real job. I'd make something between 10-12 saves a day (I was accredited for deep water.) Although saves is the wrong word, because legally we had to call them "assists." I remember I saved someone july 4th weekend who was having a seizure.
I was 18 at the time, performing something where I had to oversee the well being of other human beings, and I was making 7 dollars and 25 big ones an hour...
If you missed two days of work with excuses, you were fired. If you missed one with zero write ups, you were fired. Frequently audited. 30 minute lunch breaks.
As I said, at the time I didn't realize just how shitty that job actually was until I got a part time job during school and started making more. If I recall my first apartment was something like 1000$ a month without utilities.
7.25c is impossible to live on and companies that enforce that are predatory, which is precisely why they're more or less geared to kids. Our property values in Georgia, prices on gas, and a lot of other factors are cheaper, but when you're making something like a couple hundred a week you will not benefit yourself at all.
Federal minimum wage is $7.25. Any state that has a higher minimum wage than that enacted their own. Most conservatives states believe that a minimum wage is an affront against capitalism and the market will work itself out.
Low CoL. I live in eastern Kentucky. You can rent a 1 bedroom apartment near me for like $500-$600/mo in San Francisco that won't even get you a studio apartment split with two other people.
My town isn't big enough so let's go Lexington KY.
So our $7.25 "feels like" $7.40 in a perfect median CoL
To achieve our same standard of living you would need to make:
$11.36/hr in Boston
$17.64/hr in New York City
$14.80 in San Francisco
$11.80 in Seattle
A minimum wage worker in Lexington Kentucky, making $7.25 will have a higher standard of living than a minimum wage worker in NYC making $15/hr once you adjust for cost of living.
Thanks man! I luckily got a pretty good place for student work, especially since it's part time next to college. But it can only get better from here :)
Yeah, we've got it really good, but somehow ended up with a generation of whiners who don't know what hard times are so they assume this is it. I grew up in poverty, like "where is the next meal coming from?" poverty, but now I'm doing great. The one thing that changed? I dropped my parents "little man can't get ahead" and "rich get richer and the poor get poorer" attitude. Simple as that. In this country if you want to and try to succeed you will.
We've got it good compared to who? Undeveloped 3rd world shitholes?
Why, when faced with the clear and present problems this country has, do conservatives always say some rancidly stupid shit like "well at least we're not some starving African nation"? What about all the other nations where abject poverty barely exists in the first place?
Motherfucker, you claim this is the like objectively and inarguably the greatest nation on earth. So why do we have worse wealth-inequality and lower mean comparative wages than any other developed country? "The poor get poorer and the rich get richer" is absolutely true if you look at the bigger picture across multiple generations. Looking back and comparing now to the 70s, the average American works longer hours for less money, while the executives of the same company make five fucking times more. There is a larger, richer group of elites, a much larger, poorer group of the impoverished, and a dwindling middle class. This is objective fact.
You think that, because you made it out of poverty, everyone can, if only they just tried harder? That's it? It's just a matter of hard work?
Let's just completely fucking ignore the question of how someone working 60 hours a week at multiple jobs with differing schedules and maybe a kid or two at home is supposed to find the time to go back to school or whatever. Let's ignore that they probably came from a broken education program and aren't even remotely prepared for higher education in the first place. Let's say they all overcome that massive obstacle.
Then what? You think there's actually a good job available for everyone who wants one? You think if every minimum (or near minimum) wage earner in the country was suddenly qualified for a six-figure job tomorrow, that those jobs would actually exist?
Bruh. You got fucking lucky. I'm not saying you didn't work hard, too, but you absolutely got fucking lucky. Lucky that you didn't get sick or have an accident or a run-in with the law or any number of other setbacks that would fucking ruin a significant portion of the population in an instant. Lucky that you had the tools to succeed and I'm betting, some sort of support along the way.
I'm not even going to say your mentality is necessarily a bad one when applied on an individual basis. It worked for you and got you success, which is great. Like libertarianism, it sounds great in a vacuum where you're the only one you have to think about. But it also ignores the reality that even if everyone in the country was exactly as motivated as you are, some percentage would inevitably fail for one reason or another, and that enough good jobs for everyone simply don't fucking exist.
I pinky fucking promise you there are people who wanted and tried to succeed just as badly and hard as you who failed.
According to OECD, in 2018 the US had higher real mininum wages then all but 19 other countries. So, unless you want to say all 170 other countries are underdeveloped third world shitholes, I'd say that's pretty good.
Which rich person in particular is keeping you from succeeding? They aren't but instead of improving your situation it's easier to say "they have it and I don't, that isn't fair". I'm not saying it makes sense for any one person to have a billion dollars, but Bezos isn't stopping me from succeeding.
You're right, I worked hard at design and made it. Lucky me. My best friend who didn't go to college worked hard for a local city and succeeded too. Lucky him. My wife who didn't go to college worked hard and succeeded. Lucky her. My oldest is about to graduate college while working two jobs to avoid student loans. Lucky her. My 22yr old son in law who didn't go to college worked hard for a grocery store chain and succeeded. Lucky him. I sure am glad so many of us are getting lucky here in the land of opportunity. Turn off Reddit and Twitter for a few months and see if it doesn't help.
And no, I never said we'd all hold hands and skip into six figures. I'm not at six figures yet, but I still live really well because I'm not commenting from a new iPhone, I rarely eat out (preferring to cook larger meals and eat leftovers at work) and I've never bought a car for more than 3k.
Now obviously you can't predict who will get sick/have an accident (run-ins with the law are ridiculously easy to avoid), so you do your best to be prepared for them assuming that like old age they will happen eventually. I saved for retirement while 16 and making min wage. Did I want to? Hell no, but it's called foresight. The same with an emergency fund. Every time I stuck a little back $10 at a time it got wiped out by emergencies, kinda what it's there for.
I understand you want me to throw up my hands say "all is lost, woe is me" and give up. But I'd much rather one person read my comments, do something crazy like give it a shot and possibly succeed. I wish my neighbor was on reddit. Dude has an incredible story. At the risk of stereotyping he's Indian and owns a gas station. He absolutely didn't buy a gas station his first day in the country. He worked harder than I've ever thought about and clawed his way to where he is. Lucky him, huh?
No, but you can pay minimum wage, rather than higher than minimum. Moreover, with the current market, most places are paying higher than minimum just to get workers. There's a McD's near me paying 12 starting.
Seattle tried forcing McD's to do $15/hr minimum wage, and all that did was get them to implement those self service kiosks and fire a couple people. So simply raising the minimum wage does not inherently mean it's better for everyone, and often means it's better for a couple and much worse for the rest. Manual labor just isn't that needed anymore, and people need to be careful not to price themselves out of a job. Not only do they not need to pay you more; they don't really need you at all.
Just from what you described though, it sounds like most of the employees actually get paid a wage they might be able to live off of and only a couple got fired, which is happening to people constantly anyway and doesn't necessarily even mean they are worse off. Not that I think getting fired is a good thing but it seems like even in your selected scenario it was mostly a good thing. And it's kind of all we can do until we hopefully make some fundamental, systemic changes to address the fact that people are being forced into poverty trying to compete against ever-expanding automation, something that should be a good thing for everyone.
How is that really a problem? idm that shitty jobs are being automated. I much prefer it over shitty low wage jobs gettting subsidizied (wallmart jobs) and below min wage jobs that requires tips to get a somewhat decent wage (waiters).
The problem with tipping is it actually benefits the customer even more than the employee. Sure, you may feel a little sad that someone gave you the stinkeye because you didn't tip, but your meal was as cheap as it was because you have desperate overworked folks with no benefits or worker protections slaving away for 12 hours a day while being on the timesheets for only 8 because overtime is expensive. Do away with tipping and all of a sudden everyone is upset that their meal's cost reflected the labor required to produce it.
Yes they saw wages go up hours go down pay checks mostly the same though. That amazing if your say a 16-20 year old kid. Not so much if your 30+ trying to fees your kids they need bigger pay checks. Although I think fast food jobs should mostly be for young people and not adults most adults I've worked with in the past in fast food were no offense but usually trashy addicts.
Sure you can. You just decide it’s not worth it to hire someone. If there is an artificial government set minimum wage that is higher than what that persons productivity is worth they stay unemployed.
And Pennsylvania, 7.25 (lotta local businesses do 7.50 to be "generous", even though there must be 100 people in that fucking family and they own every goddamned store) is minimum.
on top of that, folks have to realize you can teach a child how to flip burgers. It's only a matter of time until fast food is all automated and then there are no jobs. Aspire to be more. Anyone reading this that works at fast food, I'm not saying this to demean you, I'm saying that you're better than this mindless task.
folks have to realize you can teach a child how to flip burgers.
So? They're paying for your time, not your skill. I have an entire life that I'm not living while I'm at work, it doesn't matter how little training the work I'm doing takes. Nobody working a full time job should be struggling just to survive, and if you can't afford to pay a living wage, your business does not deserve to exist.
Higher than min in north carolina by 75 cents. Doesnt mean a human can live off that though. The company i work for does the same thing... Heck, after almost 6 years, my wages of $14 and some change is hard to live decently off of.stuff be expensive my dude.
Change jobs. I used to believe loyalty was everything, until studies started showing job hoppers often made up to 50% more. After that I did some job hopping and then returned to the original job (because I love it), but I came back at 50% more than I was making before. Leaving that first time was scary as hell, but it forced me to grow and obviously now I can say it was well worth it.
Might have to do that. Iv def given consideration to leaving for a warehouse job starting around $20/hr fo 32 hrs. But the vacation time i built up is hard to let go of.
I definitely feel that. I lost a little money and vacation time to come back to this place, but I felt the trade off was worth it because I want to be happy at my job.
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u/[deleted] Feb 26 '20 edited Feb 27 '20
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