Post by moonlightbomber on Dec 7, 2013 18:20:49 GMT -5
news.yahoo.com/fast-food-workers-across-us-push-higher-wages-193751687.html
I agree, it's practically impossible to support a family on minimum wage.
That's why you don't drop out of high school, though.
The problem with demanding higher wages for minimum wage jobs is that it ignores the value (or lack thereof) of those sort of menial jobs. Job salaries are a reflection of worth and specialization. Very few people can be a star basketball player or a talented CEO, and consequently, people with those jobs are paid more. They're providing a rare, unique skill necessary to their company's functioning (or team, in the case of a basketball player). Minimum wage jobs, on the other hand, can be done by literally anyone and don't require special skills, so they're accordingly paid less. The law of supply and demand sets salaries. If your job doesn't require a lot of skill and anyone can do it, your job is simply not "worth" as much as another, more skilled job.
It's true that big corporations like McDonald's could afford to pay their employees more, but McDonald's, Burger King, and other fast food franchises aren't the only restaurants that employ people. The restaurant business as a whole has a very, very, very small profit margin. I doubt independent restaurants could afford to pay their employees that much without raising their prices to make up the difference, which means fewer customers. If the minimum wage was higher, you'd likely find that smaller restaurants would either have to raise their prices or simply just not run at all because they can't afford to pay their employees.
Some might argue that given this, only big corporations that can afford it should have to raise their wages. But that doesn't solve the problem. If the independent restaurant down the street paid $8/hr and McDonald's paid $15, who in their right mind would want to work at the independent restaurant? Nobody. The independent restaurants would be forced to raise their wages to compete, even if they weren't required to by law.
Tell that to the labor groups in my country, the Philippines. They're almost always communist-aligned (and I hate communism with a passion).