Supposed by whom? McDonalds will suggest it's best their jobs be seen as side gigs for teenagers because that's the explanation that best supports their profit margins. The reality is that families of four will have to be supported by McDonalds wages if no other jobs are available for the individual in question.
Another way of looking at it is: what percentage of citizens do you think society should artificially inhibit from being able to support children? Is it 5%? 20%?
And wasn't a high school education good enough 50 years ago for most positions? Companies have been able to force the burden of debt for gaining the skills required for a job onto the individual, through exorbitant college fees and unpaid internships, now you're advocating the government should take on the specialization that the private industries require?
As a college student one is barely able to figure out their interests - there's so much push to start planning well in advance, I have no idea how we can expect a tween to commit to a career path.
Nothing, then import twenty million more of them?
- What is the average age of a McDonald's employee?
- The average age of an 'hourly-paid' employee is 20. You might like to know that we employ 120,000 people of all ages, from school leaving age to people in their 80s. We're also one of the biggest providers of first-time jobs in the U.K.
https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb/help/faq/18338-what-is-th...
It would make sense if the minimum wage for "teenagers" jobs had kept up with the cost of college tuition, or even the increases in costs of a used car or insurance over the last 10 years.
Some teenagers in impoverished areas are helping their parents make ends meet too; others are emancipated and need a living wage.
The writing of the time speaks of minimum wage as a worker health and safety issue. The first minimum wage laws in the U.S. only applied to women and children. As part of the labor movement, it was often described as a type of collective bargaining. Where it was seen as providing a living wage was not directly at the minimum wage but because of the inflation effect it would have on more skilled wages. That by raising the wage floor, the industries in which a head of household would be employed in would have to raise their pay accordingly to that of a living wage.
So there's truth that minimum wages weren't introduced to be living wages themselves. At the same time that was 100 years ago and we shouldn't be writing laws for today based on the assumptions of the 1900's.
Then make the minimum wage for <18s $8/hr, and the minimum wage for >18s (or maybe >22s) $15/hr.
Secondly, why should teenagers have to work in the first place, instead of studying?
Another way of looking at this would be: a job in McDonalds is not supposed to be a means of supporting the family of four. It's a side gig for teenagers, not a "full-scale" job.