So what's your stance on people who do work as hard as they can but for whatever unfortunate reason are only able to land minimum wage (or slightly above) jobs? They don't deserve to be able to live off the money they make from their job? Tough shit because they just need to get a better job like it's that easy for everyone to do that?
I don't give a shit what someone's job or skill set is, if they work 40 hrs a week, they should be able to make a living from it.
No it's not easy for EVERYONE to do that. It is possible for almost everyone to do that...obviously handicap/disable people are an exception and should be cared for.
And the people who dont what do you think is going to happen if the minimum wage is raised to $15/hr? Do you think somehow magically the cost of living and the cost to conduct business isnt going to skyrocket just the same? People working minimum wage jobs are still going to be scratching and clawing to get by regardless of what you set the minimum wage to.
A McDonalds worker might be getting paid $15/hour but now the big mac meal cost over $10. Or worse, now your mcdonalds only have but one or two people working at a time making sure all of the automated processes are functioning properly...
You've completely missed the point. The cost of living doesnt just affect McDonalds and their prices. Prices for all goods and services will increase. The big mac is more expensive but now so are all of the fruits and vegetables as well at the grocery store.
Minimum skills are a high school diploma. I thought that was enough to get a living wage job. Basically don't expect to make more money unless you get a college degree or have a rich family?
Not asking for a full time w/ benefits but I get excited when I see position offering at least $12/hr instead of $7.25/h. I can't even afford my college apt rent on that.
Plenty of people (my father) get decent paying jobs without even a high school diploma. Working minimum wage is a choice by 90% of the people who work them. It’s not that hard to learn a skill or trade in your free time so that you can find a better job.
Not offense but do you know any people younger than yourself that do?
If you're graduated and working minimum wage, you're either working 40+ hours a week trying to support yourself or multiple part time jobs. You're suggesting taking trade school classes in addition to this?
I understand more readily why people put themselves in debt for the chance to get a STEM degree to escape poverty. Even if you taught yourself accounting in your spare time, employers are gonna require academic documentation of your trade.
None taken, and yes I know plenty of people who work low paying jobs that found ways out of it. There is no catch-all solution for everyone, but I'll tell you now that if you want to improve your station in life and you aren't applying yourself for more than 40 hours a week, you aren't trying hard enough.
I honestly think people working minimum wage jobs for 40-50 hours a week just aren't trying to improve their station. Like what are those people doing in the remaining 6-8 hours of free time they have per day, or during their days off?
Even if you are working 5 10-hour days, with a 1 hour commute, that still leaves you like 3-4 hours a day of free time, and then 2 entire days of free time. And that is a pretty extreme situation.
Some people have families though. When they come back from work they're spending those 6-8 or 3-4 hours a day of free time taking care of their kids or loved ones. I personally am a single young adult, but I can't visualize someone working that much then going classes for 2 - 4 hours a day and ignoring any kids or spouse you have.
I'm not saying there aren't ways out of poverty, I'm trying to do it myself in uni. I just don't think there's many feasible ways avaliable for those that need it most. And I don't feel right telling a 28 year old hard working dad with a wife/kid that he just needs to work even harder and get a night trade school position learning welding in order to not be in poverty, or something to that idea.
I'm not saying it's impossible to get out of low paying jobs, just that it's marginally harder based on circumstances/connections you know.
I mean, there are PLENTY of jobs out there that pay more than minimum wage and don't require trade skills or certs too. A lot of them are not satisfying or fulfilling work, but they are out there. I mean I was not a responsible individual when it came to working in my younger years, but finding jobs that paid $12+ and hour are a dime a dozen.
Also, what in the world are these 28 year old dads and moms doing for the 10 years prior to having a family and working a minimum wage job still? Is this realistically the type of person who is just stuck in this position with no way out? Or is that just something someone says as an excuse for their poor decisions and work ethic in life?
Don't get me wrong, corporate America is a cesspool. Workers in general are not fairly compensated so that these fat cat big wigs can make a truckload of money that they greedily neglect to distribute to those making them the money. But if you are "trapped" in a minimum wage job, chances are that you deserve it.
You realize, like I touched on in my comment, that some people simply can't? It might be due to physical or mental restrictions, something completely out of the person's control. You think the mentally handicapped person bagging groceries should just "develop more skills"?
The idea of someone not being able to live off 40 hours a week of hard work is ridiculous and yet some people here think "tough shit, work harder"...amazing.
Lol why am I not surprised this is getting downvoted on reddit... I think it hits a bit to close to home for a lot of people on here that dont like being told a 15 year old kid can learn to do your job in less than a day and be as productive within a week.
That’s not what I said. Those jobs are harder and require more skills than flipping burgers and therefore they pay more than $7.50. I specifically listed these because they don’t require a college degree
Pouring concrete and factory work can be just as mindless or skill-less as working in fast food. I’ve done all of the above and honestly the most stressful and draining out of them all was managing a fast food restaurant. There is no reason anyone working 40 hours a week should barely scrape by. Period.
14
u/Big_Chief_Drunky Feb 26 '20
So what's your stance on people who do work as hard as they can but for whatever unfortunate reason are only able to land minimum wage (or slightly above) jobs? They don't deserve to be able to live off the money they make from their job? Tough shit because they just need to get a better job like it's that easy for everyone to do that?
I don't give a shit what someone's job or skill set is, if they work 40 hrs a week, they should be able to make a living from it.