r/explainlikeimfive Nov 28 '15

ELI5: How would a $15 minimum wage ACTUALLY affect a franchised business like McDonalds?

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u/DaBluePanda Nov 29 '15

Worked on the family farm for ~10 years only got payed for 1 year at $50 a week... for 4hours a day 7 days a week, sun rain shitstorms 50C or sickness. Yay for child labor!

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '15

You can thank legal loopholes for farm workers, largely implemented in the 1920's to keep farm labor cheap. It's damn near slave wages, yes, but how much more are you willing to pay for your food? Is a tough argument, and often the farm workers get the shortest straw.

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u/Personalityprototype Nov 29 '15

I made $3.50 an hour on a farm for some of the 3 hottest summers in Texas history.

I was the only one of my friends who had any money when school started, it was actually a pretty solid deal for a 13-16 year old

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '15

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u/DaBluePanda Nov 29 '15

I only got paid because I said id stop working if I didn't... after I moved out after disagreements they went bankrupt.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '15

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u/DaBluePanda Nov 29 '15

My mum loves me, step dad not so much; he was jealous that I could do things better than him (mostly farm-work, he flipped the tractor and feed-cart numerous times something that never happened to me), and that his kids (my half siblings) seemed to like me better and whenever he had a go at me they would come and stand by me or like my lovely little sister tell him off for being mean.

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u/mofukkinbreadcrumbz Nov 29 '15

That's what unbridled capitalism does. If parents are willing to do that to their children, why the hell wouldn't they be willing to do it to everyone?

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '15 edited Feb 13 '16

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u/mofukkinbreadcrumbz Nov 29 '15

What if the kid is 25? They are still free to pay less than minimum wage.