working and still can’t get by. just not right. I couldn’t imagine living somewhere more expensive on my hourly wage.
11 Likes
Around here they say you need $16 an hour to get by. (from a few years ago). But the poverty level is like $15000 a year or something
4 Likes
What i can’t get over is that you guys in America don’t have an official minimum wage! It is outrageous! No wonder you have a working poor. And then it’s little wonder when people who are the working poor get angry or mentally ill. Imagine working your a#$ off and not progressing anywhere. You’d end up thinking your life is absolutely pointless. Don’t get me wrong, Australia has its problems as well so i’m not trying to make it seem as though America is full of flaws and Australia is perfect. But you’ve got to at least bring in a minimum wage.
5 Likes
Actually, we do have a Federal minimum wage…$7.25/hr. Then each state and county can add to it to bring the minimum wage to a higher level. Problem is, in most cases, it doesn’t keep up with the cost of living.
5 Likes
Well i stand corrected…but still, $7.25/hr! That is unbelievably low. No wonder your poor working poor stay, well, poor. I can’t see how, even without the issue with inflation and the cost of living pressures, that that would ever be enough to sustain someone. Our minimum wage over here is something like $18/hr.
6 Likes
18 Australian dollars = 12.75 US dollars. So quite a big difference.
6 Likes
I’ve thought about this extensively. A person working full-time on minimum wage cannot afford a house in the majority of states. I wonder how are they supposed to properly afford to nourish a family as well as provide educative opportunities for their children. Then there are those piled up with student debt. Not to bring up politics but nationwide healthcare coverage seems like a no brainer when I think about those things.
5 Likes
Illinois is raising their minimum wage to $15.00/hr over the next 5 or 6 years. This will end up being a problem for me though as I’m on ssdi which benefit increases are based on federal Consumer price index. So things will get more expensive for me in Illinois while my SS benefit remains relatively unchanged.
What do you think of the min wage in UK+Isle of Man i think it is a scandal should be £9.00 at least
thats the one thing I can be grateful for of having sz is that im not in the rat race anymore…my friends are all now struggling trying to get a mortgage
3 Likes
Yeah, when you posted about being jealous about people who had been diagnosed with SZ who now had a job, I worked on an elaborate post indicating how badly I felt I had been subjected to a narrow inclined plane wrapped around a cylinder in the work force and economy, but I decided it was too negative.
The goverment where I live really jacked up the minimum wage and did it beyond what restaurant owners could afford. The end result was that some restaurants went out of business. Others replaced staff with technology. Many more figured out how to do more with less staff, and those staff who were the least productive were the first to be released (think disabled people here). Youth unemployment is really up. A lot of kids in my town not able to afford college this fall now because no job = no saved tuition.
1 Like
Yeah i totally agree. If you bust your butt off and work a 40 hour week you should be able to support yourself. Around here, if you work min wage it barely even covers rent.
That is why people work two or three jobs just to get by, or some just live with family or roommates to keep their head above water.
And then the evil big box retailers deny you any kind of overtime so you are forced to work two jobs.
1 Like
It’s $15 minimum wage here in Alberta
I certainly think it should be higher. Care workers are paid little. The carer who comes in to do cleaning for me has left the agency she worked for . My stepdaughter who also quit the same company has arranged for her to come in privately . She’s being paid £12 per hour which is not a huge amount but undoubtedly more than she was getting via the care agency.
3 Likes
Yep, that’s where I live. Saw a lot of local kids lose hours and jobs as a result. Some benefitted, but more didn’t. Squirrette is fortunate to have a good rep locally and get job offers (she volunteers and is known to local employers).
1 Like
I guess it can be tricky to balance paying a reasonable wage vs creating the situation you’ve described. Owners need to make a reasonable profit to keep going but equally workers need to be paid a reasonable amount.
3 Likes
Here in the States, most of the Democratic Presidential candidates are pushing for a raise to the minimum wage.
I think this could be beneficial to many if it goes through.
Bernie Sanders wants the minimum wage to be $15 bucks an hour.
Sounds reasonable to me.
3 Likes
I was personally paid washes on the Isle Of Man Min Wage sames as UK in coporate retail jobs for over 20+ years never again.These companies make gigantic profits and CEO are paid fortunes while the workers/crafters are paid a pittance in comparsion.Min wage should be £10 per hour its 2019 for FOOKS SAKE!
Oh no! This is spilling over into political discussion! I sense a locked thread coming. 