I used to be in the hyper conservative crowd on the whole wage and healthcare debates (my whole family was, and I was raised that way). Then we got hit with a series of crap while I was in college, that was fully unavoidable, and knocked us from upper-middle class to poverty levels in a year.
I lost my scholarship due to illness, and maxed out several credit lines with medical debt, and accrued tons of student loan debt to finish school from there.
Despite applying for jobs almost everyday since I graduated 2 years ago, I am still stuck at a crappy retail job (making between $11 and $12 an hour depending on the day of the week), partially supporting my mother. I don't exactly have the money to move (still paying off my debts). And there are legitimately jobs around here that require degrees and/or experience, that are paying at or around minimum wage (assuming they are not unpaid internships). Things like paralegals or medical assistants, are being payed less than $10 an hour here. And some of those jobs want you to have 8 years or more of experience.
Since I actually hit the real world, my opinions have changed on it from how its described in conservative talking points.
At least my credit score is very good (2nd highest tier). I am really good at paying my debts on time. I just can't afford much else.
I've seen jobs on USAjob.gov that require a phd and 10+ years experience and pay is around 40k ---