New study: You can't live on minimum wage

[clcooper]

New study: You can't live on minimum wage | Detroit Free Press | freep.com



"It's staggering," said Gilda Jacobs, president of the league. Jacobs noted that although the state's unemployment rate is dropping, the number of requests for food assistance is climbing because many of the new jobs being created are low-paying.

"So if you put $60 worth of gas in your car, you can't buy your kid milk," she said. "With these kinds of salaries, you can't support your kids, you can't buy them clothes, save for college, or have money on hand for a car repair."


just raise the taxes and the interest rates . that will fix the problem

 

[xiggi]

Here's a thought, don't have babys you can't afford.

 

[Turtle]

The problem is the jobs availability that's above minimum wage - they're few and far between these days. At least you got to give the girl credit, working two jobs, 60 hours a week, she's hardly sitting back and raking in the welfare.

The command to "be fruitful and multiply" didn't come with a condition of gainful employment.

 

[cheri1122]

Here's a thought, don't have babys you can't afford.

Totally agree. But it doesn't help the kids who arrived a few years ago, when the parents could afford them.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Ya see that is where some Americans are dumb...in other cultures they will get themselves a 4-5 bdroom house say 4 couples with kids say 6 of them will take minimum wage jobs.1 or 2 will stay home and tend to kids..now your looking at over 42.00 an hour coming into a shared household....

 

[layoutshooter]

Yeah, many Americans are dumb. They believe that the "minimum wage" was set up to insure their living, it was not.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Yeah, many Americans are dumb. They believe that the "minimum wage" was set up to insure their living, it was not.

yeah..its a minimum wage, not lifestyle...gee whiz....if ya got mouths to feed ya go out and find a way....BOTH parents are responsible....

Heck it fruit pickin season in some areas...go pick and put some Mexicans out of a job....

 

[Dakota]

Here's a thought, don't have babys you can't afford.

Amen, someone talking some sense finally!!!

 

[layoutshooter]

yeah..its a minimum wage, not lifestyle...gee whiz....if ya got mouths to feed ya go out and find a way....BOTH parents are responsible....

Heck it fruit pickin season in some areas...go pick and put some Mexicans out of a job....

Do something to improve your skill set so you have more to "sell" so to speak. The government as no business setting a "minimum wage" in the first place. What employer thinks a job is worth is frankly NONE of the governments business. All raising that wage does is increase costs, lowers profits and puts people out of work.

MOST minimum wage jobs are in lower profit margin businesses to begin with.

 

[Dakota]

Heck it fruit pickin season in some areas...go pick and put some Mexicans out of a job....

It's easier to stand there with their hand out, besides work like that is beneath them

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Do something to improve your skill set so you have more to "sell" so to speak. The government as no business setting a "minimum wage" in the first place. What employer thinks a job is worth is frankly NONE of the governments business. All raising that wage does is increase costs, lowers profits and puts people out of work.

MOST minimum wage jobs are in lower profit margin businesses to begin with.

don't tell Walmart that....LOL

agreed the wages should be determined what that market can support...

 

[OntarioVanMan]

It's easier to stand there with their hand out, besides work like that is beneath them

I did it for a summer....cherries.pears, apples and tied grapes...
CASH money every day....

story goes I was driving dump truck at the time and things were slow...did this back fill job at a fruit growers asked him if he needed any help.....sure all the help I can get he said....did some days/ evening and weekends....the kids had all new clothes for fall school....

 

[layoutshooter]

don't tell Walmart that....LOL

agreed the wages should be determined what that market can support...

Retail is a really tough profit business. Many items have little or no mark up, so little or no profit. Those items need to be made up by higher mark ups on others.

The market is far better at setting wages than the government. What do they know about costing out labor? The value of a job vs. the profit needed out of that job? Just how many in government ever ran a business? They sure can't run a budget.

 

[Dakota]

I did it for a summer....cherries.pears, apples and tied grapes...
CASH money every day....

story goes I was driving dump truck at the time and things were slow...did this back fill job at a fruit growers asked him if he needed any help.....sure all the help I can get he said....did some days/ evening and weekends....the kids had all new clothes for fall school....

Young people now have no work ethic for the most part, much easier to mooch off of the parents or collect food stamps or get money for having babies then to do hard manual labor.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Young people now have no work ethic for the most part, much easier to mooch off of the parents or collect food stamps or get money for having babies then to do hard manual labor.

I did say I hated ladders right? LOL

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Retail is a really tough profit business. Many items have little or no mark up, so little or no profit. Those items need to be made up by higher mark ups on others.

The market is far better at setting wages than the government. What do they know about costing out labor? The value of a job vs. the profit needed out of that job? Just how many in government ever ran a business? They sure can't run a budget.

aren't most politicians lawyers? they never had to run a company, meet budgets....

 

[layoutshooter]

aren't most politicians lawyers? they never had to run a company, meet budgets....

A good number of them are. Most GOOD business people would prefer to stay in business and earn a GOOD living. They are also used to being around people who have an idea what 2+2 means.

 

[tbubster]

the young lady seems to have her head on right.two jobs and school.good for her.however if she is haveing a hard time pulling it off with the money why is she going to buy a house?to me this is part of the problem.even with the people who are doing it right are still buying what they really can not afford.not because they need it but because they want it. yes your house payment can be lower then your rent but with home ownership come alot of other things that cost money that you dont pay when you rent.

 

[Turtle]

The article didn't say she was buying the house right now, it just said she had the down payment so she could "soon" put it down on a house. Soon may very well mean as soon as she gets her college degree. She's doing everything else right, it would seem, so I don't see her going through all those budgeting and financial classes just to make a major bone-head decision.

 

[clcooper]

can any of you live on minimum wage. if you lost your jobs right now . how are you going to pay your bills you have now and pay to get training to get a better job then a minimum wage one .