I know the economy has been better and jobs are starting to open up. But. People are still having trouble finding jobs. Maybe they should require businesses to pay people more money depending on their age and whether they claim children on taxes. High school students get minimum wage. By age 25 they should be paid atleast 11-12 and with children 15-20.
The issue is that the prices have inflated, but minimum wage has not kept up. That, paired with a shrinking job market and a growing education bubble, equals a lot of people (adults and young people) with no way to lead a sustainable life.
Problem is that now that the economy is so bad it's not just "kids" working at McDonalds anymore. Its working class adults who have to hold down two jobs just to feed their own kids. Also, on the debt thing. Alot of commentors here have an attitude of "so you leave college 100,000 dollars in debt. So what?". Why don't we fight the system instead of rolling over. Look at European countries. I would accept the debt only if that was the only way. Obviously other countries have the system worked out. I dont want to enter the adult world already in the negatives.
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· 8 years ago
Then don't. You don't have to go into a ton of debt. College isn't mandatory and community colleges are much cheaper than four year schools anyway.
People are saying that if you have children you should be paid a higher minimum wage, but if your job is at McDonalds why the hell are you starting a family in that position? Minimum wage is intended for starter jobs, not when you're in your 30s
To any one who says that minimum wage is meant for starter jobs and people in school:
You are wrong. Minimum wage was created to maintain the middle class by creating a minimum standard of living.
this would make more sense if only the lowest jobs in a store were min wage, but most non management positions in most places are min wage and theres plenty more min wage than there are kids and things to take them, and to act like being a teenager means you don't deserve enough money to survive off of if you are working full time is still bananas. i might be fore $15 bucks, but min wage has not kept up with cost of living increases and it needs to.
I agree. Minimum wage is meant for jobs that take minimal skills/training. This means people without college/technical degrees. Now, to the kids talking about $100,000+ in debt for college...here's part of the issue with our college-minded society. Everyone thinks you need to go to an Ivy League school. NO YOU DO NOT. You can get your general education at a local state university for a fraction of the cost, and if you somehow need to attend a different school for specialized classes, you can do so without a significant amount of debt. To the guys who can't do scholarships, FAFSA is a thing. I utilize this. Unfortunately, this is for families with lower incomes. However, a lot of kids can still get something. State grants are provided to a lot of kids that attend within state. I get $800/year from North Dakota since that's where I live and attend college. It's not much, but every bit helps. (part 1 of --)
Now here's a bigger problem: People are going to college and getting degrees in fields that are not contributing appropriately to society or are not a STEM field. In fact, before I went to get my degree (Business Admin and Accounting, I work at a CPA firm, I need the degree to move up in my job), I researched what jobs would be available if I left my current job, as well as job growth potential. A person getting a masters in Medieval Literature or that moron that gets a Bachelor of Arts in University Studies because they're not sure what the hell they want...too bad! You are not getting a degree that continues to build society, so don't be surprised if you can't get a job above minimum wage pay. Also, unless you are going for an arts degree (which let's face it, most likely won't make a big return on your investment), you should focus on the additional Bachelor of Science, even if it's not required. It shows better discipline to a potential employer.
This is ridiculous. I just.... I wanted to make a reasoned argument here but the fat that the comments are mostly supporting this Cloyd person makes me angry so I've deleted my argument because it came out too confrontationally.
Cloyd is the only intelligent argument here, I'm in a minimum wage job, I can't pay all my bills but I'm not complaining, why? Cause it's a minimum wage job and I knew that to begin with
No it wasn't, it was created to ensure a stable middle class by creating a minimum standard of living.
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· 8 years ago
It doesn't really matter what people think it's meant for. It's minimum wage for minimum skill. You pay for the value of the work performed. It's really that simple.
What we're saying is in both Belgium and Canada the minimum wage is higher than America ( I think its $11 here) and it makes college a lot more affordable. If America's min. wage were higher then people would have more education and skills, and would be moving on to bigger and better jobs into adulthood instead of trying to make a career at McDonalds and the likes
No. Some people go into crazy debt like $100,000 dollars. A few more dollars an hour won't make a huge difference until they are in the career they schooled in.
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· 8 years ago
A little difference is better than no difference at all
Or you could take a break between high school and college and work longer to be able to save enough and go to a cheaper school you can actually afford. It really is that simple. Doesn't mean it's easy but there is a solution.
Why would they want someone who hasn't had any schooling for a few years when they could get the best and brightest right away from high school? It makes more sense to me actually.
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· 8 years ago
Well I guess for school sponsored scholarships. I would think there would be other types of scholarships that would want to give to someone who took time off. From my point of view, I think it shows planning ahead and discipline to work and save and then go.
The only other money you get are federal loans, which are still loans. There aren't any non school scholarships that people can get. Maybe like 50 people a year. And your point of view differs from the University's. Sorry to say, yours doesn't matter.
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· 8 years ago
Well it has been awhile since I was in college but it seemed like there were quite a few privately funded scholarships. Also, depending on the employer, sometimes they're willing to pay for education for employees. I guess I'm just trying to say that it is possible to go without a ton of debt. Definitely not easy, but possible.
It's not possible for everyone. This day in age, it's more likely to not happen than happen. Unless your parents are filthy rich or have been saving a decent sized college fund and you go to a college with a co-op program to make money while schooling. But that's not always an option.
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· 8 years ago
I don't put that high a value on it anyway but I do think it can happen if a person is willing to do everything they can to do it. Might take a long time but it's not impossible. (I'm a pretty optimistic person so I wouldn't call it impossible.)
There are a lot of scholarships and funding you can get in America that aren't from schools. So in reality you could take some time off to work and save.
Going to college right away has the greatest advantage. You have all the scholarship money available to be tried for, and they are more eager to hand it out to people right out of high school. But in reality, debt is almost a given, no matter what you do. Optimism changes nothing, it's only a naive ideal. No matter how hard you try, life has a funny way of destroying your well laid plans. Sure you might save some cash by taking different routes to the end goal, but some many things can go wrong on all paths and prolonging your work outside of an educated field is extremely risky. Unless you work and school together, it's almost a waste of time. Save as much as you want, but the amount of money you scrape up after paying rent, utilities, groceries, other bills, gas, and so on, you may have only saved 1000 dollars. To optimize the rate at which you can eliminate debt and get school is to try to get in a program that allows co-oping. This way you gain experience, money, and an education.
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· 8 years ago
I think co-opting is a great idea. I'm not saying things won't go wrong, I'm just saying that if someone goes into it thinking that it's guaranteed they'll have debt, then they may miss possibilities that could lessen or eliminate the debt. Rather, go into it thinking, I'm going to figure out a way without debt or with as little debt as possible. I don't think this is naivety. It's determination and choosing to value something other than the status quo. It isn't easy, but it also isn't impossible.
There isn't a problem going into it thinking that you will have debt. You will have debt all your life be it car or house payments and what not. It's nearly impossible unless your parents have planned it out since you were born. You said it's been a while since you were in college, so you don't know the difficulties of this day and age. Tuition is higher, especially out of state. Books and lab equipment are required. Housing keeps getting more expensive, unless you rent a rundown little apartment with cockroaches and other things living with you. I payed $20,000 in my first year alone. I had no other choice, and because I'm a white male, I qualified for hardly any scholarships. I'm just lucky my parents payed for the first half if that and I had enough in the bank for the second part. I'm not so lucky anymore.
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· 8 years ago
It's been about a decade since I've been but I got into about that much debt too. I dropped out though so I only had a year and a half of debt to pay off. I've been debt free for five years now and I like the freedom so much I don't want debt again. I'm waiting and saving for things. The only exception is a house and even that could've been outright bought if we'd been planning better before we had kids and I quit to stay home with them. If we had just lived on his income the whole time and done without some fun stuff, we could've saved enough by now for a house. I don't want to argue with you, I'm just really passionate about it. I'm sorry you haven't qualified for more scholarships and stuff. I was the same way and it sucked and was very frustrating. What are you studying?
I'm studying to be a mechanical engineer. I'm doing alright for now but debt will be here one way or another. Gonna have car payments and house payments, let alone college. If you can buy a hour outright without loans, then you shouldn't have to worry about college loans lol.
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· 8 years ago
Yeah not anymore, we're definitely not rich, just out of debt. At least engineering pays well. If I came across as judgmental or rude earlier, I'm sorry. It wasn't my intent at all.
Minimum wage is hard to live off of, but sometimes it is all you can get. Maybe you should pay people more the more kids they have. Also, Cloud River was slightly rude to her, when all she wanted to do was help. I really don't like his account for that reason.
Maybe I was raised by a father who couldn't aford to go to college for 4 years. Maybe he had to get a crappy job to support his family. Maybe he had to work abd work abd work. Maybe when he got a good job he settled down and had kids. Some people are too poor to crawl out of the shit hole they were born in. And even people with degrees don't always get good jobs. My father is one of the most successful person I know, but he doesn't have a college degree. He was lucky. It's all about luck.
At like McDonald or a grocery store.. My dad didn't work 20 hours a week.. He was working almost 60 to just get through college don't act like you can't find a job to get money. That's what's wrong with our generation now
Ok I'm going to come back here and set things straight. I was that guest. My dad could not get student loans and no job could support him. He also was trying to keep his parents in their home. Just "getting a job" doesn't always help. He had two at once and for was going on college, but had to drop out to fucking support his family.
You are wrong. Minimum wage was created to maintain the middle class by creating a minimum standard of living.