Impossible to even comprehend these numbers....

[Renee]

Isn't it funny how these "low wage" jobs are the basis for the Obama Admins job creation numbers?

 

Paying people more than minimum wage to work at McDonalds is asinine and counter to the rules of business. You get paid what you are worth in any job. Flipping a burger or handing out fries isn't worth shit. These types of jobs are not meant to be careers and if you want to get ahead in life you shouldn't be counting on being a cashier at Wal-Mart or a burger flipper at McDonalds. Those types of jobs are starter jobs unfortunately today they are the majority of jobs available to unskilled labor. Maybe you need to ask why that is? Why aren't there more higher paying jobs for unskilled labor? Why isn't the US economy growing at a healthy rate? Why is job creation in the US basically limited to retail and part time work?

[Romero]

^^Wal-Mart Stores  paid $7.1 billion (at a rate of 32.4%) in income taxes. However, at least your article admits that lower income people use more services and contribute less than the rest of us.

They've got a lot of nerve insisting on needing food to survive. Why can't they just find a second and third job?

[Renee]

$7 Billion a Year: The Public Cost of Low-Wage Fast-Food Jobs



Low-wage fast-food jobs cost the American public nearly 7 billion a year, according to a new report by researchers at the University of California at Berkeley.



Workers on the front line of the $200 billion-a-year industry make a median of $8.69 an hour and rarely get health benefits.  And, in contrast to a common misconception, the majority of fast-food workers are not teenagers, and more than one third of those over 20 are raising at least one child.



This economic situation is forcing 52% of the workers, including those who work full-time, to rely on safety net programs including Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the Children's Health Insurance Program, as well as Earned Income Tax Credit payments to make ends meet, all of which adds up to almost $7 annually.



"The taxpayer costs we discovered were staggering," said Ken Jacobs, report co-author and chair of UC Berkeley's Center for Labor Research and Education. "People who work in fast-food jobs are paid so little that having to rely on public assistance is the rule, rather than the exception, even for those working 40 hours or more a week."



For many fast-food workers, it's a life of poverty.  The report's executive summary notes that "One in five families with a member holding a fast-food job has an income below the poverty line, and 43 percent have an income two times the federal poverty level or less."



"The cost is public because taxpayers bear it," added UC Berkeley economist Sylvia Allegretto, co-chair of the Center for Wage and Employment Dynamics.  "Yet it remains hidden in national policy debates about poverty, employment and public spending."



http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/10/16-3">//http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/10/16-3

And a single Walmart has been estimated to cost American taxpayers at least a million per year. Paying poverty wages is basically another form of corporate welfare. In 1968, the minimum wage in the US was $1.60/hour which would be $10.74 today. But minimum wage in the US is just $7.25/hour today.



With 40% of American workers making less than what the minimum wage was in 1968, how can we expect there not to be a huge burden on taxpayers? 50 million Americans can't even afford to feed themselves and their families without government assistance.



Since companies like McDonald's and Walmart are making record profits in the billions, shouldn't they be paying a decent, livable wage? Why do Americans, taxpayers and the economy have to suffer when these companies are laughing all the way to the bank?

How many of those 50 million were added to the food stamp and welfare roles since Obama became president.

http://www.dailyjobsupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/Food-Stamps-Presidents-Totals.png">

[Romero]

Paying people more than minimum wage to work at McDonalds is asinine and counter to the rules of business.

Indeed. Why would any company want anything less than record billions when the government and taxpayers can make up for wages lower than they were in 1968?

Why aren't there more higher paying jobs for unskilled labor? Why isn't the US economy growing at a healthy rate? Why is job creation in the US basically limited to retail and part time work?

Because this is what corporations and Republicans wanted.

[Anonymous]

Isn't it funny how these "low wage" jobs are the basis for the Obama Admins job creation numbers?

 

Paying people more than minimum wage to work at McDonalds is asinine and counter to the rules of business. You get paid what you are worth in any job. Flipping a burger or handing out fries isn't worth shit. These types of jobs are not meant to be careers and if you want to get ahead in life you shouldn't be counting on being a cashier at Wal-Mart or a burger flipper at McDonalds. Those types of jobs are starter jobs unfortunately today they are the majority of jobs available to unskilled labor. Maybe you need to ask why that is? Why aren't there more higher paying jobs for unskilled labor? Why isn't the US economy growing at a healthy rate? Why is job creation in the US basically limited to retail and part time work?

I live in a province with the highest wages in Canada and one of the lower unemployment rates. Most fast food franchisees have to bring in at least some temporary foreign workers because Albertans have greater job opportunities than most other places on this continent.



Srsly though, why would anyone hold up Wallyworld as their example? Who in their right mind would want to make retail or fast food their career? These are entry-level, no-skills necessary jobs. I have an auntie that lives in Singapore. Singapore is a very, very wealthy city state. However, the gap between unskilled, menial jobs like retailing and highly skilled occupations is greater than Canada or the USA. Singapore doesn't have natural resources like Canada and the US. They have people and to remain competitive they need their workforce to be skilled. High wages in the fast food industry(a low wage industry in any country) does not act as an incentive to improve oneself.

[Anonymous]

Paying people more than minimum wage to work at McDonalds is asinine and counter to the rules of business.

Indeed. Why would any company want anything less than record billions when the government and taxpayers can make up for wages lower than they were in 1968?

Why aren't there more higher paying jobs for unskilled labor? Why isn't the US economy growing at a healthy rate? Why is job creation in the US basically limited to retail and part time work?

Because this is what corporations and Republicans wanted.

Corporations and other international business are making their money thanks to emerging markets like China.



Romero, if you owned a franchise you would be paying your workers minimum wage too. If not, you will go under.

[Romero]

How many of those 50 million were added to the food stamp and welfare roles since Obama became president.

And ever since the Great Recession.



Obama has wanted to raise the minimum wage. Corporations and Republicans are against it.



So are you. What do you expect people to do if they can't make a decent wage? Starve?

[Anonymous]

How many of those 50 million were added to the food stamp and welfare roles since Obama became president.

And ever since the Great Recession.



Obama has wanted to raise the minimum wage. Corporations and Republicans are against it.



So are you. What do you expect people to do if they can't make a decent wage? Starve?

Every small business owner would be against it. Profit margins in retail are razor thin to begin with. Minimum wage even slightly higher could force a lot of small family owned business to put plywood over their windows or reduce staff.

[Romero]

Romero, if you owned a franchise you would be paying your workers minimum wage too. If not, you will go under.

Sure. But minimum wage in BC is $10.25 and it's only $7.25 in the US. It needs to be more in the US.



If Americans can't make enough to afford basic necessities, we shouldn't be surprised that government and the taxpayers have to provide assistance.

[Renee]

^^Wal-Mart Stores  paid $7.1 billion (at a rate of 32.4%) in income taxes. However, at least your article admits that lower income people use more services and contribute less than the rest of us.

They've got a lot of nerve insisting on needing food to survive. Why can't they just find a second and third job?

Why not a second job? If you have mouths to feed you do what you need to do. If it was up to people like you everyone would be being paid $20 dollars an hour for doing $8 dollar an hour work. I'm all for helping people who need help but I draw the line when it comes to helping the clueless. That might be an unpopular point of view given the political climate but at least it's realistic.



With people like you it is punish the successful and give handouts to those who refuse to take responsibility for their own welfare. We've heard your song and dance before and it is still wrongheaded. Government entitlements are not the answer. We need to find a way to bring back high paying manufacturing jobs to the US where unskilled labor can do a job that is worth $12 or even $15 dollars an hour.

[Romero]

Why not a second job?

Why not a life? Why not a livable wage when profits are at record highs? What happened to the American Dream?



It's not much of a problem in most developed nations.

If it was up to people like you everyone would be being paid $20 dollars an hour for doing $8 dollar and hour work.

Nah, minimum wage should be at least what it was back in 1968. We're seeing what happens when Americans can't make a decent living.

[Anonymous]

Romero, if you owned a franchise you would be paying your workers minimum wage too. If not, you will go under.

Sure. But minimum wage in BC is $10.25 and it's only $7.25 in the US. It needs to be more in the US.



If Americans can't make enough to afford basic necessities, we shouldn't be surprised that government and the taxpayers have to provide assistance.

The minimum wage in Alberta is apparently $9.95/hour. However, our average wage as of 2012 is $1,072.98/week while BC with a higher minimum wage than us is considerably lower at $866.31/week.



Anyway, if you check out my thread about jobs we have had in the past you will see that most of us have had entry-level retail or fast food type jobs. I worked in a Dairy Queen for a summer. I certainly wasn't thinking long term when I worked there. Make some pocket money and buy some clothes. You have probably had a job or two like that yourself. Were you demanding minimum wage be increased or did you realize the job was not meant to provide a future? I think the latter.

[Romero]

I've never worked for minimum wage.



It's okay here in Canada. I'm talking about how bad it is in the USA. Millions are struggling, taxpayers have to make up the lack in wage that companies won't pay, and it all adds to the debt.



"Unfunded liabilities".



If minimum wage in the US was raised to about $10/hour, companies would still profit and America would be much better off.

[Anonymous]

I've never worked for minimum wage.



It's okay here in Canada. I'm talking about how bad it is in the USA. Millions are struggling, taxpayers have to make up the lack in wage that companies won't pay, and it all adds to the debt.



"Unfunded liabilities".



If minimum wage in the US was raised to about $10/hour, companies would still profit and America would be much better off.

You have never had an entry-level job in retail or fast food? Wow, that is surprising.



Anyway, this must be a tough one for the ideological left. Most mom and pop retail stores pay minimum wage. Most fast food places that also pay minimum wage in the US are also owner-operated. Does the left throw small business owners under the bus and force them to go under/reduce staff by raising their costs? Perhaps a more practical alternative would be to tell adults not to stay in kids' jobs for the rest of their lives. Seems like a much more practical alternative.

[Renee]

I've never worked for minimum wage.



It's okay here in Canada. I'm talking about how bad it is in the USA. Millions are struggling, taxpayers have to make up the lack in wage that companies won't pay, and it all adds to the debt.



"Unfunded liabilities".



If minimum wage in the US was raised to about $10/hour, companies would still profit and America would be much better off.

You have never had an entry-level job in retail or fast food? Wow, that is surprising.



Anyway, this must be a tough one for the ideological left. Most mom and pop retail stores pay minimum wage. Most fast food places that also pay minimum wage in the US are also owner-operated. Does the left throw small business owners under the bus and force them to go under/reduce staff by raising their costs? Perhaps a more practical alternative would be to tell adults not to stay in kids' jobs for the rest of their lives. Seems like a much more practical alternative.

They did it big time with Obamacare. Do you think they wouldn't think twice about heaping more costs onto small businesses? The cost of doing business means nothing to our imperial "dear Leader" so long as the agenda doesn't suffer.