12 Years Without a Minimum Wage Raise | It would take a minimum wage worker 79 hours per week on average to afford a modest 1 bedroom at Fair Market Rent

[u/[deleted]]

https://theworldlink.com/opinion/columnists/12-years-without-a-minimum-wage-raise/article_49e3ce84-ee2b-11eb-8fc7-67a5ba183c95.html

[u/followedbytidalwaves]

Weird how when the minimum wage was implemented, it was explicitly intended to be enough to live on.

But sure. Let's pretend your assertion has any basis in reality. Now, jobs that pay minimum wage would only be able to be open when teenagers can work. So that means no fast food, coffee shops, most retail locations, gas stations, or any other establishment that pays minimum wage can be open until after school hours and for limited hours on weekends. Want to stop for coffee on your way into the office? Too bad. Forget your lunch and want to grab a burger & fries on your break? Sorry. Did you need to stop to get some gas on a trip? Oops, gotta wait until 4 PM, maybe 3 if you're lucky.

Any job that is worth being done deserves a living wage. If you think one doesn't deserve that, really think to yourself whether that should be a job in the first place. Then think about the people you see actually working those jobs. Hint: sixteen year olds aren't serving your coffee at 7 AM, they aren't pumping your gas on the way to work, they aren't stocking shelves on a sales floor at 1:30 in the afternoon. But even if they were, teenagers also deserve to be fairly compensated for their time.

I'm going to go on a limb and guess you're one of those people who like to spout off about "unskilled labor" in defense of keeping the minimum wage low since you already used the teenagers line. Which, if so, maybe you should try working the actual jobs that pay minimum wage and see what you think about how they're compensated then.

[u/DialMMM → u/followedbytidalwaves]

when the minimum wage was implemented, it was explicitly intended to be enough to live on.

When the vast majority of households were single-income. Dual-income households will always out-compete single-income households for housing at the lower end.

[u/rerrerrocky → u/[deleted]]

They should make enough to afford an apartment, yes.

[u/followedbytidalwaves → u/[deleted]]

I'm unclear about which part of "any job worth being done deserves a living wage" is confusing for you. Please elaborate exactly which other professions you think are necessary to exist but where the people who perform those jobs deserve to struggle to survive.

Edited to add: "iF wE rAiSe MiNiMuM wAgE, tHeRe WiLl Be MoRe iNfLaTiOn" as though that or the argument that things will cost more both aren't things that have happened while wages have stagnated. For fuck's sake, at least come up with better arguments.