topic Re: Fast Food Minimum wage $20 ! in Community Chat

Fast Food Minimum wage $20 !

aj1980 — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 17:04:44 GMT

On April 1, fast food workers in California will have one of the highest minimum wages in the country at $20 an hour. That's nearly 30 percent higher than the current state minimum wage of $15.50.

I was born in CA and rember when the wage was $3.30

Times have really changed

Re: Fast Food Minimum wage $20 !

Kachina624 — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 17:09:09 GMT

This only encourages people, especially the young, to stay in dead-end jobs. They will never attempt to improve their marketability by acquire skills through vocational training or higher education.

California is doing youth a huge disfavor.

Re: Fast Food Minimum wage $20 !

Ronettes — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 17:10:52 GMT

And have you all read how celebrities are fleeing California because of the high taxes they are paying, and the homeless sleeping on the sidewalks in Los Angeles?

California was once a beautiful state with lovely weather and much to offer, they are having serious problems.

Re: Fast Food Minimum wage $20 !

Desert Lily — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 17:17:14 GMT

Thank goodness they're getting a raise. Housing costs and rentals have skyrocketed in CA. I seriously doubt that anyone making $20/hour in CA could afford a decent apartment or afford a house. I read that homelessness has increased there.

@Kachina624 Sometimes college students, high school students, & retirees also take jobs in the fast food industry besides others who need the income. If the employment helps anyone pay the bills, then I think it's a good thing.

Re: Fast Food Minimum wage $20 !

Sooner — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 17:17:45 GMT

@Kachina624 wrote:
This only encourages people, especially the young, to stay in dead-end jobs. They will never attempt to improve their marketability by acquire skills through vocational training or higher education.

California is doing youth a huge disfavor.

@Kachina624 We've encouraged young people telling them you can do what you love and live like a celebrity, but that just doesn't work out for most of us.

They wind up living a disappointed life, seeing themselves as victims of not having what they are entitled to have, and being angry and disillusioned. They don't learn to live within their means or to deal with disappointment and go on with life. It is sad for them.

Re: Fast Food Minimum wage $20 !

Kachina624 — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 17:22:16 GMT

@Ronettes. I think all cities have serious homeless and crime problems. I know Albuquerque has tents pitched on sidewalks and everywhere else in certain parts of town. They've tried to take over city parks.

Re: Fast Food Minimum wage $20 !

Trinity11 — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 17:26:02 GMT

@Sooner wrote:
@Kachina624 wrote:
This only encourages people, especially the young, to stay in dead-end jobs. They will never attempt to improve their marketability by acquire skills through vocational training or higher education.

California is doing youth a huge disfavor.
@Kachina624 We've encouraged young people telling them you can do what you love and live like a celebrity, but that just doesn't work out for most of us.

They wind up living a disappointed life, seeing themselves as victims of not having what they are entitled to have, and being angry and disillusioned. They don't learn to live within their means or to deal with disappointment and go on with life. It is sad for them.

Well, plenty of kids are brought up with aspirations and goals and DO realize both. Positive reinforcement worked in our family. Goals were met and the benefits are monumental.

Plenty of kids out there are doing the same. Sadly, kids today get a bad rap from a few here...🥺

Re: Fast Food Minimum wage $20 !

cookie16 — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 17:27:03 GMT

Anything close to $20 is absurd for working in a fast food type of job. These jobs will be discontinued as soon as they can be automated. That is happening already. The price of the food is also rising so much that it will be too expensive to drop in for a quick lunch etc. Businesses will not absorb these high salaries but pass them on to customers. People think wow, $20 per hour is a good salary. Not when the buying power is eaten up by prices of everything. I believe the best future for any young person, today, is to pursue "blue collar" job training, i.e. plumbing, air conditioning, electrical etc. The average homeowner doesn't have the knowledge to service/replace these types of things. And there will always be a need for these service people.

Re: Fast Food Minimum wage $20 !

Trinity11 — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 17:28:28 GMT

@aj1980 wrote:

On April 1, fast food workers in California will have one of the highest minimum wages in the country at $20 an hour. That's nearly 30 percent higher than the current state minimum wage of $15.50.

I was born in CA and rember when the wage was $3.30

Times have really changed

People need a livable wage. Years ago I read a book about trying to live on minimum wage. The journalist couldn't. "Nickled and Dimed" was the book's title. Good read...

Re: Fast Food Minimum wage $20 !

Laura14 — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 17:32:11 GMT

Nobody today, in California or many of the other forty-nine states, could live on $20 an hour without a financial partner. It's a great step for kids and seniors who need some pocket money or extra supplemental income though.

Re: Fast Food Minimum wage $20 !

boots fromcal — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 17:31:56 GMT

to those of you who know nothing of california--stop pontificating!

Re: Fast Food Minimum wage $20 !

chrystaltree — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 17:40:14 GMT

Fast food and grocery store checkout workers start at $18 or $19 here. It's been that way since after COVID. They have to pay to pay people well or no one will take those jobs. My sister is disabled. She has a homemaker through an agency. The state pays for it. Her Homemaker told her that in January their salaries go up to $25 an hour. They hope more people will take those jobs.

Re: Fast Food Minimum wage $20 !

catter70 — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 17:45:47 GMT

At the rate wages are going up, we won't be able to eat out, buy vehicles, groceries or anything else. Even if wages go up, with everything else going up, you're still in the same old place. That means less cars made, fewer people eating out and people losing their jobs.Does anyone give this a thought? BTW, I never made $20.00 and hour, ever. I just learned to live within my means.

Re: Fast Food Minimum wage $20 !

spumoni99 — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 17:44:23 GMT

I made 3 dollars an hour at my first job in CA in 1979, my parents house was worth 40k. So if I times that by 7 to make the 20 dollars minimum wage for fast food you still couldn't buy that same house for 280k today, no way it would be double that so income has not kept up with cost of living at all.

Re: Fast Food Minimum wage $20 !

bikerbabe — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 17:47:18 GMT

As of 2020, the federal minimum wage would be $21 if it kept up with productivity gains and inflation over the past 50 years.

It’s laughable that some think the minimum wage should still be under $10 because that doesn’t remotely get you anywhere close to that part time job you remember as a teenager in 1970. 🤨

Re: Fast Food Minimum wage $20 !

deepwaterdotter — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 17:47:43 GMT

"What the market will bear."

Re: Fast Food Minimum wage $20 !

SandySparkles — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 17:49:12 GMT

👏👏👏👏 With SO many people STRUGGLING to make ends meet in that state, I think it is absolutely necessary now!!! I have family there, and the stories they share are heartbreaking!🤔

~~~All we need is LOVE💖

Re: Fast Food Minimum wage $20 !

On It — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 17:52:04 GMT

@cookie16 I absolutely agreed that skilled trades are the way to go. Electricians, plumbers, and HVAC technicians will always be in demand.

The myth of going to college to get a good job is gone. Going to college is far too expensive for most to get a return on investment especially for low-paying careers like teaching.

I am watching various reports about AI. It may decimate many lucrative careers. From what I have read, it seems attorneys who are not litigators, many real estate agents, a large number of accountants, and even some doctors are at risk of being replaced by Artificial Intelligence. Nurses who are the front line with patients appear to fall in the category of skilled trade and will remain in demand.

Choosing a career in this new environment has to be more carefully considered than ever before.

Re: Fast Food Minimum wage $20 !

Laura14 — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 18:14:06 GMT

@On It Amen. I have nieces going off to college shortly and I've been looked at with two heads when I tell them, unless they can get through college with the bulk of it paid for by scholarship or grants, don't go.

No one cares about the piece of paper unless you are going into a licensed career that won't grant a license without it. You'll get all the education you need on the job by diving right in and you get paid to enter the workforce as opposed to throwing money away on fraternities and sororities and mandatory overpriced dorms and meal plans. Go out on the weekends with friends and you'll have the best of both worlds.

Re: Fast Food Minimum wage $20 !

bikerbabe — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 18:19:38 GMT

Not everyone has the aptitude for college, but if they do, I will always be a steadfast proponent. I am not against blue-collar and trade jobs at all but neither will I ever dismiss the value of college and education for the sake of learning. It’s also obviously a requirement for certain professions.