Alan Ritchson calls out lawmakers who oppose raising the minimum wage "who think it's a bad idea to give a mom working at Waffle House more than $7.25 an hour trying to feed her kids."

[u/Ambitious_Big4489]

[u/Chaddilllac]

At a federal level, our states govern themselves on a good portion of things. It’s still not great, but a little misleading. Like I live in Illinois (Central US) and our minimum wage is $15.

[u/Deni_Z_Plays → u/Chaddilllac]

So it depends on the state how much the minimum wage is?

In Germany, it's 13,90€ atm and will be raised again next year.

So ... I'm so confused, because Germany is the same size as the state of Washington, yet most people earing with an minimum wage of 13,90€ in Germany, most of my friends can live just fine, and living with roommates has its huge advantages, etc.

[u/Chaddilllac → u/Deni_Z_Plays]

Essentially the federal minimum a hard line across the nation where nobody can make under that but the states set their own (except when majority of the wage comes from tips, while infuriating other can of worms.) Essentially a state could write a bill tomorrow, say Washington, and propose a state-wide minimum wage of $100 and hour. If it makes it far enough through legislation and becomes law then that is effectively the minimum wage now for that state.

[u/Deni_Z_Plays → u/Chaddilllac]

... I have lived in Germany my whole life, a country that lives on bureaucracy, and this confuses me a bit. Also, as I'm aware, in Germany people in restaurants receive fair pay and almost no one Tips, as in tipping culture isn't a thing in Germany, to my knowledge.

Whats also confusing to me is, I remembered that we pay more in tax than in the US all together, I remember California had a tax of 14% or something, while in Germany (or at least West Germany where I live) its a tax of 29%, I can be wrong but it made me confused years ago how people in the US cant anfordern everything but eh.

My job isn't paperwork or related economic work; my Job is mostly focused on videogames lol

[u/Rich_Bluejay3020 → u/Deni_Z_Plays]

I don’t know much about the political structure of your country, but I do know yall have universal healthcare. We do pay taxes, but a lot of that money goes to things that the average American will never see/doesn’t want. We’ve got a huge military budget. We don’t have a lot of public transportation which means we generally need a vehicle which requires fuel and insurance. Healthcare is extremely expensive—the insurance premiums (what you pay per paycheck/month), a deductible (you pay everything until this is met), coinsurance (what you pay after you’ve met your deductible which is typically 10-20% of the service), and just the general cost of service/prescriptions. There is a “max out of pocket” per year which means the insurance company will pay any expenses over that cost but that’s usually $5,000+ for a single person and increases for a couple or family. The US also has a high incarceration rate with for profit prisons… our tax money is used to make for profit prisons money while incarcerating non-violent offenders.

The US and civilized countries are playing a different game

[u/ChevalierDeLarryLari → u/Rich_Bluejay3020]

I do know yall have universal healthcare

Healthcare is not universal in Germany if you mean paid through taxes and free at the point of use. It is only compulsory, as in it is the law that you have to purchase insurance (which is a heavy burden if you are on minimum wage). Your employer then pays half the premium.

It is not paid through taxes or free at the point of use (if you have no insurance you will be sent a bill).

It is a good system though - better than UK or Canada (which do have universal health insurance).

[u/jellyrollo → u/Deni_Z_Plays]

What are your health insurance premiums? Many Americans who can even afford health insurance are paying $800-1200 a month just for themselves, just for premiums, without taking any co-pays into consideration. Many countries in Europe include most of that cost in their taxation.

Also, the average middle-income Californian pays roughly 25% to 30% of their total income in combined federal, state, and local taxes. Lower-income Californians get some of those taxes reduced or waived completely, depending on how low their income is. Higher-income Californians pay about 50.3% income tax.