Here goes the responses of the blogcatalog community regarding my discussion on working for a minimum wage job. How about you? What are your thoughts about working for a minimum wage job?
I think you have to be prepared to work for whatever you can get. The minimum wage in the U.S. is, in many areas, insufficient for basic survival, and in some cases (a single parent with high child care expenses, for instance), it might be literally impossible--transportation and child care expenses might exceed income. But when I was practicing law I consistently encountered chronically unemployed people who thought they were too good to work for low wages and so instead earned none. This was particularly common to men in the construction industry who were facing jail time for failure to pay child support, but consistently said, "I'm not working for five bucks an hour--I was making twenty!" when they were laid off for the winter. I make a lot more than $20/hour, but if I suddenly lost my job you damn well better believe I'd work for $5/hour or whatever I could get while I looked for a better paying job. My past credentials aren't going to pay the bills or feed my kid. - Madame X
Yes I would if I have to. You do what you have to do to get where you need to go. At this point in my life minimum wage wouldn't pay the bills but it would supplement me until I found what I needed. Still, I have talents I might try to push and try something I actually like doing. - Tigress
If it ever boiled down to it, where I had to work at minimum wage, I would. At this point in my life and career, however, such would be very humbling; I hope the economy never resorts to such a decision for me. That being said, making money is always better than not making money. - Global Girl
I worked for minimum wage back when I was a teenager, but at that time I didn't have to worry about paying for my housing or food if something went wrong. Thats all different now.
I just ran some numbers on what my life would be like if I earned minimum wage. Here in Pennsylvania its $7.15USD an hour - quite a bit higher than the federal minimum wage.
I live in a modest home in a working class neighborhood and own my car (so no car loan to deal with) and I do my own cooking which saves money. If I had a full time job paying minimum wage I would, after paying my mortgage, insurance, fuel costs, utilities, and my current food costs, I would be running a $230.00 a month deficit. I could cut food costs and probably establish other economies that would let me make ends meet but it would leave me with no money for savings and all it would take would be something like a serious car accident or a major appliance at home failing to totally screw me. - Tech Fun
Get outside the box if at all possible - work the minimum wage and find ways of charging a premium for whatever the company does....talk to the owners - any owner worth their salt should respect the views of those at the coal face, at the front line.... - Go Smell the Flowers
My husband and I are in a weird situation, if one of us had to, we would work for minimum wage - although where we live min. wage still won't cover basic living expenses. (It's best to go free lance and work odd jobs, than it is to work for a minimum wage employer). But if one of us is working (my husband) would I work for minimum wage? No, because it isn't even financially feasible for me to do so. I would be working to cover child care costs - and then taking money out of my husband's check to cover the rest of the child care costs because minimum wage doesn't even begin to cover it. So it would cost us money, instead of making us money. I worked out the numbers one day, and in order for a job to worth the cost of child care (as well as changing the structure of what we think is best for our family) I would have to make a minimum of $35K a year - and even then it doesn't work out to much of a financial boost. The jobs here just aren't offering that kind of pay, either. - Anok
If you have to work to eat do what is necessary, but use it as leverage to find a better job. When you are working, it is easier to find a better job. If you can go to school instead, get a scholarship, and work part-time try that as well. Did you go to your school and try to get a job through them? - We Hire U
If you take a job for a minimum wage, it would be a good idea to look and see how you can escalate your role and look for a pathway to something better. But work really hard and give a lot of value. Everyone else will hate it but you need to push ahead with your life. In some cases it's worthwhile volunteering to get experience and then decide on what you are worth and go elsewhere. Always think that you are about to be made redundant, that will motivate you. All employees are expendable. - Acoustic Guitarist
As a self employed sub contractor I have made pretty good money the past few years. With the fall of the sub-prime lending market I would work for a half eaten snickers bar.
All of you that said "No" would probably change your tune if you got hungry enough. - Ekim941
I think you have to be prepared to work for whatever you can get. The minimum wage in the U.S. is, in many areas, insufficient for basic survival, and in some cases (a single parent with high child care expenses, for instance), it might be literally impossible--transportation and child care expenses might exceed income. But when I was practicing law I consistently encountered chronically unemployed people who thought they were too good to work for low wages and so instead earned none. This was particularly common to men in the construction industry who were facing jail time for failure to pay child support, but consistently said, "I'm not working for five bucks an hour--I was making twenty!" when they were laid off for the winter. I make a lot more than $20/hour, but if I suddenly lost my job you damn well better believe I'd work for $5/hour or whatever I could get while I looked for a better paying job. My past credentials aren't going to pay the bills or feed my kid. - Madame X
Yes I would if I have to. You do what you have to do to get where you need to go. At this point in my life minimum wage wouldn't pay the bills but it would supplement me until I found what I needed. Still, I have talents I might try to push and try something I actually like doing. - Tigress
If it ever boiled down to it, where I had to work at minimum wage, I would. At this point in my life and career, however, such would be very humbling; I hope the economy never resorts to such a decision for me. That being said, making money is always better than not making money. - Global Girl
I worked for minimum wage back when I was a teenager, but at that time I didn't have to worry about paying for my housing or food if something went wrong. Thats all different now.
I just ran some numbers on what my life would be like if I earned minimum wage. Here in Pennsylvania its $7.15USD an hour - quite a bit higher than the federal minimum wage.
I live in a modest home in a working class neighborhood and own my car (so no car loan to deal with) and I do my own cooking which saves money. If I had a full time job paying minimum wage I would, after paying my mortgage, insurance, fuel costs, utilities, and my current food costs, I would be running a $230.00 a month deficit. I could cut food costs and probably establish other economies that would let me make ends meet but it would leave me with no money for savings and all it would take would be something like a serious car accident or a major appliance at home failing to totally screw me. - Tech Fun
Get outside the box if at all possible - work the minimum wage and find ways of charging a premium for whatever the company does....talk to the owners - any owner worth their salt should respect the views of those at the coal face, at the front line.... - Go Smell the Flowers
My husband and I are in a weird situation, if one of us had to, we would work for minimum wage - although where we live min. wage still won't cover basic living expenses. (It's best to go free lance and work odd jobs, than it is to work for a minimum wage employer). But if one of us is working (my husband) would I work for minimum wage? No, because it isn't even financially feasible for me to do so. I would be working to cover child care costs - and then taking money out of my husband's check to cover the rest of the child care costs because minimum wage doesn't even begin to cover it. So it would cost us money, instead of making us money. I worked out the numbers one day, and in order for a job to worth the cost of child care (as well as changing the structure of what we think is best for our family) I would have to make a minimum of $35K a year - and even then it doesn't work out to much of a financial boost. The jobs here just aren't offering that kind of pay, either. - Anok
If you have to work to eat do what is necessary, but use it as leverage to find a better job. When you are working, it is easier to find a better job. If you can go to school instead, get a scholarship, and work part-time try that as well. Did you go to your school and try to get a job through them? - We Hire U
If you take a job for a minimum wage, it would be a good idea to look and see how you can escalate your role and look for a pathway to something better. But work really hard and give a lot of value. Everyone else will hate it but you need to push ahead with your life. In some cases it's worthwhile volunteering to get experience and then decide on what you are worth and go elsewhere. Always think that you are about to be made redundant, that will motivate you. All employees are expendable. - Acoustic Guitarist
As a self employed sub contractor I have made pretty good money the past few years. With the fall of the sub-prime lending market I would work for a half eaten snickers bar.
All of you that said "No" would probably change your tune if you got hungry enough. - Ekim941
I would do a lot of things for minimum wage, but not work. - Dead Rooster
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1 reax:
Hi Gelene,
I think, if there is no other choice left, a person have to work for a minimum wage and if possible, look for a job that you can gain some useful experiences, knowledge and skills and use them as an advantage to look for a better job.
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