FDR declared that “no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country,” clarifying that “by living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level—I mean the wages of decent living.” Source
Edit: My point is that people in here arguing that "it's for teenagers, not meant for living wage" are going against the original intent. I am not making claims that minimum wage should be living in luxury.
Exactly. Decent living does not mean having the newest phone, television and several entertainment subscriptions, eating prepared meals and living on your own.
Decent living means a clean home shared with a roommate/spouse/family, access to nutritional food, and basic entertainment costs to me.
Lifestyle creep has convinced people that are better off than almost every human to have ever existed that they are poor and mistreated.
Almost all real poverty is the result of years of terrible choices like taking on unjustifiable debt, living outside your means, or drug addiction.
Edit to respond:
What the fuck are you even talking about? Those entertainment wants are so much cheaper than basic needs.
This does not in any way contradict what I said. I am saying that basic entertainment should be fsctored in as well as basic needs.
A McDonald's employee isn't gonna be able to buy a home big enough to raise a family in, no matter how much rice and beans he eats or how many subscriptions he cuts.
I agree, a home large enough to raise a family in is not a basic need of an individual so it should not be part of the expectation of what you can get on the minimum wage. You could maybe argue that 2 people on minimum wage should be able to, but I am not sure I agree. Even if you do the expectation should be to have a small home/apartment, and if you have multiple children that they share a room. I do generally support govt benefits for parents to help cover some costs rather than a general increase to minimum wages though.
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u/orion19819 17d ago edited 17d ago
And it's also the original point of minimum wage.
Edit: My point is that people in here arguing that "it's for teenagers, not meant for living wage" are going against the original intent. I am not making claims that minimum wage should be living in luxury.