During the ten years after I got out of high school. That is 1970-1980, America had record inflation pressure. Then things tapered off and even backtracked a little, so that a working guy could barely get along on about $20,000 a year. A lot of families started to depend on having two incomes during this period.
Since then, most costs have gone up 3-5 times as much. Some things, like housing have gone up more, even with the present real estate meltdown added in. Most working people are lucky to currently have a job that pays $40,000 or less. They are working a lot harder for a lot less and no promise of anything but harder times ahead.
It's alright though. The top 10% are doing fine and the top 1% are cruising along better than ever.
4 comments:
My first job in 1973 was working for a farmer in Iowa. I earned $1.25 per hour, agricultural minimum wage.
I worked darn hard for the money. I was rankled when the farmer deducted social security from my wages....
beebs
So why is it a crime to be doing well for oneself?
Why is it not a crime to pay people who work so hard less than they need ?
It's interesting that it made you angry that the employer had to (forced to) deduct social security, yet liberals demand the benefit. But I digress.
So an employer should let the demands of his employees dictate how he runs his business? That's been done - it called unions. The unions had a pretty heavy hand in the failure of the US auto industry. If the employees get to demand and receive higher and higher wages, then that impinges on the right of the business owner to run his business the way he wants. Pursuit of happiness and all that. Eventually it will lead to the failure of the business, the employees lose their jobs, and everybody loses.
Free market forces, if allowed to work without gummint interference, will balance out worker wages with employer profits. If an employer doesn't pay enough, he won't attract new employees, or keep the ones he has. His business will suffer. If he pays an equitable wage for the work the employee is doing, his business will prosper. If an employee does well, he gets rewarded with raises and promotions. In just 5 years with my company my pay has risen nearly 19% because my boss recognizes my good work. My son, who got his first job at the local fast food place last year is already a manager, and got his pay boosted quite nicely. When do we ever go on a job interview where the interviewer says "Let's discuss salary. How much do you need?".
If you're sublty referring to illegal aliens about their notoriously low wages, then that's a different story where the employer is breaking the law to unlawfully increase his profits. nobody wins there either.
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