My week living on the minimum wage

New York Daily News ^ | February 7, 2004 | HEIDI EVANS

[Libertina]

We are currnetly in a BIG battle over tort reform. It may pass and WILL be an issue in the race for governor. Actually, kind of exciting... Our state may come up off the bottem yet! Wish you were here :)

[kanawa]

One quickly has to put pride and shame aside

And this is a bad thing?

Being poor can be great opportunity. It can motivate you to be creative, focus your attention on the values and things that are important spiritually and lead you to simpler and joyful life.

As the song says,'The poor man has treasures that the rich man can't buy'

[.38sw]

OK, I'm smug and looking down my nose. Fine. but what about the one or two generations for whom it's too late? They're stuck in this cycle of "don't have the education to get a better job, don't have a better job to pay for education."

For those who didn't make those decisions and are now "stuck" in low paying jobs, how does it help to continually raise the minimum wage? Even Alan Greenspan, in testimony to Congress a couple of years back, said that higher minimum wages reduced the jobs available. If an employer has low skilled jobs to fill, and the market doesn't support higher wages, what does he do when he has to pay higher wages mandated by law? He highers fewer workers, or reduces any benefits he might be paying for, or both. Even if stuck in a low-paying job today, there are ways to do better. Once you have some job skills learned in that low-paying job, how about looking for the next step up? There are grants available for school, correspondence courses, night school.

[Cultural Jihad]

Valentino's pizza place was still there on Kissena Blvd. They had a $4.95 special for lunch - chicken parm plus a 16-ounce soda — half of which I ate. I saved half for dinner.

Ah, $4.95 special for lunch, the price before the minimum wage increase. Valentino's is being told to raise at least $80.00 more in sales per week per employee. The $4.95 lunch special will become $6.95, and there'll be one less employee to wait on the reporter next time she's hungry, so she'll have to wait in line a bit longer to be served.

[marsh2]

This last week I attended a regional economic development forum. Two of the speakers were successful business folk. One made wreaths, one did dairy products like cheese. Both had found that they were competing in a global marketplace. The high minimum wage in Oregon was pointed to as one of the principal issues that worked against their competitiveness.

Asst. Secretary of Commerce, Dr. Sampson, actually began to make the connection between the high minimum wage and the high unemployment in Oregon. He even went on to suggest that Oregon policymakers look into the relationship. WOW what a concept! </sarcasm>

[chance33_98]

When we were married in 1962 and moved to Arizona, I became painfully aware that my non-HS graduate status was the road to a minimum wage future. Even though I had some technical background and could be employed as a TV repair tech, I didn't think that was sufficient.

I got my ged, educated myself, and make a pretty good living now myself. I am still educating myself (I'm 38) and working on my certifications in the field. I sit at home and study, work remotely after I get home from work, and keep buying books to learn more (and at safari.oreilly.com for a small monthly fee I can read new books online which helps lower my education costs).

Some people wait for the American wish, myself I chose to work for the American dream. Enjoy your retirement!

[Dianna]

That's pretty long-term thinking, and it's great, but that doesn't put food on the table today, it doesn't buy clothes today.

Ok. So what are we supposed to do? You (not you personally, someone in general) go and make all the most rotten choices for yourself and totally screw up your life. And then WE are supposed to fix it? Those of us who are reasonably intelligent, planned ahead, etc. now get screwed because you were a moron?

My advice is: be REAL nice to your family. Hopefully, if disaster occurs, you can band together. I know of two women who are living off of and with their parents after a divorce.

[tdadams]

I don't believe anyone is that hopeless. Even if the person in the most dire situation has opportunity available to them. A relative of mine worked for 12 years making about $12,000 a year, sometimes less. She's also raising three kids by herself, the youngest is four.

Despite this, she's worked diligently to find money for school (scholarships and grants - no loans), and will soon have a degree that could have her earning about $50,000 a year very soon.

Life's lessons came to her much later than they should have. She's nearly 40 now, but she came to a point where she had to quit doing the same thing that kept her poor and made the decision to improve her situation.

Was it easy? No way. Was it hopeless? I'm glad she didn't think so.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

BS, any single mom in her shoes would have government subsidies coming in over the transom.

We know a min wage 1 child girl, in the check out at the grocery store with their cute little gov. food stamp credit card eat they a hell of a lot better than we do. They get their medical subsidized 100% (she brags of it)she gets subsidized for child care, transportation, utilities, rent, earned income tax credit check (she says she pays no taxes) &c, &c, &c. so double or triple that sob story garbage of 800 bucks a month.

[BlessedByLiberty]

...Some people wait for the American wish, myself I chose to work for the American dream...

Wonderful sentiment!

[Arkinsaw]

I would suggest raising the minimum wage to $50,000 an hour so we can all be rich.

[3catsanadog]

There aren't many adults in NY working for min.

Not if the average weekly salary is 800 something!

[RockyMtnMan]

If we had the NRST she could keep the entire $10 an hour instead of paying payroll taxes, SS, and Medicare

[Dianna]

I don't believe anyone is that hopeless.

They are if they continue to make poor choices BECAUSE they never have to hit bottom.

One of our neighbors is a divorced mom. She has an adult daughter (she had twins at 18 and has moved out), a 16 YO daughter and a 9 YO son. She moved a friend in after the divorce. For years all I have heard from my kids is how RICH these people must be because they put in a pool! The 9YO has all the latest toys and video games.

Even before the friend had a baby (a child with medical needs) and the ex-husband went to jail (ooops, there goes the child support), I was feeding the 9YO regularly because they are broke.

They must be feeling pretty flush though. Last week, this lady paid my 5 YO $10 and her own kid $20 for carrying garbage to the curb and bought them all Wendy's for dinner.

Some people won't learn until they HAVE to.

[TankerKC]

For example, in order for me to work full-time, from 9 to 5, I need a baby-sitter to pick up my child from school at 3 p.m. and watch her for three hours until I get home at 6 p.m. At $10 an hour in Manhattan, that is $30 a day, $150 a week.

The beauty of the market...she just got a $4.85 per hour raise and won’t have to spend the $150 per week for a net increase of $344 per week...she just needs to start babysitting.

[sharktrager]

Hell, even McDonalds in NYC pays over minimum wage. Last I saw they were around $8-9. So I ask, what is the purpose of this experiment?

[TN4Liberty]

We might as well have been living in Wyoming on this kind of budget.

How damn arrogant..

[Redcloak]

Stories like this always make me wonder: Is there a polite way to say "Get a better job, you clueless dumbass"? Perhaps if I left out "clueless". Would that make it any better? Maybe I could substitute "dork" for "dumbass". I dunno... Any help would be appreciated.

[YoungKentuckyConservative]

College kids do it. Why is it so impossible? Get a freaking roomie you spoiled-rotten, entitlement bound American. YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO ANY PARTICULAR LIFESTYLE. Work for whatever you want. And if you don't want it, don't work and be a bum. But don't expect me to pay for it.

[The Raven]

It's necessary to work at minimum wage as an incentive to earn more....increasing the minimum wage puts people out of work...they need to lower it.