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A comment on Minimum-wage worker needs 2.5 full-time jobs to afford a one-bedroom apartment. Parent comment

Re:Minimum-wage worker needs 2.5 full-time jobs to afford a ... by zeroname on Saturday February 16, 2019 @11:44AM (#19179435)
> This devistation is a societal choice made by having a non-existent social safety net in the US. In other countries it's less devastating due to government programs and universal healthcare that protect people while still incentivising them to search for work.

First of all, I agree that raising minimum wage without a proper social safety net is completely irresponsible.

However, if you look at countries like France with "free" education, relatively high minimum wage, lots of labor protection and a strong social safety net, you will find massive youth unemployment. The social safety net is supposed to catch you from falling off the rope. If you're never allowed to get on that rope because you're not employable even at minimum wage, you're likely to stay in the net forever. Soon enough most people around you rely on the safety net and it becomes the social norm.

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Re:Minimum-wage worker needs 2.5 full-time jobs to afford a ... by hellllllllooo on Saturday February 16, 2019 @11:50AM (#19179469)
The US is so far away from that I wouldn't worry too much. See original article. People often seem to hypothesise and focus on bad things that could happen at the expense of bad things that are happening. The is plenty of room in between the two extremes of US and France.
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