McDonald's employee arrested after telling company president she can't afford shoes. - Polidicks

[QUOTE=SgtCr4zyGunz;42482074]really don't see how people can genuinely believe this when the system is designed to keep the rich rich and the poor poor.[/QUOTE] There is some upwards social mobility, it's not an urban legend But there's not very much of it

Exactly. The wealth doesn't quite trickle down...

[QUOTE=JustExtreme;42482470]Exactly. The wealth doesn't quite trickle down...[/QUOTE] It's more of a dribble limited to pre-existing middle-class neighbourhoods in areas with an already stable economic and social situation

[QUOTE=DaysBefore;42482454]There is some upwards social mobility, it's not an urban legend But there's not very much of it[/QUOTE] Well yes a bit. Designed is the wrong word. Easily exploitable is what i meant.

[QUOTE=Toyhobo;42477998]Jobs don't grow on trees.[/QUOTE] yeah the 10 year waiting period for a job opening is really killing the economy

To be the devil's advocate here, you're working minimum wage and have kids. Minimum wage is defined as the minimum to survive for an individual, not for raising a family. You shouldn't have kids if you can't afford them.

While that's a valid point, the minimum wage isn't enough to survive for an individual nowadays either. [editline]10th October 2013[/editline] Actually wait no, wasn't the minimum wage originally supposed to be the minimum to survive off of for you and your family?

[QUOTE=W00tbeer1;42483462]To be the devil's advocate here, you're working minimum wage and have kids. Minimum wage is defined as the minimum to survive for an individual, not for raising a family. You shouldn't have kids if you can't afford them.[/QUOTE] Today minimum wage for an individual is too low to live on comfortably anyway. Working minimum wage at $7.25 an hour for a 40 hour work week for a month would give you less than $1200, that times twelve gives you $15K a year. The USA average for rent is $800. That leaves you with $400 a month for food and utilities. You're gonna end up eating nothing but fast food every day, probably won't have a car and if you get hurt, you're fucked. On minimum wage you don't qualify for medicaid or medicare, so a doctor's visit is pushing it, but if you break an arm, you're paying for it for years to come.

[QUOTE=W00tbeer1;42483462]To be the devil's advocate here, you're working minimum wage and have kids. Minimum wage is defined as the minimum to survive for an individual, not for raising a family. You shouldn't have kids if you can't afford them.[/QUOTE] why should there have to be situations where you cant afford to raise kids when the issue can be resolved by reforming the economic system and redistributing wealth more equally.

[QUOTE=W00tbeer1;42483462]To be the devil's advocate here, you're working minimum wage and have kids. Minimum wage is defined as the minimum to survive for an individual, not for raising a family. You shouldn't have kids if you can't afford them.[/QUOTE] so if you can never really get a well paying job should you never have children?

Have kids while on $8 an hour isn't exactly the smartest thing to do, but she's entitled to have kids because. [editline]11th October 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=Lachz0r;42483700]so if you can never really get a well paying job should you never have children?[/QUOTE] You shouldn't have children you can't feed, is that not logical to you?

seems more logical that in a first world country there shouldn't be situations where you can't feed your children

[QUOTE=Lachz0r;42483780]seems more logical that in a first world country there shouldn't be situations where you can't feed your children[/QUOTE] seems more logical that you shouldn't rely on working at maccas too who says "When I grow up, i want to work at mcdonalds."

[QUOTE=SubbyV-2;42483833]seems more logical that you shouldn't rely on working at maccas too[/QUOTE] here's an idea lets raise the minimum raise

seems more logical if you are working a full-time week you should be able to provide for your family

i wonder how many people work decades at mc donalds because they actually want to

[QUOTE=SubbyV-2;42483833]seems more logical that you shouldn't rely on working at maccas too who says "When I grow up, i want to work at mcdonalds."[/QUOTE] How many people say "I want to become X when I grow up" and actually succeed in doing so?

[QUOTE=Xenocidebot;42480094][URL="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1403498"]Maybe that's a conservative talking point with no empirical basis.[/URL][/QUOTE] Maybe I'm just entirely ignorant of the situation and trust few people because it's so politically charged that even liberals give me different answers. :( What do

I think at my job, you get a 55 cent raise every 500 hours you've worked, after an initial 1800 hours or something like that. Still though, it caps out at $13.25/hr and that'll take 4-6 years to get even if you have consistent hours.

[QUOTE=DaysBefore;42482454]There is some upwards social mobility, it's not an urban legend But there's not very much of it[/QUOTE] Given what happens to you if you have a mental illness, chronic physical condition, or a criminal record, I'd argue there's more involuntary downwards social mobility than voluntary upwards social mobility Nothing takes you from middle class to homeless faster than those three things, of course if you're already upper class you can cruise straight through it no problem

[QUOTE=DaysBefore;42482492]It's more of a dribble limited to pre-existing middle-class neighbourhoods in areas with an already stable economic and social situation[/QUOTE] and than that's sucked up by the government who love to tax the middle class while the rich manipulate loopholes with armies of lawyers.

[QUOTE=Toyhobo;42477998]Jobs don't grow on trees.[/QUOTE] Took me a fucking year to find a decent job last year, after applying at more than 60+ places Sometimes you have to work with what you've got

It's hard to believe that this can be legal...

What, 8.25$ is about the same as the minimum wage for a 13 year old here (and people under 18 doesn't really have to pay taxes, depending on their income of course)

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;42480649]He's probably put thousands of dollars into an education to get that job while a McDonald's employee needs maybe 2-3 hours of training to be able to function correctly at the job. I think it's fair that those who put more investment into their career like that get paid higher than those who don't.[/QUOTE] Web development can be outsourced. Serving at a fast-food joint can't. If you're not interested in working in a field that's highly competitive and volatile, then web development isn't for you.

[QUOTE=SubbyV-2;42483710]Have kids while on $8 an hour isn't exactly the smartest thing to do, but she's entitled to have kids because. [editline]11th October 2013[/editline] You shouldn't have children you can't feed, is that not logical to you?[/QUOTE] I'm pretty sure we need less assholes in the world defending children starving, and the problem is not really with these people with families who are actually working their whole lives struggling to provide for them, it's with people like you.

Yeah if people didn't have children just because they "couldn't afford it" where the fuck would all the cheap future labour come from? Oh yeah, short term gain is all that matters...

[QUOTE=JustExtreme;42487058]Yeah if people didn't have children just because they "couldn't afford it" where the fuck would all the cheap future labour come from? Oh yeah, short term gain is all that matters...[/QUOTE] if you are going to make someone part of an underclass you might as well make them feel guilty about it!

[QUOTE=MR-X;42478937]8.25 after 10 years of service is fucking stupid. She could work for walmart and get her raise 40-80 cents a year. There are people who easily make 15-25 dollars an hour after 10 years of service. As much as i feel for her, maybe it is time to get a new job or start looking. I mean you've had 10 years, there has to be something out there that is better.[/QUOTE] I went ahead and did some rough math. In 2003, the minimum wage was $5.15 an hour. I'm going to assume that is what she started with. That means she would have to have received an average $0.31 raise a year to reach her current hourly rate. However, the minimum wage changed in 2007, 2008, and then again in 2009, up to $7.25 an hour. In 2007 the minimum wage was changed to $5.85 an hour. She was making $6.39 an hour, so the change did not effect her. In 2008 the minimum wage was changed to $6.55 an hour. She was making $6.70 an hour, so again, the change did not effect her. In 2009 the minimum wage was changed to $7.25 an hour. She was making $7.01 by this time, so the change gave her $0.24 more an hour. This means, that starting in 2010, her average raise was $0.25 an hour. Of course, all of this is just assumptions based on an average. This is also assuming that she received her raises before the minimum wage increases. Her raises very well could have been higher some years and much lower in other years. Also, I'm not sure how McDonald's was effected during the financial crisis in 2008-2009. I know many businesses and corporations held employee raises due to financial woes. Even still, based on this rough math, my best guess is this woman was/is not a very good worker. I have a friend who started at McDonald's when he was 16, and he is currently a manager making $17ish an hour. Ironically, he is about to turn 27, so he has been there for ten years.

Everyone's experience is different. Just because your friend's worked there ten years and made manager doesn't mean everyone with a good work ethic will. She could very well have a really shitty manager who doesn't like giving out raises, or just plain doesn't like her.