Cost of Living (US) and minimum wage

Median wage Sweden 2010, $48.576, by current exchange rate (25300kr/month).

Bagels about $2
Half a kilo of choritzo $4
Half a kilo pasta (dry) $1
3 Bedroom stand alone house $250 week
Milk is $1 a litre or $4 gallon US
Petrol $1.40 litre or $5.60 gallon US (Ouch)
BBQ steak $8 a kilo
Bread from $1 to $4 depending
2 ltr hatchback $18,000
Aus$ about $1.04 US$
Household electricity $150 a month (Ouch - but I've got solar - no cost)

Bagels, $2.5-3
Half kg dry pasta ~$1-2 at low end depending on type.
Milk, $1.5 for a litre(that´s at my local shop, about $1.1 at nearest supermarket).
Loaf of bread $2-5
Petrol, about $2.37 per litre here, down to around $2.1 down south closer to delivery ports(one of the downsides of living in a VERY stretched out country where the main cargo ports are all down on the west coast).

Tenshinai wrote:Median wage Sweden 2010, $48.576, by current exchange rate (25300kr/month).

Bagels about $2
Half a kilo of choritzo $4
Half a kilo pasta (dry) $1
3 Bedroom stand alone house $250 week
Milk is $1 a litre or $4 gallon US
Petrol $1.40 litre or $5.60 gallon US (Ouch)
BBQ steak $8 a kilo
Bread from $1 to $4 depending
2 ltr hatchback $18,000
Aus$ about $1.04 US$
Household electricity $150 a month (Ouch - but I've got solar - no cost)

Bagels, $2.5-3
Half kg dry pasta ~$1-2 at low end depending on type.
Milk, $1.5 for a liter(that´s at my local shop, about $1.1 at nearest supermarket).
Loaf of bread $2-5
Petrol, about $2.37 per liter here, down to around $2.1 down south closer to delivery ports(one of the downsides of living in a VERY stretched out country where the main cargo ports are all down on the west coast).

A 4 liters is a tad over a US gallon, So about $6.00 per gallon for milk here in Idaho its $2.00 per gallon for whole milk three times as much in northern Sweden.

Gas is about $3.89 per gallon here and close to $9.48 in northern Sweden or about 2.4 times.

Bread $1.39 up per loaf approximately 0.5 kg. About two lbs per KG.

Poker

KNick wrote:A single minimum wage for the entire US is actually a fairly stupid idea. The cost of living can vary enormously just from one county to another even within a state. One example <SNIP>....

With all of these differences, how can the Federal Government decide on a single country-wide minimum wage?

Just my own pet peeve: having Washington, DC set a "one size fits all" minimum wage is not only stupid given the well-known disparities between counties, parishes, cities, and states, but it also (and this is my peeve) violates the spirit of the doctrine of federalim. There are other approaches the government could take. A "one size fits all" solution isn't the brightest idea.

My own state, Ohio, amended its Constitution in 2006 to adjust the State minimum wage semi-independently from the Federal minimum wage, and it keeps the State minimum wage higher than the Federal minimum wage. The idea that the State can set its own minimum wage makes more sense to me than the idea that Washington, DC can set a national minimum wage but can't come up with a budget for the past 4 years.

I think that you'd find that a one size minimum wage would actually reduce the disparities. Don't forget that this is the minimum wage and decent employers should consider paying more than that to retain good staff anyway. How people in the US can survive with dignity on about half our minimum wage I have no idea?

RHWoodman wrote:

KNick wrote:A single minimum wage for the entire US is actually a fairly stupid idea. The cost of living can vary enormously just from one county to another even within a state. One example <SNIP>....

With all of these differences, how can the Federal Government decide on a single country-wide minimum wage?

Just my own pet peeve: having Washington, DC set a "one size fits all" minimum wage is not only stupid given the well-known disparities between counties, parishes, cities, and states, but it also (and this is my peeve) violates the spirit of the doctrine of federalim. There are other approaches the government could take. A "one size fits all" solution isn't the brightest idea.

My own state, Ohio, amended its Constitution in 2006 to adjust the State minimum wage semi-independently from the Federal minimum wage, and it keeps the State minimum wage higher than the Federal minimum wage. The idea that the State can set its own minimum wage makes more sense to me than the idea that Washington, DC can set a national minimum wage but can't come up with a budget for the past 4 years.

RHWoodman wrote:

KNick wrote:A single minimum wage for the entire US is actually a fairly stupid idea. The cost of living can vary enormously just from one county to another even within a state. One example <SNIP>....

With all of these differences, how can the Federal Government decide on a single country-wide minimum wage?

Just my own pet peeve: having Washington, DC set a "one size fits all" minimum wage is not only stupid given the well-known disparities between counties, parishes, cities, and states, but it also (and this is my peeve) violates the spirit of the doctrine of federalim. There are other approaches the government could take. A "one size fits all" solution isn't the brightest idea.

My own state, Ohio, amended its Constitution in 2006 to adjust the State minimum wage semi-independently from the Federal minimum wage, and it keeps the State minimum wage higher than the Federal minimum wage. The idea that the State can set its own minimum wage makes more sense to me than the idea that Washington, DC can set a national minimum wage but can't come up with a budget for the past 4 years.

But then the government doesnt really have a one size fits all minimum wage, it merely has a wage level that no state can allow their minimum wage level to drop below, which is still at an absurdly low level, as i calculated back near the start.

There is gong to be some topic drift my apologies but it does relate.

The thing is unless some main stream media company is trying to make a story it is exceptionally rare for anyone with a family to make minimum wage in the US.

The people who are making it are the order takers at fast food and the the like.

Hell I never made minimum wage working on a farm (Even in rural Western New York state as summer jobs) or pumping gas (n Columbus Ohio while wasting my time going to college) or in a warehouse (same as the last).

So what it does is encourage those employers who used to instill in our youth the work ethic and the value of money not to hire them as temp people or make it too expensive to do so.

To set a minimum wage at a federal level is just stupid. Just like most things that are set at a federal level. But the US is really on its way to being the Solarian League. Too many people are looking for a quick easy solutions to local problems want a federal government regulation to fix it. More layers of bureaucracy. That will make it better. Pardon me while I go vomit.

We can't even get our voters to do simple math. Sequester is just another example. $85 billion less of an increase in ~3.5 trillion budget is a big thing. 600 billion in 14 trillion deficit will make a difference. Which is where it becomes pretty important to teach those high school youth the value of their work that we (the US) no longer offer and are making it worse.

My apologies for wandering all over under the sun but ...

Enjoy,
T2M

PS Another thing about those AGI numbers I keep posting just the standard deduction(another silly thing that doesn't consider COLA) for the US is over $9,000 last year so to figure out what people actually make add that to it for each dependent (simplified).

Spacekiwi wrote:But then the government doesnt really have a one size fits all minimum wage, it merely has a wage level that no state can allow their minimum wage level to drop below, which is still at an absurdly low level, as i calculated back near the start.

Is it ok if i break it down?

thinkstoomuch wrote:There is gong to be some topic drift my apologies but it does relate.

The thing is unless some main stream media company is trying to make a story it is exceptionally rare for anyone with a family to make minimum wage in the US.

Maybe so, but from the figures i calculated, using US Gov data showed that the average wage wasn't that far off the min wage, and when converted to other currencies, was far lower then their minimum wage levels.

The people who are making it are the order takers at fast food and the the like.

Hell I never made minimum wage working on a farm (Even in rural Western New York state as summer jobs) or pumping gas (n Columbus Ohio while wasting my time going to college) or in a warehouse (same as the last).

agreed on who gets paid it, and same here, although mine started not far off it, at 50c above, but now $2.25 or so above it.

So what it does is encourage those employers who used to instill in our youth the work ethic and the value of money not to hire them as temp people or make it too expensive to do so.

To set a minimum wage at a federal level is just stupid. Just like most things that are set at a federal level. But the US is really on its way to being the Solarian League.

This may be true, but my opinion on this would be that it's happening for the same reason that it occured in the SL: that the government wasn't given enough power to maintain control. This causes confusion, laws working against one another, and loopholes. Setting it may seem stupid, but if its the only way they have to try and ensure workers are paid a decent amount....

Too many people are looking for a quick easy solutions to local problems want a federal government regulation to fix it. More layers of bureaucracy. That will make it better. Pardon me while I go vomit.

We can't even get our voters to do simple math. Sequester is just another example. $85 billion less of an increase in ~3.5 trillion budget is a big thing. 600 billion in 14 trillion deficit will make a difference. Which is where it becomes pretty important to teach those high school youth the value of their work that we (the US) no longer offer and are making it worse.

My apologies for wandering all over under the sun but ...

Enjoy,
T2M

PS Another thing about those AGI numbers I keep posting just the standard deduction(another silly thing that doesn't consider COLA) for the US is over $9,000 last year so to figure out what people actually make add that to it for each dependent (simplified).

Spacekiwi wrote:But then the government doesnt really have a one size fits all minimum wage, it merely has a wage level that no state can allow their minimum wage level to drop below, which is still at an absurdly low level, as i calculated back near the start.

My first (no minimum wage) job paid $1.25 an hour. I worked fourty hours a week, had health insurance and got an employee discount on my meals and any food I took home at the end of the night.

I recently went in and applied for exactly the same kind of job. Wage was $7.95 an hour, a maximum of 25 hours a week, no insurance, no discounts and I was told I could not work any other job and remain employed.

As the minimum wage has increased, the number of hours minimum wage employees work has decreased. So have the benefits that go along with working. By forcing employers to pay employees more than they are worth to the company, the government is causing employers to minimize the damage new employees can do.

At my first job I received three pay raises in the first 6 months I worked there. At the job I applied for I was told there were no pay raises for at least the first 6 months.

For all the hype saying the minimunm wage is for the benefit of the employee, I am not sure it does so.

KNick wrote:My first (no minimum wage) job paid $1.25 an hour. I worked fourty hours a week, had health insurance and got an employee discount on my meals and any food I took home at the end of the night.

I recently went in and applied for exactly the same kind of job. Wage was $7.95 an hour, a maximum of 25 hours a week, no insurance, no discounts and I was told I could not work any other job and remain employed.

As the minimum wage has increased, the number of hours minimum wage employees work has decreased. So have the benefits that go along with working. By forcing employers to pay employees more than they are worth to the company, the government is causing employers to minimize the damage new employees can do.

At my first job I received three pay raises in the first 6 months I worked there. At the job I applied for I was told there were no pay raises for at least the first 6 months.

For all the hype saying the minimunm wage is for the benefit of the employee, I am not sure it does so.

First proper part time job that i worked for more then 3 months paid $14 as a start. (short jobs were $16 an hour)

I would work 40+ hours a week if i wasnt a student as i would get bored otherwise, and my work would hire me for those hours if they could, as we are a bit shorthanded at the moment.

Health insurance is government run here, so everyone gets payouts if injured (sickness you pay yourself) and doctors are subsidized, along with drug subsidies, so its cheap to be health insured.
employee discount isn't much, but still have it.

Pay rises have been negotiated by the union to help combat inflation, so there's 3 guaranteed pay rises for me in the next year, the 2 year pay rise, the inflation pay rise for this year, and nexxt years inflationary pay rise, to lift me to about $16.70 or so by June next year.

A while back we were overstaffed, bu that was due to a new branch opening nearby, and a competitor opening there as well, so we had extra trainees to prepare for the new store, and less customers as they went for the lower opening prices at the new stores.


So a very high by Us standards minimum wage doesn't seem to have done any harm here.

I have previously supplied exact figures but (being lazy) approximately Australia has a minimum wage of about $15 and unemployment of 5%, while the US has a minimum wage of $7 and unemployment of 8%, so the argument of higher wage equals more unemployment seems flawed. I'm dumbfounded by your employer saying you couldn't work elsewhere as well or you'd be sacked. For one thing it's stupid because no one could survive on a maximum of $198.75 a week (our dole is above that), and for another it would be illegal to enforce here and the employer would be in court paying a hefty fine. Seems to me that your unions need to fight harder for the common worker to stop such an imbalance of power and money.

KNick wrote:My first (no minimum wage) job paid $1.25 an hour. I worked fourty hours a week, had health insurance and got an employee discount on my meals and any food I took home at the end of the night.

I recently went in and applied for exactly the same kind of job. Wage was $7.95 an hour, a maximum of 25 hours a week, no insurance, no discounts and I was told I could not work any other job and remain employed.

As the minimum wage has increased, the number of hours minimum wage employees work has decreased. So have the benefits that go along with working. By forcing employers to pay employees more than they are worth to the company, the government is causing employers to minimize the damage new employees can do.

At my first job I received three pay raises in the first 6 months I worked there. At the job I applied for I was told there were no pay raises for at least the first 6 months.

For all the hype saying the minimunm wage is for the benefit of the employee, I am not sure it does so.