Minimum wage jobs are for teenagers and people who only want part-time work for as little effort as possible. Perfect fit for each other.Anybody that works hard and shows up on time everyday will not be making minimum wage for very long unless they choose to.Once again Dems think the government should decide how much people should make.
Raising the min wage is just a temp fix for those receiving it. It will drive up the cost of goods, so everybody will pay more. The fix is creating job demand, forcing employers to pay more than min wage to lure employees during an “employee” market. Right now it’s an “employer” market.
It’s all about supply and demand.
More people working = More tax revenue, less welfare, less food stamps, less Medicaid, etc.
Washington should be focused on Jobs, sadly they seem to get distracted if a spider drops from the ceiling.
Poverty level for a single person in Florida is $11,170 a year.You often hear 133% of poverty level used for things like government assistance, which would be $14,856.Try paying rent and having a small pet on that amount of money, or less.
“I have seen two shops shut down when min. wage went up 50 cents. The ice cream shop was only open warm months out of the year. It employed high school teens. It was always busy. Min. wage went up and the owner closed the door. Our towns teenage unemployment went up.”I’m trying to do the math on this. 50 cents an hour should not drive a business under, unless it was already doing poorly. I’m guessing 3 employees at a time, covering 10 hours a day, 7 days a week. That’s $126/week in extra wages. Maybe it was the nail in the coffin, but other factors built the coffin & dug the grave.
Our state minimum wage is higher than the federal. In my small town, where business is, to put it mildly, “slow”, the minimum can be hard for shops like Subway, that has to be open many hours to maintain the franchise agreement, when “business” is only busy about four hours a day.
But, that same excuse is used by “small” business, like Wal Mart, all across the country. COSTCO pays their employees much better, and provides benefits, and still has lower prices on many items.
As a teenager in high school, I worked part time as a stock boy for a major chain department store. Yes, that $1 per hour minimum wage at the time was what I was getting. It was also what sales clerks with 12 years experience were being paid. Agricultural workers in the same area weren’t covered by the “minimum” for “piece work”, and earned, if good, the equivalent of $0.12 per hour!!! Ceasar Chavez was of course hated by “business” because he felt those workers should get a fair wage. Times haven’t changed much.
Oh, btw Yes only 3 PERCENT of Americans are at federal minimum wage levels. So I think you and your other Leftie friends should read a book sometime before accusing others of being naive.
In his State of the Union address, President Obama called for an increase in the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 an hour. Today, Democrats in Congress are arguing that the President didn’t go far enough, proposing an increase to more than $10 an hour.Minimum-wage increases reduce the number of entry-level minimum-wage jobs available—actually hurting many of the workers proponents want to help.And who are these workers?The President and others keep going back to five key myths about minimum-wage workers. Heritage labor expert James Sherk has already debunked them all.Myth #1: Hordes of Minimum-Wage WorkersVery few Americans are actually working for the federal minimum wage—it’s just 2.9 percent of all workers in the United States.In other words, 97 percent of American workers make more than minimum wage.Myth #2: The “Working Poor” Getting By on Minimum WageMore than half of minimum-wage workers are between the ages of 16 and 24. These young people tend to work part-time, and a majority of them are enrolled in school at the same time—so the after-school burger flipper or college student with a part-time job is the real deal. A hike in the minimum wage primarily raises pay for suburban teenagers, not the working poor.In fact, America’s poor aren’t the “working poor” at all. Sherk explains that “Contrary to what many assume, low wages are not their primary problem, because most poor Americans do not work for the minimum wage. The problem is that most poor Americans do not work at all.” Cutting down the number of entry-level jobs by raising the minimum wage surely isn’t going to help these people who need jobs.Myth #3: Minimum-Wage Workers Trapped in PovertyThe average family income of a minimum-wage worker is more than $53,000 a year. How is this possible at $7.25 an hour? Few workers with minimum-wage jobs are the primary earners in their families. This is also true of older minimum-wage earners. Three-fourths of workers 25 and older earning the minimum wage live above the poverty line. In fact, 62 percent have incomes over 150 percent of the poverty line.Myth #4: Lifelong Minimum-Wage EarnersMinimum-wage earners don’t stay in those jobs forever. It’s easy to get the idea from politicians that “minimum-wage workers” are a permanent class of people. But in fact, two-thirds of minimum-wage workers earn a raise within a year. As they gain experience and employment skills, they become more productive and can command higher wages. Entry-level, minimum-wage jobs are the first rung on many workers’ career ladders.Myth #5: More Single Parents on Minimum WageVery few single parents are working full-time in minimum-wage jobs. Unfortunately, politicians overuse that example. A greater proportion of employees in the overall workforce (5.6 percent) are single parents working full-time jobs, while for minimum-wage workers that proportion is 4 percent—because so many minimum-wage workers are secondary earners.Don’t be fooled by the myths. A minimum wage increase will not reduce poverty. Instead, it will hurt many of the workers its proponents want to help. As James Sherk and Rudy Takala sum it up:A higher minimum wage would help some workers, but few of them are poor. The larger effect is hurting the ability of potential workers living in poverty to get their foot in the door of employment. A minimum wage hike might help politicians win plaudits from the press, but it wouldn’t reduce poverty rates.
I started working my first part time job in 1968 for $1.25 an hour. That was minimum wage. And if the GOP had it’s way it would STILL be minimum wage because they’ve voted down every increase.
http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-things-politicians-will-never-understand-about-poor-people/-All kinds of cited sources and research.-Also, the original intent of minimum was that a family of four could survive on a single 40-hour week’s worth of income.
Also, if a single 40-hour paycheck were to keep a family of four above the poverty line, you’re looking at about $21 an hour. $10 an hour for each parent (assuming opposite shifts and they never see each other, or memere is an amazing person) would get you close.
Median family income for four is that $53,000 figure, and trusting Heritage Foundation is as ludicrous as believing Limbaugh.
What is missed in this conversation is that huge numbers of people are only getting between that $7.25 current minimum and the proposed $10 per hour, and that is after they’ve gotten those “promotions”, to stay in need of two or more jobs to survive in many cities in the U.S..
Raising the federal minimum would indeed affect a very large part of the working population, not just “teenagers” and 16-24 year olds only making that current minimum.
And yes, curse of curses (for $6,000 per hour CEOs), unions have indeed given people not only living wages, but also benefits like health insurance, and working conditions that are safer, as in less than lethal, as in mining and other “blue collar” jobs that would indeed be “minimum wage” without them.
As long as CEOs get golden parachutes for effing over the company, 40 per hour is not NEAR enough! When I can screw up, cost the company millions, and “retire” with a lifetime of salary and benefits, then I’ll push for ever higher minimum wage!
Wal-Mart is a ‘scrooge’ to their employees and not much nicer to their customers…In most of the stores, a customer cannot find an associate if assistance is needed…an’ if they DO find one, they look at the customer as though he/she has two heads an’ mumbles something in spanish, or farsi, or something other than English. Oh, the prices are very competitive, but the absence of any customer service (‘ever get in the Wal-Mart returns & exchanges line???) is the offset…if you know what you want and where to find it, then shop there…but don’t expect any level of customer courtesy or service…
You conservatives are so willing to allow corporations to run roughshod and unregulated over the people. You miss the whole point of government- ‘of the people, by the people, for the people." The US of A does not exist for the corporation’s benefit, but to protect and extend the rights of its citizens. By and large, corporations have no conscience, and my experience has been they have little concern for even their employee’s welfare let alone the rest of the population. They cannot be trusted to set fair wages, take care of their employees, be kind the the environment, etc. WE the people are the reason they are in business- we are their consumer base. Their short-term drive for profits won’t work in the long term if the consumer base has no purchasing power.
ConserveGov over 11 years ago
Minimum wage jobs are for teenagers and people who only want part-time work for as little effort as possible. Perfect fit for each other.Anybody that works hard and shows up on time everyday will not be making minimum wage for very long unless they choose to.Once again Dems think the government should decide how much people should make.
feverjr Premium Member over 11 years ago
Rockngolfer shared an excellent video on this very topic. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM
PocketNaomi over 11 years ago
Nearly half the minimum wage jobs in this country are at just two companies: WalMart and McDonald’s. How’s that about small businesses again?
Quipss over 11 years ago
I’ll go talk to the union at my local walmart about this. wait…
ohh i know my local Mcdonald’s union. Hold on…
live in maid’s union… nada.
ok, so you are saying that people making more money makes them poorer. doublethink perfected.
http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/02/news/economy/low-pay-jobs/index.htm?iid=HP_LN
Minimum wage boosts consumer spending, which in turn can work to increase wage for jobs near the new minimum wage.
josefw over 11 years ago
Raising the min wage is just a temp fix for those receiving it. It will drive up the cost of goods, so everybody will pay more. The fix is creating job demand, forcing employers to pay more than min wage to lure employees during an “employee” market. Right now it’s an “employer” market.
It’s all about supply and demand.
More people working = More tax revenue, less welfare, less food stamps, less Medicaid, etc.
Washington should be focused on Jobs, sadly they seem to get distracted if a spider drops from the ceiling.
joe vignone over 11 years ago
Cap executive pay and spread the profits around more fairly. They did it in Switzerland, we could do it here.
rockngolfer over 11 years ago
Poverty level for a single person in Florida is $11,170 a year.You often hear 133% of poverty level used for things like government assistance, which would be $14,856.Try paying rent and having a small pet on that amount of money, or less.
rockngolfer over 11 years ago
http://www.gethelpflorida.org/income.shtml
rockngolfer over 11 years ago
Right on! Excellent.
Uncle Joe Premium Member over 11 years ago
“I have seen two shops shut down when min. wage went up 50 cents. The ice cream shop was only open warm months out of the year. It employed high school teens. It was always busy. Min. wage went up and the owner closed the door. Our towns teenage unemployment went up.”I’m trying to do the math on this. 50 cents an hour should not drive a business under, unless it was already doing poorly. I’m guessing 3 employees at a time, covering 10 hours a day, 7 days a week. That’s $126/week in extra wages. Maybe it was the nail in the coffin, but other factors built the coffin & dug the grave.
Dtroutma over 11 years ago
Our state minimum wage is higher than the federal. In my small town, where business is, to put it mildly, “slow”, the minimum can be hard for shops like Subway, that has to be open many hours to maintain the franchise agreement, when “business” is only busy about four hours a day.
But, that same excuse is used by “small” business, like Wal Mart, all across the country. COSTCO pays their employees much better, and provides benefits, and still has lower prices on many items.
As a teenager in high school, I worked part time as a stock boy for a major chain department store. Yes, that $1 per hour minimum wage at the time was what I was getting. It was also what sales clerks with 12 years experience were being paid. Agricultural workers in the same area weren’t covered by the “minimum” for “piece work”, and earned, if good, the equivalent of $0.12 per hour!!! Ceasar Chavez was of course hated by “business” because he felt those workers should get a fair wage. Times haven’t changed much.
ConserveGov over 11 years ago
Sure buddy. It’s not my fault that you make minimum wage and its not the fault of “evil Republicans” or “greedy corporations”.
Maybe you should acquire some skills like the other 97% of people who make above minimum wage.
ConserveGov over 11 years ago
Oh, btw Yes only 3 PERCENT of Americans are at federal minimum wage levels. So I think you and your other Leftie friends should read a book sometime before accusing others of being naive.
http://blog.nj.com/njv_guest_blog/2013/03/minimum_wage_hike_is_poor_poli.html
ConserveGov over 11 years ago
Here’s a REALLY good short article everybody here should read…
http://blog.heritage.org/2013/03/05/busting-5-myths-about-the-minimum-wage/
In his State of the Union address, President Obama called for an increase in the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 an hour. Today, Democrats in Congress are arguing that the President didn’t go far enough, proposing an increase to more than $10 an hour.Minimum-wage increases reduce the number of entry-level minimum-wage jobs available—actually hurting many of the workers proponents want to help.And who are these workers?The President and others keep going back to five key myths about minimum-wage workers. Heritage labor expert James Sherk has already debunked them all.Myth #1: Hordes of Minimum-Wage WorkersVery few Americans are actually working for the federal minimum wage—it’s just 2.9 percent of all workers in the United States.In other words, 97 percent of American workers make more than minimum wage.Myth #2: The “Working Poor” Getting By on Minimum WageMore than half of minimum-wage workers are between the ages of 16 and 24. These young people tend to work part-time, and a majority of them are enrolled in school at the same time—so the after-school burger flipper or college student with a part-time job is the real deal. A hike in the minimum wage primarily raises pay for suburban teenagers, not the working poor.In fact, America’s poor aren’t the “working poor” at all. Sherk explains that “Contrary to what many assume, low wages are not their primary problem, because most poor Americans do not work for the minimum wage. The problem is that most poor Americans do not work at all.” Cutting down the number of entry-level jobs by raising the minimum wage surely isn’t going to help these people who need jobs.Myth #3: Minimum-Wage Workers Trapped in PovertyThe average family income of a minimum-wage worker is more than $53,000 a year. How is this possible at $7.25 an hour? Few workers with minimum-wage jobs are the primary earners in their families. This is also true of older minimum-wage earners. Three-fourths of workers 25 and older earning the minimum wage live above the poverty line. In fact, 62 percent have incomes over 150 percent of the poverty line.Myth #4: Lifelong Minimum-Wage EarnersMinimum-wage earners don’t stay in those jobs forever. It’s easy to get the idea from politicians that “minimum-wage workers” are a permanent class of people. But in fact, two-thirds of minimum-wage workers earn a raise within a year. As they gain experience and employment skills, they become more productive and can command higher wages. Entry-level, minimum-wage jobs are the first rung on many workers’ career ladders.Myth #5: More Single Parents on Minimum WageVery few single parents are working full-time in minimum-wage jobs. Unfortunately, politicians overuse that example. A greater proportion of employees in the overall workforce (5.6 percent) are single parents working full-time jobs, while for minimum-wage workers that proportion is 4 percent—because so many minimum-wage workers are secondary earners.Don’t be fooled by the myths. A minimum wage increase will not reduce poverty. Instead, it will hurt many of the workers its proponents want to help. As James Sherk and Rudy Takala sum it up:A higher minimum wage would help some workers, but few of them are poor. The larger effect is hurting the ability of potential workers living in poverty to get their foot in the door of employment. A minimum wage hike might help politicians win plaudits from the press, but it wouldn’t reduce poverty rates.
Rickapolis over 11 years ago
I started working my first part time job in 1968 for $1.25 an hour. That was minimum wage. And if the GOP had it’s way it would STILL be minimum wage because they’ve voted down every increase.
ConserveGov over 11 years ago
Obviously you have no answer for the FACTS presented to you so you just attack the messenger with silly emotional remarks.
Good job
Stormrider2112 over 11 years ago
http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-things-politicians-will-never-understand-about-poor-people/-All kinds of cited sources and research.-Also, the original intent of minimum was that a family of four could survive on a single 40-hour week’s worth of income.
Stormrider2112 over 11 years ago
Also, if a single 40-hour paycheck were to keep a family of four above the poverty line, you’re looking at about $21 an hour. $10 an hour for each parent (assuming opposite shifts and they never see each other, or memere is an amazing person) would get you close.
Dtroutma over 11 years ago
Median family income for four is that $53,000 figure, and trusting Heritage Foundation is as ludicrous as believing Limbaugh.
What is missed in this conversation is that huge numbers of people are only getting between that $7.25 current minimum and the proposed $10 per hour, and that is after they’ve gotten those “promotions”, to stay in need of two or more jobs to survive in many cities in the U.S..
Raising the federal minimum would indeed affect a very large part of the working population, not just “teenagers” and 16-24 year olds only making that current minimum.
And yes, curse of curses (for $6,000 per hour CEOs), unions have indeed given people not only living wages, but also benefits like health insurance, and working conditions that are safer, as in less than lethal, as in mining and other “blue collar” jobs that would indeed be “minimum wage” without them.
edward thomas Premium Member over 11 years ago
As long as CEOs get golden parachutes for effing over the company, 40 per hour is not NEAR enough! When I can screw up, cost the company millions, and “retire” with a lifetime of salary and benefits, then I’ll push for ever higher minimum wage!
wronhewitt over 11 years ago
Wal-Mart is a ‘scrooge’ to their employees and not much nicer to their customers…In most of the stores, a customer cannot find an associate if assistance is needed…an’ if they DO find one, they look at the customer as though he/she has two heads an’ mumbles something in spanish, or farsi, or something other than English. Oh, the prices are very competitive, but the absence of any customer service (‘ever get in the Wal-Mart returns & exchanges line???) is the offset…if you know what you want and where to find it, then shop there…but don’t expect any level of customer courtesy or service…
paisleyking over 11 years ago
You conservatives are so willing to allow corporations to run roughshod and unregulated over the people. You miss the whole point of government- ‘of the people, by the people, for the people." The US of A does not exist for the corporation’s benefit, but to protect and extend the rights of its citizens. By and large, corporations have no conscience, and my experience has been they have little concern for even their employee’s welfare let alone the rest of the population. They cannot be trusted to set fair wages, take care of their employees, be kind the the environment, etc. WE the people are the reason they are in business- we are their consumer base. Their short-term drive for profits won’t work in the long term if the consumer base has no purchasing power.