What harm do minimum wages do?

Re:What harm do minimum wages do? by Broken_Hippo on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @04:57PM (#24216343)

Unlike, say, buying a game, most folks can't just decide not to work. If you need to eat, pay rent, child support, need health insurance, or a slew of other things - you can't say no. You must work. Period. The safety net isn't good enough not to take that minimum wage job, especially if you are a childless adult. The only real thing keeping you from being paid less is minimum wage, and that's there because companies aren't fair about hiring practices.

The only reason you were able to work an unpaid internship is because your family not only didn't need you to work, but they also didn't need you to watch younger siblings in your free time. To top it all off, that was offered to you - this isn't a thing most folks can do. Not to mention that unpaid internships are often slavery under a different name. If someone wants to give someone experience or train someone, they should pay.

I wish people would quit acting like the market is fair by any means or like people have a real choice in working. Neither of these things are true with the labor market.

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Re:What harm do minimum wages do? by wdn on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @05:45PM (#24217039)

No one is saying you shouldn't work at a job where you think it is unfair compensate to your skill sets.

What I am saying is this, if I think I worth $50/hr and the only offer I got after 2 months of searching is $10/hour. If I desperately need some income, I will take the job and continue my job search. $10/hr is still better than $0. Next job offer may be $30/hr. Then the next one may be $50 or $60.

No one is forcing you to stop looking or improving yourself while you are at a job don't value your skill sets.

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Re:What harm do minimum wages do? by Broken_Hippo on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @05:58PM (#24217199)

It never matters if you think you are worth $50/hour if the skills you have never pay that much in your area. A preschool teacher makes minimum wage or slightly above, despite needing an associates degree. You can be really good, too, but there is only so high that pays. A normal teacher starts out pretty low and if you are in the wrong area, you'll never get paid $50/hr and you'll get lucky to get half that with experience. Lots of jobs never pay a fair wage compared to skill sets. It just doesn't freaking matter most of the time.

The game is rigged. You can be stuck somewhere simply because they have good insurance and your kid is sick. It doesn't matter how good you are. Not everyone can improve themselves in ways that will get them paid more. Even if everyone did this, there are only so many jobs out there and you should hope not to have the disadvantage of wanting free time, time with children, or a health issue that puts any limits on your work.

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Re:What harm do minimum wages do? by dlp211 on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @05:53PM (#24217140)

I challenge you to poke your finger through the massive hole in your argument. I'll give you a hint, it has to do with the resource utilization that you can never buy more of.

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