So What Do You Think Is A Fair And Decent Wage?...

[paulitician]

Wow, i'm beginning to see how difficult a question this really is. I'm struggling with a number myself. I mean, so many factors involved. Gas Prices, Food Prices, Electricity, Rents/Mortgages and so on. I would advise taking some time to think it through before rushing to type something. It's a rough one.

It depends where you live, $10 an hour would be good in Mississipi but wouldn't even be enough for bus fare in New York.

Good point. Is your number factoring in having a Family, or for a single person?

 

[High_Gravity]

Should people who don't need to work to survive be paid enough to support a family of four? This includes teenagers working in the summer for fall spending money; seniors looking for a small supplement and can't earn much, and bored housewives looking to get out of the house for a few hours each day.

No.

 

[High_Gravity]

Wow, i'm beginning to see how difficult a question this really is. I'm struggling with a number myself. I mean, so many factors involved. Gas Prices, Food Prices, Electricity, Rents/Mortgages and so on. I would advise taking some time to think it through before rushing to type something. It's a rough one.

It depends where you live, $10 an hour would be good in Mississipi but wouldn't even be enough for bus fare in New York.

Good point. Is your number factoring in having a Family, or for a single person?

Both, but obviously you would need more income overall if you have a family. In that case both the husband and wife has to work, unless you are rich the days of the wife staying at home are pretty much extinct.

 

[paulitician]

Should people who don't need to work to survive be paid enough to support a family of four? This includes teenagers working in the summer for fall spending money; seniors looking for a small supplement and can't earn much, and bored housewives looking to get out of the house for a few hours each day.

Those are fair questions, but i'm not so much interested in debate. I'm more interested in what you personally feel is an adequate Wage for an average American to survive on. Throw some numbers out there. Thanks.

 

[Foxfyre]

A number is not feasible. $10/hour in a small west Texas town is a handsome sum indeed. You can't park your car for $10 in San Francisco.

But ultimately, a wage is worth as much to an employer as will produce a sufficient profit for that employer. A person who does nothing but put pepperoni slices on a pizza on an assembly line or who picks up the trash at a construction site, and who is not qualified for anything other than that, will often be happy to get $5 or $6 in wages. Most such people live with others and do not have to fully support themselves and manage nicely on what to many of us would be pocket change.

But people will pay only so much for a crappy frozen pizza. Make that pizza more expensive than people are willing to pay, and the manufacturer will close down that product line. And then the assembly line worker no longer has a job at all.

Make the wage so high that the contractor will not take on the expense of an extra clean up or go-fer emplyee, and the contractor will just eliminate the job and have his regular crew spend a few minutes doing that work. And the entry-level employer is left high and dry.

A wage should be a contracted amount between the worker and an employer. In a free market system, the employer bids as much as he can afford to get the best people who will help his business prosper; the worker sells his labor to the highest bidder. But price the labor out of the free market range and the result will be many more people unemployed and on public assistance.

People who don't like being stuck in low wage jobs do what they have to do to make their labor more valuable. Meanwhile the bottom rungs of the labor pool are available for those who just want pocket change or who need an opportunity to acquire a work ethic, skills, references, and make themselves worth more money to an employer.

Instead of trying to fix low wages with a higher minimum wage, we do the people a far greater service with a healthy and thriving free market economy that produces full employment. That one thing makes the workers labor more valuable and worth more money.

 

[Ava]

"So What Do You Think Is A Fair And Decent Wage?"...

The amount an employer can afford to pay, and what an employee agrees to work for.

 

[paulitician]

It depends where you live, $10 an hour would be good in Mississipi but wouldn't even be enough for bus fare in New York.

Good point. Is your number factoring in having a Family, or for a single person?

Both, but obviously you would need more income overall if you have a family. In that case both the husband and wife has to work, unless you are rich the days of the wife staying at home are pretty much extinct.

So it's $10 an hr? Cool. I may agree, i may disagree. But that isn't the point of my Post. I'm just curious to see what most Americans think is a survivable Wage in today's America. I don't think many ever take the time to contemplate that. But once you start putting numbers on it, i think it really gets people thinking and re-thinking their previous convictions. The Numbers tell the story. It shoves the Politics aside. Gas Prices, Food Prices, Rents/Mortgages, are all about the Numbers. I really do appreciate you putting one out there. So many refuse to even attempt it. Thank you.

 

[Foxfyre]

"So What Do You Think Is A Fair And Decent Wage?"...

The amount an employer can afford to pay, and what an employee agrees to work for.

That's what I said. You just said it a lot more succinctly.

 

[Contumacious]

"So What Do You Think Is A Fair And Decent Wage?"...

The amount an employer can afford to pay, and what an employee agrees to work for.

Incorrect.

Under fascism , DC decides how much an employer can afford to pay and how much an employee needs.

There are MORE employees that employers - so guess who has more rights (wink, wink)

.

 

[ScreamingEagle]

"So What Do You Think Is A Fair And Decent Wage?"...

that implies there is an 'unfair and indecent wage'......

so what's stopping you from walking away from the job....?

 

[paulitician]

A number is not feasible. $10/hour in a small west Texas town is a handsome sum indeed. You can't park your car for $10 in San Francisco.

But ultimately, a wage is worth as much to an employer as will produce a sufficient profit for that employer. A person who does nothing but put pepperoni slices on a pizza on an assembly line or who picks up the trash at a construction site, and who is not qualified for anything other than that, will often be happy to get $5 or $6 in wages. Most such people live with others and do not have to fully support themselves and manage nicely on what to many of us would be pocket change.

But people will pay only so much for a crappy frozen pizza. Make that pizza more expensive than people are willing to pay, and the manufacturer will close down that product line. And then the assembly line worker no longer has a job at all.

Make the wage so high that the contractor will not take on the expense of an extra clean up or go-fer emplyee, and the contractor will just eliminate the job and have his regular crew spend a few minutes doing that work. And the entry-level employer is left high and dry.

A wage should be a contracted amount between the worker and an employer. In a free market system, the employer bids as much as he can afford to get the best people who will help his business prosper; the worker sells his labor to the highest bidder. But price the labor out of the free market range and the result will be many more people unemployed and on public assistance.

People who don't like being stuck in low wage jobs do what they have to do to make their labor more valuable. Meanwhile the bottom rungs of the labor pool are available for those who just want pocket change or who need an opportunity to acquire a work ethic, skills, references, and make themselves worth more money to an employer.

Instead of trying to fix low wages with a higher minimum wage, we do the people a far greater service with a healthy and thriving free market economy that produces full employment. That one thing makes the workers labor more valuable and worth more money.

I hear ya, but i'm more interested in your personal feelings. How much do you think is a survivable Wage for most average Americans? You can calculate your numbers based on a single person or a Family. Either one is fine. Thanks.

 

[Contumacious]

"So What Do You Think Is A Fair And Decent Wage?"...

that implies there is an 'unfair and indecent wage'......

so what's stopping you from walking away from the job....?

"Liberals" believe that "stand your ground laws" mean that they can forcefully force an employer to redistribute their wealth.

.

 

[paulitician]

"So What Do You Think Is A Fair And Decent Wage?"...

The amount an employer can afford to pay, and what an employee agrees to work for.

That's what I said. You just said it a lot more succinctly.

That doesn't really answer the question. It's too vague. I'm looking for personal feelings on how much is a survivable Wage in today's America. I'm looking for numbers.

 

[kaz]

$10 an hour should be the bare minimum IMO.

And you think people not worth $10 an hour should be legally banned by government from working because why? Your love of people and freedom?

 

[Callas_Dowboys]

At least $35.00 per hour.

After all, if it is a fair and decent wage for a teacher, it should be fair and decent for a kid who flips hamburgers.

I detect a hint of sarcasm. But seriously, give some numbers. How much do you think an average American can survive on?

Not to be difficult but you really need to define "survive on". The number is pretty low if you're talking about basic survival but obviously higher if your definition includes a lot of luxuries.

 

[paulitician]

Lets not let the thread become mired in Political debate and diatribes. Try to think about it for a bit and then attempt to put some numbers out there. How much do you personally feel an average American should be able to survive on? This question will require some thought. There are many life factors to contemplate. So don't feel a need to rush in to type the usual Political rants. Just some numbers.

 

[Foxfyre]

A number is not feasible. $10/hour in a small west Texas town is a handsome sum indeed. You can't park your car for $10 in San Francisco.

But ultimately, a wage is worth as much to an employer as will produce a sufficient profit for that employer. A person who does nothing but put pepperoni slices on a pizza on an assembly line or who picks up the trash at a construction site, and who is not qualified for anything other than that, will often be happy to get $5 or $6 in wages. Most such people live with others and do not have to fully support themselves and manage nicely on what to many of us would be pocket change.

But people will pay only so much for a crappy frozen pizza. Make that pizza more expensive than people are willing to pay, and the manufacturer will close down that product line. And then the assembly line worker no longer has a job at all.

Make the wage so high that the contractor will not take on the expense of an extra clean up or go-fer emplyee, and the contractor will just eliminate the job and have his regular crew spend a few minutes doing that work. And the entry-level employer is left high and dry.

A wage should be a contracted amount between the worker and an employer. In a free market system, the employer bids as much as he can afford to get the best people who will help his business prosper; the worker sells his labor to the highest bidder. But price the labor out of the free market range and the result will be many more people unemployed and on public assistance.

People who don't like being stuck in low wage jobs do what they have to do to make their labor more valuable. Meanwhile the bottom rungs of the labor pool are available for those who just want pocket change or who need an opportunity to acquire a work ethic, skills, references, and make themselves worth more money to an employer.

Instead of trying to fix low wages with a higher minimum wage, we do the people a far greater service with a healthy and thriving free market economy that produces full employment. That one thing makes the workers labor more valuable and worth more money.

I hear ya, but i'm more interested in your personal feelings. How much do you think is a survivable Wage for most average Americans? You can calculate your numbers based on a single person or a Family. Either one is fine. Thanks.

Currently, thanks to the shitty economy, my husband and I qualify for food stamps or other assistance. But because we have no debts other than a small mortgage, and because we have learned to live frugally, we do not take any public assistance and live quite comfortably on a very modest income. We do not expect anybody else to provide us with more than we have.

Our kids each pay more in taxes than what we live on and they would not be happy managing on our income because they like to do much more expensive things than we ever do.

Which is why I say it is all relative. And you can't put a number on it and that is why I say there is no such thing as a 'living wage'.

A living income is not what it costs to pay a mortgage, pay utility bills, buy groceries, etc. A living income is what we have to have to live. The person who bands together with others to share rent, food costs, transportation, etc. can get by on far less money than can the person who chooses the luxury of living alone or in a single family home with his/her family, etc.

 

[paulitician]

At least $35.00 per hour.

After all, if it is a fair and decent wage for a teacher, it should be fair and decent for a kid who flips hamburgers.

I detect a hint of sarcasm. But seriously, give some numbers. How much do you think an average American can survive on?

Not to be difficult but you really need to define "survive on". The number is pretty low if you're talking about basic survival but obviously higher if your definition includes a lot of luxuries.

You make a valid point. And i'm more interested in a number that excludes Government Entitlements. Because obviously you can survive on a very low Wage if you're receiving Government assistance. But i'll let you calculate a number any way you see fit. Thanks.

 

[BDBoop]

$10 an hour should be the bare minimum IMO.

And you think people not worth $10 an hour should be legally banned by government from working because why? Your love of people and freedom?

How did you get from his suggestion to your conclusion? This should be fascinating.

 

[PredFan]

Whatever the free market dictates.