LogFAQs > #943650036

Entity13 posted...

That'd take 27-odd dollars an hour, forty hours a week, so you know something's off when some states or cities barely go as high as 13.50/hr. <_<

I worked for this company a few years ago, it basically stated it was a semi-commision type job but you needed to do a few months of training first, which just paid a bit over min wage at the time (like $14 an hour or something).

What is more, there was a required 10 hours overtime per week, so you had to work 50 hours, and the training shift I did went till midnight. It kinda sucked, there was an hour lunch, so the shift was basically 11 hours, 30 mins away, so from leaving to getting back was 12 hours daily (if you didn't stop anywhere).

I had to leave by about 11 am, and I absolutely was not able to get to sleep after getting home at 12:30 am or so (unless I stopped for food which I usually did, so 1 am), for at least 2 hours. I'm not young anymore, and less than 8 hours of sleep just made me feel horrid. So I would get home at 1, watch some tv or get some stuff done etc, fall asleep at 2-3 am, and wake up just in time to go back to work.

Meanwhile my paychecks were insanely small. Mind you I had not worked a near min wage job in along time. The paychecks per week were around $500 after taxes, so $2000 total a month, and at this time a 1 bedroom apartment was at least $1000 (although I was currently paying for my home at the time still which was about $1400 total between HOA/Taxes/Mortgage etc). Now most 1 bedroom apartments are more like $1400 total though.

MEanwhile all the normal stuff you need to do, laundry/shopping/bills etc had to be done on the weekend. I had like no time to even play DnD etc, or see friends etc, as I was so busy on the weekends and exhausted as well.

When I was in my 20's and 30's such a schedule wouldn't have been to bad, but you have to realize that while I only did that for awhile, tons of people 50+ are still working jobs that pay $15 or less an hour. While not all of em have to work 50+ hours, it's still a pretty crappy existence since you basically have no money left after paying for the bare neccecities (rent/food/utilities/health insurance/car insurance etc).

I don't think we should just increase min wage though, it's a trap to do so, ALL hourly wages (and salaries under 50k) need to be increased across the board, while controlling rent prices (if you don't control rent prices they increase directly proportionally to wage increases as supply and demand allows property owners to boost the cost to rent as more money is available).

JUST boosting minimum wage hurts everyone even near it, but especially those within 50% of min wage. Many places do not have 15$ an hour min wage yet, which means it hurts those making LESS than $15 an hour more than anyone else. A direct boost from $10 an hour min wage to $15 an hour min wage, screws over more then 50% of the employees in that area (even those making min wage, who got a direct bump STILL end up with less resources after cost of living skyrockets (especially rent).

We need a two pronged solution to the problem, first, a direct and solid restriction on rental prices or rental options that are much cheaper so you drag the other properties down in cost as well (obviously the rich are not going to be for that).

Second a universal salary/wage increase, that doesn't JUST focus on min wage, but on all working wages, basically anything making less than $50k a year, supplimenting almost all 40 hour a week jobs to make at LEAST a living wage (which is calculated based on current cost of living/rent).

IF we can't reduce rental prices, then the min anyone should be paid is 3x whatever the average cost of a 1 bedroom apartment is, for working 40 hours a week.

In my area that is about $1200 at this point, so the minimum wage should be 3x that or $3600 a month for a 40 hour week. That is almost double what I was making at $14 an hour.

With current prices $15 isn't even high enough for min wage anymore, a $20 min wage might work, but only if you reduced or controlled rental prices from increasing proportionally again.

The fact that places with over $1000 a month rent for a 1 bedroom still have $10 min wage or less, is crazy.

Even with the above fix you still have all the retired people who are on a fixed income ($1000 or so a month) etc, who are just basically getting more and more behind finacially. If you don't help them but increase min wage and cost of living drastically, they eventually will all be out on the street. As it is, living on $1000 a month is possible (if you rent a room or something), but it's certainly not easy.

As an aside, starting salary for a teaching in Gilroy CA, 5 years ago was $30,000 a year. You don't get a wage increase for the first 5 years, so if I had remained teaching there, I would still be making 30k right now (actually 35k for me since I had a masters but, most teachers would be making 30k). After taxes that is a bit over $2000 a month again, almost exactly what I made at that company working for $14 an hour (only that was temp, as a teacher I would have received that for 5 years).

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