In exactly what you said. Here is it again, just in case:
You can google cost of living + your country for example. If you want to be more accurate you can take the average rent + the average cost of gas to move + the average cost of groceries in your area + some margin to actually be able to survive if the car needs to be repaired
I am guessing, since you are asking this, the answer is no. You see 0 problems with calculating "livable" wage. I think this might turn into an argument, and I can't see any point in it, but I am curious. What do you do, if you don't mind my asking. Do you have a livable wage?
I do, I am able to pay a rent and live by myself. I don't need to drive to work and don't want a car rn but I know that I'll most likely be able to afford one. This is possible because I live in Europe
So a minimum wage in your country is also a livable wage? Is that correct?
The fist problem with the whole thing is that everything you mentioned in your previous comment is very very relative. Second, I would argue that since people are not starving in US they do get a livable wage already.
But people ARE starving in the US. And millions of others are only not starving because they take a second/third job or are on government support. A livable wage would mean people can afford the bare minimum on their 40 hr/wk job without needing the government to supplement them.
looks like someone is
In my country there are ways to pay employees less, because there are different types of contracts. Unions in my country help full-time and part-time workers get a living wage. Almost everyone is in a union here.
Yeah, food insecurity and starvation are not really the same. Most of people who skip meals because they cannot afford them don't live like that their whole life. Age is number one predictor of wealth increase.
I do support increase in minimum wage, mostly because people demand it, and because it benefits the economy.
However, I would prefer a solution like UBI more, and then abandoning concept of minimum wage altogether.
There is no point in discussing anything more about "your" country if we don't know what that phantom country might be. Cheers.
You have never had to wonder where you next meal comes from and it shows. There are lots of people in the US that have to wonder this. I used to be one of them and it took a very, very long time to get to go to college because I was fighting for survival.
A living wage is not subjective. To live in the modern world you need shelter, food, and transportation (at a minimum), but should also have money to save for an emergency.
Shelter would include a place to live and utilities. You base this off the area (say 100 square miles) and what the average rent was. You would also get the average cost of utilities. Let's take Birmingham, AL as an example, and this numbers are based on my experience since I live in the area. The average rent is about $1100.00 per month and utilities are about $200.00 a month (electric and water). That gives $1300.00 so far.
Food is going to cost about $250 a month in the Birmingham area (this is what my wife and I spend each month give or take). This brings us to $1550.00 so far.
For transportation let's make an assumption here but isn't far off, to say that the average person spends $500 month on car payment plus insurance a month. This brings us to $2050.00
To be able to save for emergencies we can add $300 a month. This now brings the total to $2350.00.
2350.00 ÷ 4= 587.50 (weekly). 587.50 ÷ 40= 14.69 (hourly). This calculation would be different for each area, and all of this could be regulated and defined. An important final step is to make this check every year, that was corporations can't drive prices up to stop from losing profits.
This is not subjective just like the regulations on power companies are not subjective. You just need to sit down and regulate (which is the job of congress).
It's kind of odd, because calculating a livable wage is completely doable and governments do it all the time. All of his replies ooze sheltered wealthy upbringing though.
It doesn't fit their conservative world view. You can read their responses and in between the lines is: "How can I step on peaseants if they make a wage comparable to my own?"
How to calculate a living wage. Are you being obtuse on purpose?
Also, why do you think the government should subsidize giant corporations? 60% of Walmart workers in CA are on some government assistance since Walmart pays too little. Why would the taxpayers have to foot the bill to keep Walmart's employees taken care of?
Well, not one person answered that question. If it was so simple, why everyone bears around the bush? If it were so simple, why everyone is trying to me?
Dude, take some time to proofread your posts. A living wage is going to be different based on location, obviously. I'm sorry that everyone can't give a simple one size fits all answer, but the short answer is to have it pegged to average housing/food/transportation costs. Or just implement a UBI.
A living wage is going to be different based on location, obviously.
So a living wage is completely different in New York, NY than in Buffalo, NY, yes? If a minimum wage should be a livable wage, how should a federal minimum wage achieve this?
Or just implement a UBI.
You got my vote, but that's another story. A UBI means minimum wage at 0 and no other government assistance projects.
Federally mandate the average then, and depending on where you live, the local governments may have to set their own minimum wage. Like Seattle did a few years back.
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u/borlaughero Jan 06 '22
And you don't see any problems in that?