Tiered minimum wage?

If a person has worked for 7 years and are making min wage then it is something they are doing wrong. Like not keeping a job, calls in sick all the time, does not even try at all, etc. Did you know that only 17% of people in poverty have a full time jobs so that means that 83% don't even work over 40 hours a week. I bet you cannot find me one person that has worked hard at a job for over a year and is making min wage that is just not the problem.

I don't disagree. My point is that people who just dropped out of high school and started on minimum wage 7 years ago had a better standard of living than the people who are just dropping out of high school and starting out on minimum wage today.

That ain't right.

The world is 14.8% more expensive to live in today than it was 7 years ago. There needs to be an adustment made. It's not a boost by any means, it's just to get them back to where they were 7 years ago.

PS If anybody did not get cost of living increases to help your salary keep pace with inflation, then your employer is doing you a disservice in my opinion. It doesn't matter if you are minimum wage or if you're making $200K a year. Everyone should be getting 2% raises per year just to keep pace with inflation.

Any % increase beyond that should be merit based.

I didn't even get a 1% percent raise last year. I expressed my opinion during the yearly review about that. Two months later 35 employees were layed off, mostly irrelevant and overpaid territory sales staff. So, I decided to give them another chance...

I don't disagree. My point is that people who just dropped out of high school and started on minimum wage 7 years ago had a better standard of living than the people who are just dropping out of high school and starting out on minimum wage today.

That ain't right.

The world is 14.8% more expensive to live in today than it was 7 years ago. There needs to be an adustment made. It's not a boost by any means, it's just to get them back to where they were 7 years ago.
What isn't right is that they dropped out of high school. That tells me they are lazy and not willing to finish their job. They know when dropping out that they are going to have a tough time making a living so thats a poor argument,

What isn't right is that they dropped out of high school. That tells me they are lazy and not willing to finish their job. They know when dropping out that they are going to have a tough time making a living so thats a poor argument,

So you're saying today's high school dropouts are worth 14.8% less than the high school dropouts from 7 years ago?

I'd strongly disagree. I'd say they're equally worthless. But since this country has a minimum wage (in place to prevent crime), they need to keep it's value consistent with the rising cost of living.

I didn't even get a 1% percent raise last year. I expressed my opinion during the yearly review about that. Two months later 35 employees were layed off, mostly irrelevant and overpaid territory sales staff. So, I decided to give them another chance...

One of the problems with corporations is they get too big for their britches when they're having success. They starting hiring all kinds of people, a lot of the time less-deserving folks. Then when the business doesn't do as well, they have to make cuts, and that affects the solid employees as well, which is some bullhooey.

I wouldn't stick around somewhere for too long if the company couldn't even muster a 2% cost of living raise.

What isn't right is that they dropped out of high school. That tells me they are lazy and not willing to finish their job. They know when dropping out that they are going to have a tough time making a living so thats a poor argument,

A friend of mine dropped out of high school in order to get a job (minimum wage) so that he wouldn't have to remain under his physically abusive dad's roof any longer than he had to. Laziness is one of last words you would use to describe him. There are more reasons than "laziness" why someone would drop out of high school.

So you're saying today's high school dropouts are worth 14.8% less than the high school dropouts from 7 years ago?

I'd strongly disagree. I'd say they're equally worthless. But since this country has a minimum wage (in place to prevent crime), they need to keep it's value consistent with the rising cost of living.Where is it said that they have a minimum wage to help fight crime? The reason was to set a small standard at which an employer must pay an employee. I guess what I have been trying to say is if you have a good work ethic the pay will come and that mimum wage should not be an issue. As I asked in an ealier post find me a hard worker who has worked for a year and is making minmum wage. I just know to many business owners that are willing to pay good wages but cannot find good employees and they all say that is a problem they all have. Of those business owners I know most are willing to hire hard working dropouts and most start at around $8.00 to $10.00 an hour but they still have problems finding good workers. Next time you are at a business such as a fast food resturant just look at how the employees just don't care and this helps to explain why they make so little.

You have to remember also that not all areas of the country are like the Northern Virginia / Maryland area. Go up to Flint Michigan and try to find a job. You simply can't. That turns into a vicious circle. You can't get a job, so you can't afford to move away to a more expensive area.

Just because someone doesn't have a college diploma, do they deserve to be trash? I worked at a job where a lot of employees made 10 bucks an hour and under. Most of these people were extremely hard working, they'd put in more than their share of time, and deserved much more than they were given. They need to have a living wage, not a minimum wage.

By the way. If there's a family in poverty and if they have a child, they can only afford for one of the family members to work. The cost of child care is so high that you have to make 11 bucks an hour, 40 hours a week, in order for you to make any money after the cost of child care. That's a reason why a lot of single mothers get stuck on welfare. I know we had a single mother who was on welfare come to work with us, and she wanted nothing more than to work, but she couldn't afford it. Once her child was enrolled in school, she started to work.

Pegging everyone not making a huge living as "lazy" is one of the most ignorant things I've ever heard in my life. Some people get put into bad situations, and many of us here have the families that can help us if we get into a rut? Some people don't have any sort of safety net. Hell, just getting sick for a month without insurance could put you in such a world of financial hurt you may never be able to recover.

I think we should look at some of the ways our country spends money, and think about how we could spend that better at home. The military is a double edged sword. Their budget is ridiculously huge, but they create a lot of jobs for some of the lower class we're talking about.

There are tons of places we could find money and get our standard of living into the top 20 again. We need to start looking at ourselves, and let other countries deal with themselves (within reason, of course)

You have to remember also that not all areas of the country are like the Northern Virginia / Maryland area. Go up to Flint Michigan and try to find a job. You simply can't. That turns into a vicious circle. You can't get a job, so you can't afford to move away to a more expensive area.

Just because someone doesn't have a college diploma, do they deserve to be trash? I worked at a job where a lot of employees made 10 bucks an hour and under. Most of these people were extremely hard working, they'd put in more than their share of time, and deserved much more than they were given. They need to have a living wage, not a minimum wage.

By the way. If there's a family in poverty and if they have a child, they can only afford for one of the family members to work. The cost of child care is so high that you have to make 11 bucks an hour, 40 hours a week, in order for you to make any money after the cost of child care. That's a reason why a lot of single mothers get stuck on welfare. I know we had a single mother who was on welfare come to work with us, and she wanted nothing more than to work, but she couldn't afford it. Once her child was enrolled in school, she started to work.

Pegging everyone not making a huge living as "lazy" is one of the most ignorant things I've ever heard in my life. Some people get put into bad situations, and many of us here have the families that can help us if we get into a rut? Some people don't have any sort of safety net. Hell, just getting sick for a month without insurance could put you in such a world of financial hurt you may never be able to recover.

I think we should look at some of the ways our country spends money, and think about how we could spend that better at home. The military is a double edged sword. Their budget is ridiculously huge, but they create a lot of jobs for some of the lower class we're talking about.

There are tons of places we could find money and get our standard of living into the top 20 again. We need to start looking at ourselves, and let other countries deal with themselves (within reason, of course)I did not say people not making very much money are lazy. I said that most people that have been in the work place and are only making Min wage are probably lazy and do not work hard enough to even advance past min wage. Yes there are areas where there are no jobs but that is the exception and not the rule. As I said in an earlier post try and find one hard worker making min. wage. Its hard to do becasue they advance to a higher pay because the employer does not want to loose them. Its harder to replace a hard worker than to just increase their pay which most employers know.