Has minimum wage become the new average wage?

[bettilimbroke999]

When I was in high school I made $6/hr to work at a bowling lanes running the machines in the back (min wage was $5.15/hr). All the people that worked with me were 30+ years old and had to repair the machines if they broke down and all made a good bit more money than I did. I would say they averaged 10 bucks an hour and consistently got overtime, not great pay but it was roughly twice min wage + OT paid time and a half.

Fast forward 15 years and if you have a job making twice minimum wage or more (15 dollars and hour+) you are doing extremely well. That would translate at 50 hours a week to 820 a week or around 42k a year. This is what those idiot bowling lane workers were making when I was 16, now a twice minimum wage job is reserved for managers only, hell my friend is a CPA and only makes 35k a year and owes 80k in college loans.

My thoughts on the matter is that wages other than minimum wage seem to have remained virtually frozen for the past 20 years while minimum wage has risen (only bc it would be illegal to pay less).

Are we 15-20 years from minimum wage catching the frozen standard wage and becoming the standard wage for all jobs or has minimum wage ALREADY BECOME the standard? Hell at Wal-Mart they give 25 cent raises every 6 months (after starting you out at min wage) and max pay at 10 bucks/hour, so after working for 6 years you are "rewarded" by making 400 bucks a week or 20k a year for 40 hours/week (the managers would slit their wrists if an employee ever got OT).

When you consider that San Francisco just made their minimum wage over 10 bucks an hour this is rather amazing. One has to wonder how long Wal-Mart will keep a 10/hour cap on employee wages. Are we just moving to a society where the minimum wage is about what you should expect to get paid for any normal job? Considering the high rate of unemployment in this country many would be very happy to get a 10/hour job so do employers really have to pay more than minimum wage to attract employees?

Can a person live on minimum wage (300/week or 15k a year)? More importantly could anyone support children on so low a wage without welfare assistance? If it becomes or already is the standard should it be raised to a level where those receiving near min wage pay are not in poverty?

[EmpireMaker]

good post, this is food for thought

[Big Bear]

good post.

[Darkside Magick]

nice post!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[King Mayan]

Bettil

This is why the Rich keep getting richer and why the American dream is on life support..

[stevenash]

Last Friday night I was at the sports bar with my buddies, 6pm one of my other buddies walked in.
After about 5 minutes of chit-chat, he gave his paycheck to the manager for him to cash.
He was bitching "35 hours of working in a warehouse for 287 dollars take home"
He continued, "before I got laid off 3 years ago, I was making 287 dollars a day before lunch"

I bought him a shot and a beer, I felt his pain.

[ebbearsfb1]

government takes everythign from you then some..

suppose to make around 1.5k every 2 weeks... after taxes and shit its barely 1000


rich get richer poor get poorer



best chance at making money is honest gambling robbing and sellin the goods...


dont take what they give you. take whatever the F*ck you want

[VegasInsider]

Good post. Times are tough for many.

[HeeeHAWWWW]

Household income in the US in 2007 prices:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/01/United_States_Income_Distribution_1947-2007.svg/2000px-United_States_Income_Distribution_1947-2007.svg.png

Richest 5% has got around +66% wealthier in last 40 years, richest 20% by +50%, richest 40% by +36%. The bottom 40% has barely changed incomie in that time, and I think actually dropped over the last decade.

To put it in perspective, +36% of the top40 is about 0.8% growth per year.

[Ninersnut]

ur friend is a dumbass if he is a CPA making 35k a year. Studying for my CPA now as we speak and I'm significantly above that only 3 years outta school.

[HeeeHAWWWW]

Yeah, here's median household income (ie the household right in the middle):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gdp_versus_household_income.png

Been falling for about a decade now, and basically wiped out all the gains of the 90s. Soon the median household will be poorer than it was in the 70s.

[CarpeDime]

liberals

[Dom177]

Fend for yourself!

[King Mayan]

liberals

we need less regulations and less corporate taxes.. The money WILL trickle down.

[High3rEl3m3nt]

35k a year would go a lot further if our currency had more purchasing power. Minimum wage, average salary, etc. don't mean jack when the value of the dollar does not amount to squat.

[Masu485]

Only way to find a good job is to be lucky or know people.

Coming from an impoverished family, I've been sociologically aware since I was quite young, and have been observing the growth of my peers. And everything you learn is true, all my friends from richer families are doing well, all my friends from poorer families are struggling. EDUCATION DID NOT EVEN MATTER MUCH! This is a crucial point to make! My rich friends who did not go to University are making more and more well off than my poorer friends who did go get educated (yes, they had to take out loans). I still don't know if this has to do with poorer people willing to take any job they can and settle on being underemployed, or if richer people do have connections and a WASP-ish family name that can get them higher positions.

My poor educated friends are in that category you are talking about. Higher level positions, but paid like $15 -18/hr. Which is peanuts for someone with outstanding student loans. These salaries have not gone up and I don't see them going up along with minimum wage.

[teaserpleaser]

There are higher paying jobs but most people arent willing to go there or do the type of work.

[Emily_Haines]

You need to find a job where you can get money under the table or game the system for your shitty 250 a week. No way would I work a shit job for $6 an hour and fuk the GOP for thinking you have too.

[doublej95]

it's tough out there boys, I make between 50-60k and i had more money when I first started working 13 years ago and was making 30k. my salary has doubled over that time but many things that you buy has almost tripled in price.

[FourLengthsClear]

It's a tough situation.

Wages grow at a slow (or zero) rate and standards of living fall.
Wages grow faster and companies that have to compete internationally can't do so.

[High3rEl3m3nt]

Going to be a long post and I’m sorry, but I encourage you all to read!

I'm the second oldest of six and was also raised in a very poor family—my parents divorced during my childhood and my father was the only one that worked. I’m in my late 20s, so what I have to say goes for the 1990s, which represents the epitome of soft parenting, consumerism, and laziness.

While the youngest is still in high school and one other is in the process of attaining his undergrad, the rest of us have a minimum of a bachelor’s, with my oldest brother in the process of completing his doctorate degree.

Those of you who have multiple siblings know that parenting styles differ greatly from the eldest to the youngest. Having 5 other siblings, I was part of the tier of parenting that was militaristic—was charged a dollar for every article of clothing left on the ground, was not allowed to sleep in on the weekend, and was not allowed to play video games/ watch television for more than 45 minutes a day—which didn’t matter because the TV that we were gifted broke (one of those large wooden enclosed sets). The youngest three’s childhoods are completely different!

I remember being very conscious of the fact that we didn’t have very much, as I received a scholarship to private school and was surrounded by rich kids. The recognition of our socioeconomic standing made me hungry to change it. If I wanted clothes for school, I had to buy them. If I wanted to watch a movie with my rich friends, my money was going to purchase the ticket.

To make money, my oldest brother and myself hustled the neighborhood, cleaning gutters, mowing lawns, raking leaves, and anything else that you could name. We did a good job too! My father was in the military and he instilled in us a strong work ethic and taught us to take pride in the work that we do. When we reached ages that allowed us to secure paper routes, our work ethic paid off and the local route managers were all too glad to let us take over the routes for our neighborhood and several in adjacent neighborhoods. We started wising up too…and realized that there are plenty of ways to make a buck. Between organizing boxing and wrestling matches (selling admission) to making, selling, and bartering knock-off cigarettes, we had more money at the time than we knew what to do with. GUARANTEE that we were making more money in one month than TTWARRIOR was making in SIX MONTHS.

Long story short, we learned to value the dollar, understand how economics works, and recognize that there are numerous ways to make money if you are willing to put in the work, apply some good ‘ol American ingenuity, and remain resilient. Obviously, I can’t speak for everyone who has grown up poor, but the trials and tribulations of my childhood, as well as my determination to make something of myself, have paid off. My oldest brother, my younger sister, and myself constitute as the three oldest, who were largely left to fend for themselves. Though my parents sucked in many aspects of their parenting, our socioeconomic standing and their teaching us the value of hard work, as well as being strict, are what I see as the characteristics that helped build the foundations for each of our current successes. Interestingly, I see the three youngest headed down a different road, regardless of whatever degrees they’ll attain. I am worried that they don’t possess the backbone needed to be successful in this economy, nor the tenacity to keep trying when things don’t pan out the first time.

Education can be the big lie if that is all you have. Education can be the big lie if you don’t recognize how it will translate to the economy. Education is not social mobility, but an aspect that helps those less fortunate climb the socioeconomic rungs of society. It’s not what the economy can offer you, but what do you offer the economy?

[bettilimbroke999]

ur friend is a dumbass if he is a CPA making 35k a year. Studying for my CPA now as we speak and I'm significantly above that only 3 years outta school.

Job market is absolute shit right now, this countries on the borderline of the Great Depression 2, maybe you live in a city like New York where they have to pay more just to make up for the fact everything costs twice as much but otherwise getting a high paying accounting job without a CPA right out of school the only thing I want to know is are you related/friends with the owner or do you give good head

For the record my friend is both very smart (passed CPA first time out and has a masters in accounting) and unbelievably hardworking, but if you dont know somebody gettin a high-payin job with little experience aint easy these days when theres 200 applicants with the same education and more experience ahead of you

[Told You So!]

Higher minimum wage forced by the government only leads to inflation and the costs are passed on to the consumer making $10 hr minimum wage and he gains no advantage but is likely to dumb to realize it! Many of the jobs become too expensive and are shipped overseas an unintended consequence.

[bettilimbroke999]

Only way to find a good job is to be lucky or know people.

Coming from an impoverished family, I've been sociologically aware since I was quite young, and have been observing the growth of my peers. And everything you learn is true, all my friends from richer families are doing well, all my friends from poorer families are struggling. EDUCATION DID NOT EVEN MATTER MUCH! This is a crucial point to make! My rich friends who did not go to University are making more and more well off than my poorer friends who did go get educated (yes, they had to take out loans). I still don't know if this has to do with poorer people willing to take any job they can and settle on being underemployed, or if richer people do have connections and a WASP-ish family name that can get them higher positions.

My poor educated friends are in that category you are talking about. Higher level positions, but paid like $15 -18/hr. Which is peanuts for someone with outstanding student loans. These salaries have not gone up and I don't see them going up along with minimum wage.

Exactly and great post

First off lets say you make 15/hr for 40 hours a week = 600/wk or 31k a year and have 80k @ 5% college loan to pay off, okay you are going to be paying 500/mo for the next 30 fuckin year just to pay off your SL so knock off 6k a year for your education so you are really only making 25k a year for the next 30 years (which means youll be 52 by the time you've paid for your college education). **** u couldve gotten a min wage job in SF for 11 an hour and made 22k busin dishes instead and have no debts and have made 88k busin dishes during those 4 years you spent 80k in college. Only way to make a college degree pay off in today's job market is to know somebody, otherwise get ready to play the job lotto with 200 other applicants with the same education and more experience

[Masu485]

The problem is that no one wants to admit there is a problem. They just say 'Well, work harder'.

[Ninersnut]

Job market is absolute shit right now, this countries on the borderline of the Great Depression 2, maybe you live in a city like New York where they have to pay more just to make up for the fact everything costs twice as much but otherwise getting a high paying accounting job without a CPA right out of school the only thing I want to know is are you related/friends with the owner or do you give good head

For the record my friend is both very smart (passed CPA first time out and has a masters in accounting) and unbelievably hardworking, but if you dont know somebody gettin a high-payin job with little experience aint easy these days when theres 200 applicants with the same education and more experience ahead of you

None of the above. I live in Jersey in a bumfukk town. Working on CPA no Masters. Really no CPA should be accepting a job for 35k. That's working at the mall type $$.

[TodayIsForgotten]

Sad, but true. It really is who you know. For others they'll luck out but that is such a small percentage. I've been on many job interviews where i was qualified and they found a way to discredit you. Luckily I had a brother who got me a interview and the rest is history. Work for a company that pulls in 4 billion a year and they don't reward their employees. No bonus' and no raises. Only if you're high up. 46k. I was doing the same thing 4 years ago making 52k.

[Ninersnut]

Exactly and great post

First off lets say you make 15/hr for 40 hours a week = 600/wk or 31k a year and have 80k @ 5% college loan to pay off, okay you are going to be paying 500/mo for the next 30 fuckin year just to pay off your SL so knock off 6k a year for your education so you are really only making 25k a year for the next 30 years (which means youll be 52 by the time you've paid for your college education). **** u couldve gotten a min wage job in SF for 11 an hour and made 22k busin dishes instead and have no debts and have made 88k busin dishes during those 4 years you spent 80k in college. Only way to make a college degree pay off in today's job market is to know somebody, otherwise get ready to play the job lotto with 200 other applicants with the same education and more experience

Except for the fact u make 88k every 4 years. The 10 years ur not paying that college debt ur making like 100k plus a year. It all depends how u wanna live. Trying raising a family on 22k a year and working 50+ hours with ur hands in the sink.

[CarpeDime]

shut up stop complaining get a job or get 2 jobs if u want more money then 1 job or get 3 jobs if u want more money then 2 jobs

cut taxes for rich people most important thing

in the usa you are free to have as many jobs as you want hence as much money as you want

get 5 jobs at minimum wage and guess what now youre annual income is 5x the minimum wage

but liberals want to tax people who have 5 jobs and give it to people who are too lazy to even have one job

common sense

[UntilTheNDofTimE]

Great post, yes out of warehouse jobs, call centers, and banks most jobs pay minimum wage. Only people with college degrees or a trade skill make more than min wage out of those few examples i named

[bettilimbroke999]

shut up stop complaining get a job or get 2 jobs if u want more money then 1 job or get 3 jobs if u want more money then 2 jobs

cut taxes for rich people most important thing

in the usa you are free to have as many jobs as you want hence as much money as you want

get 5 jobs at minimum wage and guess what now youre annual income is 5x the minimum wage

but liberals want to tax people who have 5 jobs and give it to people who are too lazy to even have one job

common sense

Yes if ppl work 140 hours a week for slave wages they can make a good living btw go kill yourself

[bettilimbroke999]

Except for the fact u make 88k every 4 years. The 10 years ur not paying that college debt ur making like 100k plus a year. It all depends how u wanna live. Trying raising a family on 22k a year and working 50+ hours with ur hands in the sink.

Yes in 30 years you will make 100k a year problem is in 2040 100k will equal 35k today

Do you really think you're going to be making 300k a year to do taxes in 2040? Keep dreamin bro, I assure you no boss is gonna pay you 300k to audit the books, in fact youll prolly be fired bc you're making too much and he can hire a young person for half the price to do the same job

[forsberg21]

Bettil

This is why the Rich keep getting richer and why the American dream is on life support..

The Uhmurikan Dream is DEAD. The USA is in the shitter.

As much as you guys all love me, you can't argue with this: NOW IS NOT A GOOD TIME TO BE AN AMERICAN

[downsouth]

The Uhmurikan Dream is DEAD. The USA is in the shitter.

As much as you guys all love me, you can't argue with this: NOW IS NOT A GOOD TIME TO BE AN AMERICAN

You obviously make more than minimum wage but most here are not willing to work the other side of a glory hole at a truckstop restroom like yourself.

[forsberg21]

You obviously make more than minimum wage but most here are not willing to work the other side of a glory hole at a truckstop restroom like yourself.

Wow, you're so funny man. That joke is so original and hits me where it hurts because it's so dead on accurate and not generic whatsoever.