Can a person live on the minimum wage?

GeorgiaXplant said:
Katybug, sorry about your friend. It's a shame she wouldn't apply for UE because it's NOT welfare, and pride has nothing to do with it. It's funded by insurance paid for by the employer, and the employer's rate only increases if there are claims on it. What she really did was a big favor for her former employer.

Anyway, I know what you mean about the brutal work! And yes, it is lucrative if you can stand it. I'm 73 and working as a cleaning lady, but I only work 15-18 hours most weeks, not because there's no work--there's more than I could do even if I worked 40 hours--but because I just plain don't want to work any more than that.

I feel sorry for the women who work for the cleaning services because they only get minimum wage. If they can stand it and hold out for a couple of years, they might--big might--get an increase of 25 or 50 cents/hour. Heck, even the supervisors for cleaning crews only make about $10/hour if they're lucky, and they only get to be supervisors if they've stuck it out with the same cleaning service for years.

I'm "lucky" in that I work so little that combined with my social security and pension my income still comes in just a bit below what's required to pay taxes on.

I heard on the news a few days ago that if McD's and other fast food places raised the minimum wage to $15/hour, they'd have to increase their prices by 20% to continue making the profits that they make now. 20%? Something from the dollar menu would go up to $1.20. Not a big deal to people who frequent the drive-thru!

For those who complain about the high cost to taxpayers of public assistance, well...better to pay more in wages than to COST more in taxes. JMHO!

When I started my working life, the minimum wage was $.75/hr unless you were under age 18 (I was paid $.25/hour), gas was $.09/gallon. Every time there's been a campaign to raise the minimum wage, there's been a great hue and cry that small businesses would go bankrupt, the sky would fall and we'd all go to hell in a hand basket. It didn't happen then and won't now. A rising tide floats all boats.
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Nice post, GeorgiaXplant, I totally agree. We are all paying for the public assistance that the minimum wage earners have to have just to make ends meet. I had not heard about McDonalds raising their minimum wage to $15, if so they are to be commended, I did hear that they had advised their employees to hock their Christmas gifts for extra money...:rolleyes:
 
Jackie, as far as I know, McD's isn't raising their minimum wage...this was a news story on NPR "for instance"...I believe that it was McD's saying that it was a reason NOT to raise minimum wage.

And now I'm off to two cleaning lady gigs today...the job I made for myself when times were so bad that you couldn't BUY a job...and thank all that is holy it's far more than minimum wage and that it's something I really like to do!
 
GeorgiaXplant said:
Jackie, as far as I know, McD's isn't raising their minimum wage...this was a news story on NPR "for instance"...I believe that it was McD's saying that it was a reason NOT to raise minimum wage.

And now I'm off to two cleaning lady gigs today...the job I made for myself when times were so bad that you couldn't BUY a job...and thank all that is holy it's far more than minimum wage and that it's something I really like to do!
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Sorry, GeorgiaXplant, I misread your post. Have a good day....
 
Landscaping with all that excess money is an art . . .

post-24165-landscaping-money-gif-VGuL.gif
 
I've just found a link to the Australian National Award for the fast food industry, spelling out pay rates, allowances and other benefits. This would be the award that covers MacDonald's workers.

It might make interesting reading for US members. The lowest hourly rate for an adult is $17.98 plus 9% paid into a retirement fund, 20 days annual leave (4 weeks), 9 public holidays a year or time and a half if they work on a public holiday.

The normal working week is 38 hours, after which overtime rates are paid at time and a half for the first two hours and double time after that. Penalty loadings apply to certain hours as follows

25.5 Penalty rates

(a) Evening work Monday to Friday

(i) A loading of 10% will apply for ordinary hours of work within the span of hours between 9.00 pm and midnight, and for casual employees this loading will apply in addition to their 25% casual loading.
(ii) A loading of 15% will apply for ordinary hours of work after midnight, and for casual employees this loading will apply in addition to their 25% casual loading.

(b) Saturday work

A loading of 25% will apply for ordinary hours of work within the span of hours on a Saturday, and for casual employees an additional 25% on top of the casual rate.

(c) Sunday work

(i) A 50% loading will apply for all hours of work on a Sunday for full - time and part - time employees.
(ii) A 75% loading will apply for all hours of work on a Sunday for casual employees, inclusive of the casual loading.
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Juniors are paid a percentage of the adult wage, starting at 40% for under 16 up to 90% for 20 year olds.

As far as I know MacDonalds is very profitable and the food is still quite cheap and affordable.

https://extranet.deewr.gov.au/ccmsv...od Industry Award 2010&DOCUMENT_CODE=MA000003
 
Warri, that is just incomprehensible to me, and I'm sure a lot of other Americans as well.

It would be interesting to know whether the Australian McDonald's have as many part-time jobs as the American versions, and whether all the benefits you've listed apply to part-timers as well.
 
Interesting, but you can't compare wages between countries because the cost of living is so different. The tiered system of wages is something we had for years where I worked. It didn't go by age but length of employment.

How much is a big mac, large fries and a coke?
How much is a gallon of gas?
How much per pound for a T-bone steak?

We have to compare prices as well as wages to have a fair comparison.
 
[FONT=Helvetica Neue, arial, sans-serif]Corporate profits are at an all time high...and they continue to squeeze more out of their employees....putting profits way above the needs of employees.......capitalism will not work with these unbalanced practices.[/FONT]
 
There is that aspect of it Rky gas is a lot dearer but then it is everywhere other than the States. T-bone steak was on special for $16.99 a kilo which is around $US8 per pound but ranges up to $US12 per pound at today's exchange rates.
Big Mac here =$US4.28, nearly double.
Small Fries = $US1.70
That is indicative of the higher wages at a guess.

Cars are dearer too, many things are but we have an advantage when it comes to climate that many in the States don't. With a few exceptions most people in OZ can survive the winter with a radiator or a reverse cycle air-con. We don't have the massive utility bills that it takes to run furnaces and oil heaters around the clock, we usually only use them at night. Some wusses here do use them more but they aren't a necessity. Frostbite is pretty rare here.
Is it easier to be poor in the Southern states than the Northern ones there?

I've just received my power bill (electricity which is the only power source I have for running everything from heating to hot water and cooking) for the last 3 months, it equates to $US314 is that good or bad compared to yours?
 
Corporations don't always make big (or even small) profits. What I hate is that even when the company is losing money the top executives keep getting big raises and bonuses.

But this has little to do with minimum wages. I stand by what I said about raising wages hurts more people than it helps.
 
Jackie22 said:
Corporate profits are at an all time high...and they continue to squeeze more out of their employees....putting profits way above the needs of employees.......capitalism will not work with these unbalanced practices.
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Jackie capitalism has been working perfectly well for some for a very long time with those unbalanced practices, many centuries in fact. If it wasn't unbalanced it would be Socialism and that doesn't work all that wonderfully either.
 
Diwundrin said:
I've just received my power bill (electricity which is the only power source I have for running everything from heating to hot water and cooking) for the last 3 months, it equates to $US314 is that good or bad compared to yours?
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I'm in Canada and have electric heat, water heater, dryer, dishwasher etc. We can average our power bills so you pay the same every month and I have been paying $218.00 per month for 2013. So that equates to approx $2,600 per year. I also heat with wood as much as possible and that runs about 400 to $500 year. January is the month they recalculate and I suspect the power bill will be going up although not by much.
 
Diwundrin said:
There is that aspect of it Rky gas is a lot dearer but then it is everywhere other than the States. T-bone steak was on special for $16.99 a kilo which is around $US8 per pound but ranges up to $US12 per pound at today's exchange rates.
Big Mac here =$US4.28, nearly double.
Small Fries = $US1.70
That is indicative of the higher wages at a guess.

Cars are dearer too, many things are but we have an advantage when it comes to climate that many in the States don't. With a few exceptions most people in OZ can survive the winter with a radiator or a reverse cycle air-con. We don't have the massive utility bills that it takes to run furnaces and oil heaters around the clock, we usually only use them at night. Some wusses here do use them more but they aren't a necessity. Frostbite is pretty rare here.
Is it easier to be poor in the Southern states than the Northern ones there?

I've just received my power bill (electricity which is the only power source I have for running everything from heating to hot water and cooking) for the last 3 months, it equates to $US314 is that good or bad compared to yours?
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I have gas and electric for my house. Electric bill was $112 and gas was $25 for one month so that seems comparable to yours. It varies a lot by time of year.

I don't think it's really cheaper in the south. Air conditioners use more energy than heaters.

It's obvious higher wages do drive up prices. When I was making less than $2 an hour I could afford to buy my first brand new car.I bought a 1972 Pontiac LeMans. It cost $3,750. Now we have higher wages and higher prices. What's hard to understand about that?
 
Diwundrin said:
Jackie capitalism has been working perfectly well for some for a very long time with those unbalanced practices, many centuries in fact. If it wasn't unbalanced it would be Socialism and that doesn't work all that wonderfully either.
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Well, yeah, it does exist, thats for sure, I'm just saying that the imbalance is too great.....it works perfectly well for the 1% only, the 99% will rebel and well they should.
 
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SifuPhil said:
Warri, that is just incomprehensible to me, and I'm sure a lot of other Americans as well.

It would be interesting to know whether the Australian McDonald's have as many part-time jobs as the American versions, and whether all the benefits you've listed apply to part-timers as well.
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McDonalds would have a lot of part time casual junior employees who would be on a percentage of the adult wage. They also receive a 25% loading on the hourly rate in lieu of sick leave and annual leave but they are entitled to the 9% paid into a superannuation account of their choice.

Here is a link to Maccas price list in Australia. A Big Mac is $3.20, a large Big Mac meal is $5.15.

http://www.mcdonalds.com.pk/products/view/menu-pricelist

Petrol is currently around $1.45 per litre which is roughly $5.50 per gallon
T bone steak at the supermarket is $18.00 per kilogram or $8.16 per pound.

Hope that helps.
 
Wouldn't it be great to see the divide between those that have; and those that have very little, norrowed quite a bit? Surfdom was banished centuries ago; why are we still trying to create a Peasant Culture for future societies? The poor will revolt sooner or later.
 
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