News Solving The $15 An Hour Minimum Wage Problem

Fast food workers recently went on strike demanding $15 per hour and their strike was met with tons of backlash from people ostensibly more educated then them.

I recently said HECK NO and stated numerous reasons, particularly because if they received a 50% increase in salary, then it possibly deflated the value of my job, and if they received a raise that high, then why shouldn't I receive one too? I'm more talented than someone who pours a medium diet coke and can't spell half the words on the menu, right?

Now contrarily, I'm saying HECK YES to selectively raising the minimum wage under the following conditions:

The amount of welfare must be lowered. As it stands, people can make more money collecting welfare than they can working minimum wage. Why would you go to work when you can make more money, or almost as much, by hanging out all day? Why work for a handful peanuts when you get them for free?

Welfare amounts must be lowered while minimum wage is raised to $10 so that people can earn more by working.

No employee under the age of 25 shall be eligible for $15 minimum wage. People under 25 can still attend college or a trade school and make a career for themselves. Don't even talk to me about "I can't afford it" because the more poor you are, then the more money you receive in grants and loans. You CAN afford it. You just have to find the motivation to stop being a bum and do something with your life.

I don't believe in high school students earning $15 because they will spend it irresponsibly and they need to learn to manage their funds before becoming an adult. College students don't exactly need it either.

People over 25 who still refuse to do anything productive, or simply don't have the mental capacity, then yes, they should receive a wage that they can live on for themselves without collecting welfare. Some people just don't have the ability to function in other jobs or weren't lucky enough to have intelligent parents. That's fine. Those people deserve to live a nice life, and if they're going to work 40 hours a week providing a service that we need, then I fully support them earning $15.

The fast food industry jobs are mainly for high school and college kids. They're not designed to be life long careers, but rather stepping stones to growing up responsibly while handing a few free burgers to your friends on the weekends.

The other catch is that the greedy CEO's really need to assess their situations and realize how many people they can help. If you're a multimillionaire who loses a few hundred K, does it really affect your life? Your whole family is set for life. You could improve the life of a few others while you're at it.

Remember this:

1. Selectively lower the amount of welfare benefits for people fit for work, which does not include those with physical handicaps or other conditions.
2. Raise minimum wage for people over 25, or those with conditions deeming them unable to work at other jobs.
3. Set limits on who is eligible for both, creating a balanced mix of lowered benefits and increased minimum.

Maybe now there will be less people on welfare, more people strapping the boots for work each day, and teenagers aren't blindly banking $120 a day on an 8 hour shift thinking "I can live like this forever" and losing motivation to be something bigger and better.

 

[pafjlh]

The grant money for education isn't worth talking about and don't get me started on those so called student loans. Bottom line some kids still can't afford college unless they are fortunate enough to get a scholarship or to come from a well to do family. I do agree with you though that those under a certain age working fast food should be on a different pay scale. Why, because in cases of those who are eighteen to lets say 21, odds are they are sitll living with their parents and don't have family's of their own to support. I also have another idea about this how about tips. Maybe if fast food went to this it might help to make up for the lower wages the employees get, just a thought.

 

[princessvillain]

I disagree with the post above me. I'm not in the education field as a career, so I don't know the inner workings or behind the scene funding situations. But grant money is worth talking about, and student loans are an option. My parents had no money to send me off to college, and if it wasn't for financial aid I wouldn't have been able to go. Yes, I'm making student loan payments but nearly everyone is making a payment on something - I think paying off my student loans is a more valuable debt than paying off a credit card because I went shopping. And fast food could never go to tips. What person is going to pay 15% on a cheeseburger and fries? You'd get the equivalent of one of those "need a penny, give a penny" trays that are on the counter I would think.

That said, I don't think these people deserve $15 an hour, but it isn't a question of need. It's not up to you or I to decide what someone else NEEDS. We can't sit here and say that high school students don't need the money, and probably not college students either. Sure, they probably don't "need" it. The average 17 year old working at McDonalds probably is living at home and just working over the summer or because mom wants him out of the house 3 nights a week after school or whatever. But we can't sit here and talk about what they do or don't need. I don't think the "teenage mom" or "high schooler supporting his family" situation is THAT widespread to justify $15 minimum wage, though.


I know plenty of adults who spend money irresponsibly. My husband, for example. The man is 35 and if you give him $100 he will run with it to the nearest store that sells Star Wars stuff. Does that mean he doesn't deserve his hourly base because I, you, or anyone else thinks he spends it irresponsibly? No. So I don't agree with that point either.

People of ANY age can attend college or trade school. And in many cases (with financial aid) you can afford to go to school and still live. But yes, the older you are, the harder it is. Someone in their 40's or more probably has to focus on earning a living rather than going to school. But we can't start factoring in age when it comes to base pay. That would open up a whole discrimination can of worms that nobody has the time or resources for. Plus, it would be age discrimination. I barely meet your "25 and older" requirement. How am I any more worthy of $15 now than I was a few weeks ago?

I don't see why pay can't be determined by merit and performance. Start people off at a reasonable wage. My first job I got paid $6-something an hour, and it sucked but you either go to school and get the hell out or you stick through it, prove you're worth more, and get more (if it's a good company). I chose the first option, but I know many people who chose door number 2 and are doing quite well. The longer someone works in your business, shows up on time, gives great service, does whatever it is that they are paid to do well..pay them more. I have no problem with someone who has made McDonalds their career, who has delivered great customer service and done a great job for years and years making $15. The girl who chews her gum and acts like I'm bothering her by asking her for something...not so much.

 

[missbishi]

I don't like hourly rates being determined by a person's age at all. A job well done is a job well done, regardless of whether it was done by a 16 year old or a 40 year old. Pay should be determined by performance, not age.

 

[Josie]

lol your world view makes me sad... this is what's wrong with the world

 

[Emil]

Minimum wage should go up and it doesn't matter how old the person is. Living costs are going up and not going down anytime soon. This raise would be able to help many people who really need it.

 

[princessvillain]

I'm glad to see that the popular opinion so far seems to be that your pay shouldn't be determined by how old you are. I was really worried that there would be a bunch of people saying what a great idea this is. I'm personally of the mindset, as I've said time and time again, that there should be a fair base wage that is truly MINIMUM...it shouldn't be enough to afford a nice mortgage and a Lexus and eating out every night, it should be LIVABLE...and the raises should be based on performance.

 

[Campenplatz0110]

I don't like hourly rates being determined by a person's age at all. A job well done is a job well done, regardless of whether it was done by a 16 year old or a 40 year old. Pay should be determined by performance, not age.

This sounds like the typical "Everyone younger than me is irresponsible and immature" arguement. I know 16 year olds who are way more responsible than some 50 year olds I know! Age is just a number, it's not always an indication of responsibility.

 

[JoshPosh]

I just told today that the new minimum wage is now $15 usd an hour, in New York. It will be interesting to see how the states does in the next year or so. This will be the bench mark and the whole US of A will be watching to see repercussions, if any, and downfalls. You can bet the prices of everything you buy is going to go up.

 

[Danielle Davidson]

I have to agree with most of the points that this article is making. Why is someone who is 16 making that much money, they don't have bills that they have to pay. They use all that money and they waste it. Unless it's for gas how much money can they really need? I don't think that the age to get $15 an hour should be 25 that's a little too old. But I also agree with the fact that people can go to college now, most just choose not too. All my friends and I applied to the same colleges. You know what, they all basically had most of theirs paid for and I didn't because my parents made a lot of money. My ex boyfriend is going to college for free as are some of his friends. So yes, the less money that you have the more the school is going to give you. I know that sometimes people can't go if they can't take out loans, but that's about it. And some school's will even work with you so that you could go there.

 

[Corzhens]

Now we see that the president is a very busy man. The minimum wage is a complex issue because it is the balance between employment and economy. A low minimum wage is anti labor but a high minimum wage is anti business.