Living on minimum wage, 50s to present

[ReallyMeow]

146 million? thats a fair question:
U.S. Poverty: Census Finds Nearly Half Of Americans Are Poor Or Low-Income

About 97.3 million Americans fall into a low-income category, commonly defined as those earning between 100 and 199 percent of the poverty level, based on a new supplemental measure by the Census Bureau that is designed to provide a fuller picture of poverty. Together with the 49.1 million who fall below the poverty line and are counted as poor, they number 146.4 million, or 48 percent of the U.S. population.

The appeal that there is some sort of low rent, cheap living nirvana out there is a fable designed to dull your empathy. You cant say to get a better job when low income jobs outnumber "middle class" jobs.

http://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/p60-243.pdf
page 5:

Median family household income
declined by 1.7 percent in real
terms between 2010 and 2011
to $62,273. The change in the
median income of nonfamily
households was not statistically
significant (Table 1).

 

[Katzndogz]

I'll give it a go.

If you need a person to ring up the extra value meals, you need them. Doesn't matter if their pay is $7/hr or $10.

Conversely, if you don't need a person you don't need them, even if they will work for free.

Which is true for some positions. However there are plently of jobs that are discretionary. At $4 an hour, I may hire someone to man the pumps at my gas station, believing having that curtsey for my customers is worth it, but at $7, that's too high and my pumps will just have to be self serve.

Petrol store owners will turn over a fair bit of money. They can more than afford to employ a part time person to man the pumps - the only reason they won't is because they are too tight.

Yes, the greedy capitalists. That's why they had those gas station attendants, they weren't so greedy before. When they were giving out dishes with every fill up.

In very wealthy areas you can still find gas station attendants. You will be paying $5.75 a gallon for gas, but it's possible to find them.

 

[AmyNation]

I'll give it a go.

If you need a person to ring up the extra value meals, you need them. Doesn't matter if their pay is $7/hr or $10.

Conversely, if you don't need a person you don't need them, even if they will work for free.

Which is true for some positions. However there are plently of jobs that are discretionary. At $4 an hour, I may hire someone to man the pumps at my gas station, believing having that curtsey for my customers is worth it, but at $7, that's too high and my pumps will just have to be self serve.

Petrol store owners will turn over a fair bit of money. They can more than afford to employ a part time person to man the pumps - the only reason they won't is because they are too tight.

Its a tad more complicated then that.

It's about the cost to keep a person on staff, vs the benefit the business gets by having them perform their job. Again, there are necessary jobs that an employeer will pay whatever they have to for, and there are luxury jobs, that an employer will only hire if they believe its worth it to their business.

Successful businesses understand this. Those who don't tend to go belly up within 5 years of opening.

 

[ConHog]

Which is true for some positions. However there are plently of jobs that are discretionary. At $4 an hour, I may hire someone to man the pumps at my gas station, believing having that curtsey for my customers is worth it, but at $7, that's too high and my pumps will just have to be self serve.

Petrol store owners will turn over a fair bit of money. They can more than afford to employ a part time person to man the pumps - the only reason they won't is because they are too tight.

Its a tad more complicated then that.

It's about the cost to keep a person on staff, vs the benefit the business gets by having them perform their job. Again, there are necessary jobs that an employeer will pay whatever they have to for, and there are luxury jobs, that an employer will only hire if they believe its worth it to their business.

Successful businesses understand this. Those who don't tend to go belly up within 5 years of opening.

Exactly. Which is why you can still find full service gas it just costs more. We have one full service station left in our town. Hes 15 cents a gallon higher on average fhan full service. For that extra money you get extra service. Hes plenty busy but I doubt there is enough need for another gas station to br able to justify hiring an attendant.

 

[Noomi]

Which is true for some positions. However there are plently of jobs that are discretionary. At $4 an hour, I may hire someone to man the pumps at my gas station, believing having that curtsey for my customers is worth it, but at $7, that's too high and my pumps will just have to be self serve.

Petrol store owners will turn over a fair bit of money. They can more than afford to employ a part time person to man the pumps - the only reason they won't is because they are too tight.

Yes, the greedy capitalists. That's why they had those gas station attendants, they weren't so greedy before. When they were giving out dishes with every fill up.

In very wealthy areas you can still find gas station attendants. You will be paying $5.75 a gallon for gas, but it's possible to find them.

One gallon is equal to around 3.78 litres. Lets say 4 litres. $5.75 per gallon, and $1.65 per litre means that over here a gallon would cost...

I have no idea. My math sucks. But I guess it wouldn't be very expensive.

 

[PaulS1950]

The reason that "filling stations" became "you pump" gas stations and food marts is pure economics. The government stepped in and limited the amount they could charge to cost + 10 cents and the "service bays couldn't find mechanics to work for the prices they could charge so they dropped the attendent - whose job it was to bring service into the service bay - and opted to sell snacks and "spot buy" groceries to make enough money without having a technician to pay for standing around.
I imagine that most of you here are too young to remember oil changes and tune-ups at gas stations but that is where they made their money - the gas was usually a "lost leader" in that it cost more to havethe attendant pump gas than the profit margin on gas allowed. When newer cars came in ant they required a computer to diagnose what was wrong and a trained technician to repair it the cost was too high. Places like Jiffy Lube and Grease Monkey took over the role of the service bays and the gas stations started selling snacks instead to increase income so they could stay in business.

It is very easy to tell from the posts who understands what makes a business successful and those that have no idea of the costs involved in running a business. I would love to see those who say that businesses are run by greedy individuals to try to run a business of their own. It would be in the red from day one and be out of business in less than a year.

 

[ConHog]

The reason that "filling stations" became "you pump" gas stations and food marts is pure economics. The government stepped in and limited the amount they could charge to cost + 10 cents and the "service bays couldn't find mechanics to work for the prices they could charge so they dropped the attendent - whose job it was to bring service into the service bay - and opted to sell snacks and "spot buy" groceries to make enough money without having a technician to pay for standing around.
I imagine that most of you here are too young to remember oil changes and tune-ups at gas stations but that is where they made their money - the gas was usually a "lost leader" in that it cost more to havethe attendant pump gas than the profit margin on gas allowed. When newer cars came in ant they required a computer to diagnose what was wrong and a trained technician to repair it the cost was too high. Places like Jiffy Lube and Grease Monkey took over the role of the service bays and the gas stations started selling snacks instead to increase income so they could stay in business.

It is very easy to tell from the posts who understands what makes a business successful and those that have no idea of the costs involved in running a business. I would love to see those who say that businesses are run by greedy individuals to try to run a business of their own. It would be in the red from day one and be out of business in less than a year.

I run a business and abaolutely I contend that some business owners are greedy

 

[ReallyMeow]

having your gas pumped is definitely a luxury, modern conveniences are things that emerge in response to a healthy economy, they are the dead weight that gets carried in its wake, not its foundation.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

The reason that "filling stations" became "you pump" gas stations and food marts is pure economics. The government stepped in and limited the amount they could charge to cost + 10 cents and the "service bays couldn't find mechanics to work for the prices they could charge so they dropped the attendent - whose job it was to bring service into the service bay - and opted to sell snacks and "spot buy" groceries to make enough money without having a technician to pay for standing around.
I imagine that most of you here are too young to remember oil changes and tune-ups at gas stations but that is where they made their money - the gas was usually a "lost leader" in that it cost more to havethe attendant pump gas than the profit margin on gas allowed. When newer cars came in ant they required a computer to diagnose what was wrong and a trained technician to repair it the cost was too high. Places like Jiffy Lube and Grease Monkey took over the role of the service bays and the gas stations started selling snacks instead to increase income so they could stay in business.

It is very easy to tell from the posts who understands what makes a business successful and those that have no idea of the costs involved in running a business. I would love to see those who say that businesses are run by greedy individuals to try to run a business of their own. It would be in the red from day one and be out of business in less than a year.

I run a business and abaolutely I contend that some business owners are greedy

Of course some business owners are greedy, so are some politicians. The problem is that, as a class, politicians are a lot greedier than business owners.

 

[PaulS1950]

Some business owners are greedy BUT most business owners make enough money to get by and not a lot more. The highest paid people inthe work force are commissioned sales people - the top ten percent often make more than anyone else in the organization. Corporate profits are paid to the stockholders and not to a single person as so many think. when you divide the profits of GE or Boeing among the many shareholders you don't get a lot of money to the average individual.

There are exceptions to the rule but, in business, if you aren't helping someone - or may someones - then you don't stay in business for long.

 

[depotoo]

And that is exactly who most minimum wage workers are, teenagers, not adults, not people supporting a family, but teenagers.

Some would like to claim (pretend) that there is some large class of people trying to support a family on minimum wage, but that just isn't reality.

Most minimum-wage workers are not teenagers | Economic Policy Institute

Actually that's not true. Only about 20% of min wage earners are teenagers.

How man of those people are under 30 and still in college?

or a part time mom doing it to just get out of the house or to pay for those extras they would like? Or a retiree just wanting to supplement their income, which can only be so much earned each year before being penalized by social security.

 

[ConHog]

The reason that "filling stations" became "you pump" gas stations and food marts is pure economics. The government stepped in and limited the amount they could charge to cost + 10 cents and the "service bays couldn't find mechanics to work for the prices they could charge so they dropped the attendent - whose job it was to bring service into the service bay - and opted to sell snacks and "spot buy" groceries to make enough money without having a technician to pay for standing around.
I imagine that most of you here are too young to remember oil changes and tune-ups at gas stations but that is where they made their money - the gas was usually a "lost leader" in that it cost more to havethe attendant pump gas than the profit margin on gas allowed. When newer cars came in ant they required a computer to diagnose what was wrong and a trained technician to repair it the cost was too high. Places like Jiffy Lube and Grease Monkey took over the role of the service bays and the gas stations started selling snacks instead to increase income so they could stay in business.

It is very easy to tell from the posts who understands what makes a business successful and those that have no idea of the costs involved in running a business. I would love to see those who say that businesses are run by greedy individuals to try to run a business of their own. It would be in the red from day one and be out of business in less than a year.

I run a business and abaolutely I contend that some business owners are greedy

Of course some business owners are greedy, so are some politicians. The problem is that, as a class, politicians are a lot greedier than business owners.

Certainly we can agree on that.

I think the best solution would be if each atate set their own mw in much the same way electric prices are arrived at. A BOARD made up of manamgement, employees, and politicians deciding whTs best

I do think though that there is a place for the feds to set a minimum.

 

[dblack]

I run a business and abaolutely I contend that some business owners are greedy

Of course some business owners are greedy, so are some politicians. The problem is that, as a class, politicians are a lot greedier than business owners.

Certainly we can agree on that.

I think the best solution would be if each atate set their own mw in much the same way electric prices are arrived at. A BOARD made up of manamgement, employees, and politicians deciding whTs best

I do think though that there is a place for the feds to set a minimum.

Why not go ahead and have them set all wages and prices. So it's fair, ya know?

 

[ConHog]

Of course some business owners are greedy, so are some politicians. The problem is that, as a class, politicians are a lot greedier than business owners.

Certainly we can agree on that.

I think the best solution would be if each atate set their own mw in much the same way electric prices are arrived at. A BOARD made up of manamgement, employees, and politicians deciding whTs best

I do think though that there is a place for the feds to set a minimum.

Why not go ahead and have them set all wages and prices. So it's fair, ya know?

.why not do away with child labor laws. Let comoanies decide if they wNt to hire children

 

[dblack]

Certainly we can agree on that.

I think the best solution would be if each atate set their own mw in much the same way electric prices are arrived at. A BOARD made up of manamgement, employees, and politicians deciding whTs best

I do think though that there is a place for the feds to set a minimum.

Why not go ahead and have them set all wages and prices. So it's fair, ya know?

.why not do away with child labor laws. Let comoanies decide if they wNt to hire children

I asked first. Deflection is not an argument.

 

[ConHog]

Why not go ahead and have them set all wages and prices. So it's fair, ya know?

.why not do away with child labor laws. Let comoanies decide if they wNt to hire children

I asked first. Deflection is not an argument.

Pointing out otheraws the government has had to pass to reel in businesses who only care about their profits isnt deflection

 

[dblack]

.why not do away with child labor laws. Let comoanies decide if they wNt to hire children

I asked first. Deflection is not an argument.

Pointing out otheraws the government has had to pass to reel in businesses who only care about their profits isnt deflection

It's deflection alright. And I'd still like to get a straight answer to my question. But, I'm not holding my breath. In the meantime, I'll indulge your distraction and point out that we have laws to protect children because, well, they're children. They're not legally responsible and not able to make fully informed decisions.

Unfortunately, the core premise of the nanny-staters seems to be that we are all helpless children, and require a government that will second-guess our most personal decisions, correcting us when we err.

 

[ReallyMeow]

No ones arguing for a nanny state. Its as simple as maintaining the basic social construct that work means dignity. That the median wage is able to provide for a family. Someone who spent their life contributing to society will be taken care of in their old age. Someone who needs medical assistance will be given it. This is simple stuff.

 

[dblack]

No ones arguing for a nanny state. Its as simple as maintaining the basic social construct that work means dignity. That the median wage is able to provide for a family. Someone who spent their life contributing to society will be taken care of in their old age. Someone who needs medical assistance will be given it. This is simple stuff.

Simple or not, it's not something government should be in charge of.

 

[ConHog]

No ones arguing for a nanny state. Its as simple as maintaining the basic social construct that work means dignity. That the median wage is able to provide for a family. Someone who spent their life contributing to society will be taken care of in their old age. Someone who needs medical assistance will be given it. This is simple stuff.

Simple or not, it's not something government should be in charge of.

In an ideal world? No it isnt. But we live in reality.