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Why is the minimum wage so low?
page: 3share:
Grimpachi
reply to post by camaro68ss
Mc Donalds has a reported profit margin in the BILLIONS.search
there margin on Revenue is 2%. They only make 2% profit after all is said and done. that 1.69 cheese burger, the profit they make on it is .03 cents. your telling me raising minimum wage by 50% will make that .03 cent cheese burger still profitable?
edit on 22-1-2014 by camaro68ss because:
(no reason given)
reply to post by catt3
I just want people to get paid enough to live on... its hardly greedy do ask for people to have the ability to live comfortably
I've made 8.50 an hour before... its not easy to live off of
I just want people to get paid enough to live on... its hardly greedy do ask for people to have the ability to live comfortably
I've made 8.50 an hour before... its not easy to live off of
Akragon
reply to post by QUANTUMGR4V17Y
Im gonna have to disagree with that...
IF a bread company is making more money from their product because more people can afford to buy it... they turn a good profit, and theres no reason to increase the cost of their product.
and besides that.. IF bread is say 2$ an loaf, and it increases to $4... its still affordable on a $15hr wage...
IF said person makes $7 an hour, bread isn't affordable anyways.... which is just sad
You didn't see the picture I was trying to paint , I was using bread as the basic good of which all people tend to buy, but was really referring to everything on the shelves, gas, rent, etc.
You disagree because you don't see a reason for them to increase the cost of their product, but there are quite a few. Demand is up, while supply is still the same until the business owner hires more bakers / buys another oven, which costs money, continually in wages and / or utilities / maintenance. As well, should the owner decide not to do those things, because demand is up and supply is down, prices will increase, because consumers will be willing to pay for it.
Believe it or not, businesses are in business to make as much $$$ as possible.
Peace.
Akragon
reply to post by catt3
I just want people to get paid enough to live on... its hardly greedy do ask for people to have the ability to live comfortably
I've made 8.50 an hour before... its not easy to live off of
Im sorry to say, get a better job. find your own nitch in the world. do something that only a few people know how to do, thats how you get paid more. if you do work that everyone and there mom can do then there is an Abundant supply of labor forcing wages down.
I get paid $35 an hour because i know how to do something other people dont know how to do. my labor produces goods in demand that few know how to make.
editby]edit on 22-1-2014 by camaro68ss because: (no reason given)
edit on 22-1-2014 by camaro68ss because: (no reason given)
reply to post by openyourmind1262
$27.75 an hour...
Many will be ok with that but you quit.
Go America!
Peace
$27.75 an hour...
Many will be ok with that but you quit.
Go America!
Peace
camaro68ss
Akragon
reply to post by catt3
I just want people to get paid enough to live on... its hardly greedy do ask for people to have the ability to live comfortably
I've made 8.50 an hour before... its not easy to live off of
Im sorry to say, get a better job. find your own nitch in the world. do something that only a few people know how to do, thats how you get paid more.
Actually I work in health care and I make pretty good money... this isn't really about me...
Not everyone can afford to give up that minimum wage job and go to school...
Im talking about someone who needs that job because theres nothing else... why can't people earn a decent wage across the board?
reply to post by Akragon
If you don't have a car or phone and have to use the internet to post here from a friend or library and you work to make your employer money, then I agree with you. But 95% of the people complaining about their wage are not in that position. they just want more money for nothing.
Just wanted to add your employer hires you to make them money, not the other way around.
If you don't have a car or phone and have to use the internet to post here from a friend or library and you work to make your employer money, then I agree with you. But 95% of the people complaining about their wage are not in that position. they just want more money for nothing.
edit on
1/22/2014 by catt3 because: .
Just wanted to add your employer hires you to make them money, not the other way around.
edit on 1/22/2014 by catt3 because: .
Akragon
camaro68ss
Akragon
reply to post by catt3
I just want people to get paid enough to live on... its hardly greedy do ask for people to have the ability to live comfortably
I've made 8.50 an hour before... its not easy to live off of
Im sorry to say, get a better job. find your own nitch in the world. do something that only a few people know how to do, thats how you get paid more.
Im talking about someone who needs that job because theres nothing else... why can't people earn a decent wage across the board?
thats the question of a lifetime. but government Intervention is not the answer.
camaro68ss
Grimpachi
reply to post by camaro68ss
Mc Donalds has a reported profit margin in the BILLIONS.search
there margin on Revenue is 2%. They only make 2% profit after all is said and done. that 1.69 cheese burger, the profit they make on it is .03 cents. your telling me raising minimum wage by 50% will make that .03 cent cheese burger still profitable?edit on 22-1-2014 by camaro68ss because: (no reason given)
Not saying I don't trust you but can you back that up with links proving what you claim?
Right now their reported gross profit margin is at 39.74%
link
The definition of gross profit margin is
Definition of 'Gross Profit Margin'
A financial metric used to assess a firm's financial health by revealing the proportion of money left over from revenues after accounting for the cost of goods sold. Gross profit margin serves as the source for paying additional expenses and future savings.
Just sayin...
edit on 22-1-2014 by Hoosierdaddy71 because: (no reason given)
The minimum wage is, by definition, artificially high. It is mandated by government, not an amount that is established by competition. It is not
designed to be a "living wage" at all. Indeed, it has been called the "Youth Unemployment Act" because every rise in the minimum wage results in a
loss of jobs for young people. From an employer's standpoint, if the minimum wage is high, you want to hire people who can contribute pretty much
immediately to productivity--not people who need to be trained not only in how to do a job, but also in the work ethic, i.e.: Show up on time.
OK. So let's say you raise the minimum wage to $15.00, which appears to be the current hue and cry. Let's say we do that. Voila! All minimum wage people now make $15.00 an hour. So what do you geniuses think is going to happen?
The cost of goods and services will go up. That $1.00 meal McDonald's basic hamburger will no longer be $1.00. Everything will go up proportionately, so THEN we'll have people saying $15.00 is not enough, and we repeat the cycle. It's a never ending cycle.
Minimum wage jobs are mentally easy. They do not require much mental effort in the way of decision making. They can be done, by and large, by robots, and will be soon. It's a lot cheaper to put a robot in place of a minimum wage employee, and that's what is going to happen.
That does NOT mean that people filling minimum wage jobs are stupid, but they are ignorant IN TERMS OF having useful skills for the workplace. By and large they DO NOT have useful skills. They can only rent their bodies to do menial tasks. For smart people in these jobs, it really angers them, but it is misplaced anger. rather than stew about not being "paid enough" they might want to concentrate on acquiring useful skills that are more in demand by the workforce. They might want to concentrate on using their vast storehouses of intellectual acumen to better themselves so employers will want to hire them, indeed, compete to hire them (thereby raising salaries) because the skills are so in demand.
But flipping burgers can be done by a robot, and the fact you have a B.A. in English is beside the point. If you're so smart in English, write a bestseller. Talk yourself into a publishing gig. Become a teacher (where the demand is high), but if you just sit around and complain, it's your own fault. If you are educated, smart, and ignorant, there's no real reason to hire you.
Of course, that's a perfect description of Obama, and look how far he has gotten. Why can't you?
OK. So let's say you raise the minimum wage to $15.00, which appears to be the current hue and cry. Let's say we do that. Voila! All minimum wage people now make $15.00 an hour. So what do you geniuses think is going to happen?
The cost of goods and services will go up. That $1.00 meal McDonald's basic hamburger will no longer be $1.00. Everything will go up proportionately, so THEN we'll have people saying $15.00 is not enough, and we repeat the cycle. It's a never ending cycle.
Minimum wage jobs are mentally easy. They do not require much mental effort in the way of decision making. They can be done, by and large, by robots, and will be soon. It's a lot cheaper to put a robot in place of a minimum wage employee, and that's what is going to happen.
That does NOT mean that people filling minimum wage jobs are stupid, but they are ignorant IN TERMS OF having useful skills for the workplace. By and large they DO NOT have useful skills. They can only rent their bodies to do menial tasks. For smart people in these jobs, it really angers them, but it is misplaced anger. rather than stew about not being "paid enough" they might want to concentrate on acquiring useful skills that are more in demand by the workforce. They might want to concentrate on using their vast storehouses of intellectual acumen to better themselves so employers will want to hire them, indeed, compete to hire them (thereby raising salaries) because the skills are so in demand.
But flipping burgers can be done by a robot, and the fact you have a B.A. in English is beside the point. If you're so smart in English, write a bestseller. Talk yourself into a publishing gig. Become a teacher (where the demand is high), but if you just sit around and complain, it's your own fault. If you are educated, smart, and ignorant, there's no real reason to hire you.
Of course, that's a perfect description of Obama, and look how far he has gotten. Why can't you?
edit on 1/22/2014 by schuyler because: (no
reason given)
You could also bring consumerism into it. Im to tired to go on a full blown out rant but here is a simple example.
I have a friend who is always moaning about earning minim wage, and can't pay rent, bills etc.
However, he regular spends money on nights out drinking, pay over priced hockey tickets, has the biggest TV his house can handle, has the premium cable package, upgrades his iPhone every time a new one comes. Simply, if you earn minimum wage, and actually learn to budget, you can survive for sometime until you find a higher paying job, or gain training, education.
I did exactly this, part time work, 2 children, and put myself through university.
Just a thought.
I have a friend who is always moaning about earning minim wage, and can't pay rent, bills etc.
However, he regular spends money on nights out drinking, pay over priced hockey tickets, has the biggest TV his house can handle, has the premium cable package, upgrades his iPhone every time a new one comes. Simply, if you earn minimum wage, and actually learn to budget, you can survive for sometime until you find a higher paying job, or gain training, education.
I did exactly this, part time work, 2 children, and put myself through university.
Just a thought.
Its evil even to suggest 15 dollars an hour. If one can't live in their own home, provide the food and necessities, heat and bills for whatever size
family they have, put money away for repairs, and have money left over, its complete robbery. The system is highway robbery, an illegal slave system
that has no right on earth. Every single person is entitled to land, to their own homes, to growing food, because the earth and resources belong
equally to them, without slaving for another.
So, I suggest do away with money, bring out the real technologies, ensure all people have farms, and greenhouses, homes, and begin a system of volunteering, high education and abundance, not scarsity.
So, I suggest do away with money, bring out the real technologies, ensure all people have farms, and greenhouses, homes, and begin a system of volunteering, high education and abundance, not scarsity.
reply to post by jude11
Yea I quit, for all the right reasons. Money and the drive for it can kill a man/woman. When I was in the trade, I had a saying. I have said it many times to the big boss's " I work to live, not live to work". My happiness and mental well being are way more important than money or material things. In my business now, I average around $ 24 to $ 26 and hour. The difference between then and now is as follows. Then I did 90% of the work and got credited with 10% now I do 100% of the work and get credited for 100% of the work. The only greed I have to deal with now is my own. Minimum wage here in the states is more a controll tool for the mass's. If any politician at any office in any city in America had to live and get by on $7.25 and hour, I dare say the minimum would jump to a staggering amount. I can remember when I started in the electrical trade, I made $4.50 and hour that was in 1981. I will admit, I have never in my time in the work force worked for the minimum wage. If the minimum jumped to $15.00 and hour nation wide, that $ 9.00 cheese burger aint looking to appealing to most.
No matter what the minimum is, they willl find a way to keep it in line price wise, across the board. They always do.
Yea I quit, for all the right reasons. Money and the drive for it can kill a man/woman. When I was in the trade, I had a saying. I have said it many times to the big boss's " I work to live, not live to work". My happiness and mental well being are way more important than money or material things. In my business now, I average around $ 24 to $ 26 and hour. The difference between then and now is as follows. Then I did 90% of the work and got credited with 10% now I do 100% of the work and get credited for 100% of the work. The only greed I have to deal with now is my own. Minimum wage here in the states is more a controll tool for the mass's. If any politician at any office in any city in America had to live and get by on $7.25 and hour, I dare say the minimum would jump to a staggering amount. I can remember when I started in the electrical trade, I made $4.50 and hour that was in 1981. I will admit, I have never in my time in the work force worked for the minimum wage. If the minimum jumped to $15.00 and hour nation wide, that $ 9.00 cheese burger aint looking to appealing to most.
No matter what the minimum is, they willl find a way to keep it in line price wise, across the board. They always do.
Alright so heres a proposal...
perhaps 15$ is a bit high...
What say the minimum wage is upped to $12.50... and all prices for products are frozen at their current rates
sound good?
perhaps 15$ is a bit high...
What say the minimum wage is upped to $12.50... and all prices for products are frozen at their current rates
sound good?
reply to post by Akragon
I agree that the 7.25 minimum wage is horribly low.
But lets be glad that there is a federal minimum wage. Some states have lower minimum wage than that. Some, have higher. Not saying that it is better, but it could be a lot lower depending on where you live if the Fed didn't get involved.
But 15 an hour across the board - that is a nice idea, but would put many small mom & pop stores out of business.
I'd say - let them implement a tiered system.
Starting wage being the low 7.25 (for example sake), but after a few (maybe one) months of positive employment - increase the wage up a buck. Keep doing this for a year or so (until that 15 an hour is reached).
Also force companies to add 3 bucks to the starting wage for any part-time employee they hire. They get the same increases. (Reasoning - since a lot of companies will hire people part time so they won't have to give them benefits, they'll usually hire 2 part time people instead of one full time- this would be an incentive to hire them full time - also, this 3 buck increase would help offset any lack of benefits. There would be a limit if you already have a full time job-you don't get the 3 buck initial increase with your part time job..or something like that)
But 15 an hour across the board would work too.
I agree that the 7.25 minimum wage is horribly low.
But lets be glad that there is a federal minimum wage. Some states have lower minimum wage than that. Some, have higher. Not saying that it is better, but it could be a lot lower depending on where you live if the Fed didn't get involved.
But 15 an hour across the board - that is a nice idea, but would put many small mom & pop stores out of business.
I'd say - let them implement a tiered system.
Starting wage being the low 7.25 (for example sake), but after a few (maybe one) months of positive employment - increase the wage up a buck. Keep doing this for a year or so (until that 15 an hour is reached).
Also force companies to add 3 bucks to the starting wage for any part-time employee they hire. They get the same increases. (Reasoning - since a lot of companies will hire people part time so they won't have to give them benefits, they'll usually hire 2 part time people instead of one full time- this would be an incentive to hire them full time - also, this 3 buck increase would help offset any lack of benefits. There would be a limit if you already have a full time job-you don't get the 3 buck initial increase with your part time job..or something like that)
But 15 an hour across the board would work too.
reply to post by Akragon
Don't confuse the corporate head office as being the same as a franchised owned Mc Donald's. The corporation makes money off of store sale royalties, franchise fees, store purchased produce. The stores would be the ones to be at a loss if they had to hire someone for 15 bucks and hour to ask me if I want fries with that. The individual stores would be forced to increase costs to cover their employees.
Stuff like that would be happening all across the country that doesn't have 15 bucks an hour minimum wage already in place. Everything would increase in costs making people demand that they get another livable wage.
Places that have a high minimum wage usually have a higher cost of living. So they really don't gain much.
IMO, if you want to make 15 an hour - earn it. There are a lot of jobs out there that pay that - with no formal training.
Don't confuse the corporate head office as being the same as a franchised owned Mc Donald's. The corporation makes money off of store sale royalties, franchise fees, store purchased produce. The stores would be the ones to be at a loss if they had to hire someone for 15 bucks and hour to ask me if I want fries with that. The individual stores would be forced to increase costs to cover their employees.
Stuff like that would be happening all across the country that doesn't have 15 bucks an hour minimum wage already in place. Everything would increase in costs making people demand that they get another livable wage.
Places that have a high minimum wage usually have a higher cost of living. So they really don't gain much.
IMO, if you want to make 15 an hour - earn it. There are a lot of jobs out there that pay that - with no formal training.
reply to post by Akragon
To me, I see minimum wage as a way to make sure you at least have some competition over the next guy in line - If you say on your resume that you work two full-time shifts on two completely different jobs, and can micromanage a team of two people, you're closer to getting a regular 9-to-5'er than someone fresh out of highschool, with no experience at at job. It wasn't meant to be any more sustaining than McDonald's burgers; but a foot into the door of a better job.
See, corporations aren't dumb: Their end goal is to make more money than they did the previous years. All companies out there have what is known as an "Equalizing Equation Formula". What this formula does is it usually takes in the average costs (building management, worker compensation, additional funds), and takes in the amount that was made overall for the quarter or year. If the company finds that it's projected to go into the red, you get negative kicks (layoffs, no bonus, pay cuts, etc). And if it's in the green, you get positives, such as a bonus, raise, or more position offerings.
Now, say everyone in your company is asking for a raise in pay, regardless or not of if they earned it. If the company has not generated the revenue that they are looking for, and consult the equation, one of three things will happen:
1. Workers stay at the same level of pay.
2. Product costs go up.
3. The worker's paychecks go up, but the number of workers, hours, or perks go down (making due with less).
Of the options, most of the companies seem to be picking #3 - letting go of nonessential workers, cutting hours, avoiding offering medical benefits; all of it to ensure that more is made than last year.
And you can't compare the CEO's of the company to the general workers - I almost hate to say this, but they didn't get to that position by sitting around, wishing they made more. You aren't just picked for the job - being a CEO comes with experience. For example, I have a friend that also signed on as an unpaid intern (there were two other inters at the time). My friend stayed an intern for two years, and while the other two were complaining about how they wanted to be paid, why was the work so hard, etc, he would spend extra time making sure all his projects were done for the day, chatting with coworkers, and in general offering to take more work than was asked of him. Two years rolled by, and suddenly, he was given a full-employee status in the company. Why? The CEO of the company checked in on all the interns, and he was the only one that came in to work with a grin on his face, and did his job without complaining once. The other two? Fired for not putting enough effort in.
-fossilera
PS: Sorry for the rant.
To me, I see minimum wage as a way to make sure you at least have some competition over the next guy in line - If you say on your resume that you work two full-time shifts on two completely different jobs, and can micromanage a team of two people, you're closer to getting a regular 9-to-5'er than someone fresh out of highschool, with no experience at at job. It wasn't meant to be any more sustaining than McDonald's burgers; but a foot into the door of a better job.
See, corporations aren't dumb: Their end goal is to make more money than they did the previous years. All companies out there have what is known as an "Equalizing Equation Formula". What this formula does is it usually takes in the average costs (building management, worker compensation, additional funds), and takes in the amount that was made overall for the quarter or year. If the company finds that it's projected to go into the red, you get negative kicks (layoffs, no bonus, pay cuts, etc). And if it's in the green, you get positives, such as a bonus, raise, or more position offerings.
Now, say everyone in your company is asking for a raise in pay, regardless or not of if they earned it. If the company has not generated the revenue that they are looking for, and consult the equation, one of three things will happen:
1. Workers stay at the same level of pay.
2. Product costs go up.
3. The worker's paychecks go up, but the number of workers, hours, or perks go down (making due with less).
Of the options, most of the companies seem to be picking #3 - letting go of nonessential workers, cutting hours, avoiding offering medical benefits; all of it to ensure that more is made than last year.
And you can't compare the CEO's of the company to the general workers - I almost hate to say this, but they didn't get to that position by sitting around, wishing they made more. You aren't just picked for the job - being a CEO comes with experience. For example, I have a friend that also signed on as an unpaid intern (there were two other inters at the time). My friend stayed an intern for two years, and while the other two were complaining about how they wanted to be paid, why was the work so hard, etc, he would spend extra time making sure all his projects were done for the day, chatting with coworkers, and in general offering to take more work than was asked of him. Two years rolled by, and suddenly, he was given a full-employee status in the company. Why? The CEO of the company checked in on all the interns, and he was the only one that came in to work with a grin on his face, and did his job without complaining once. The other two? Fired for not putting enough effort in.
-fossilera
PS: Sorry for the rant.
Akragon
Alright so heres a proposal...
perhaps 15$ is a bit high...
What say the minimum wage is upped to $12.50... and all prices for products are frozen at their current rates
sound good?
You're intentions are admirable, my friend, but it still wouldn't work. Minimum wage will never be a living wage. Inflation and the Laws of Supply and Demand would see to that.
Imagine this; suppose Congress voted tomorrow to raise the minimum wage to any amount that would make minimum wage a living wage. The President approves. It wouldn't be effective immediately, of course, businesses would legitimately need time to prepare. Maybe it would go into effect in the next fiscal year, beginning in October.
Business will start looking into ways to preserve their profit margin. Let's be optomistic and say there won't be too many layoffs, not too much outsourcing, etc. and maybe businesses will cut into their profits to cover the wage increase.
So now, the guy at the drive-in window makes a living wage. The city sanitation worker sees this and says, "Hey, my job is more important. I should be getting more." And he's got a union behind him. Then it's teachers, firemen, police, electricians, plumbers, etc. So, in a slow, staggered fashion, everyone's wages will increase proportionally to the raise in minimum wage. Plus, the increase in civil servant pay will mean an increase in taxes.
Add in inflation, and businesses will be faced with increased wage costs, higher taxes, and higher prices for goods and services. They will be forced to raise prices. When they do, what used to be a living wage will be poverty level again.
Of course, banks and insurance companies will continue to do just fine. If not, they will be bailed out courtesy of the US Taxpayer.
------
That said, something has to change. Keeping the minimum wage static while inflating the currency guarantees that wealth will flow from the bottom to the top. But then, I think it's planned that way.
reply to post by Akragon
Thousands of companies would close and all we buy in stores and stations and doctors, housing etc. too, would be astronomical. Some companies cant even afford $9 per hour.
And a friend is a baggage sky-captain handling luggage at the drop off points at Detroit Metro Airport. He just got a raise to something like $2.25 per hr. His entire take home is all tips, and so is my nieces' who as a waitress, makes under $3 per hr.
I make around $15 an hr, and Im damn lucky I do. Blessed. And even then, the tiny increase the average worker gets for "cost-of-living" adjustments...doesn't even cover the cost-of-living annual increases.
Another thing that bugs me personally in the Corporate Security industry? You can start out $14.50 per hr as aregular officer, and at $13.00 per hr for a ARMED Officer! Less for carrying a weapon.
And if you complain, they will reassign you to somewhere like BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD in downtown Detroit...for MINIMUM wage.
Thousands of companies would close and all we buy in stores and stations and doctors, housing etc. too, would be astronomical. Some companies cant even afford $9 per hour.
And a friend is a baggage sky-captain handling luggage at the drop off points at Detroit Metro Airport. He just got a raise to something like $2.25 per hr. His entire take home is all tips, and so is my nieces' who as a waitress, makes under $3 per hr.
I make around $15 an hr, and Im damn lucky I do. Blessed. And even then, the tiny increase the average worker gets for "cost-of-living" adjustments...doesn't even cover the cost-of-living annual increases.
Another thing that bugs me personally in the Corporate Security industry? You can start out $14.50 per hr as aregular officer, and at $13.00 per hr for a ARMED Officer! Less for carrying a weapon.
And if you complain, they will reassign you to somewhere like BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD in downtown Detroit...for MINIMUM wage.