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Comment by wizardofmysore | Hacker News Reader

I think minimum wage is supposed to enable you to move up and not a wage where you can lead a comfortable life. It's expected that a single person on minimum wage can't get a two bedroom house.

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From FDR, the guy responsible for establishing the wage floor:

> no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country.

> By ‘business’ I mean the whole of commerce as well as the whole of industry; by workers I mean all workers, the white collar class as well as the men in overalls; and by living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level — I mean the wages of decent living

So no, the minimum wage is supposed to be a living wage, but has fallen far from its inception.

You can argue whether it's necessary that we have a minimum wage, but not what it was conceived for.

I see, I did not know that. I thought it was a means to ensure someone who doesn't have a good job gets a minimum amount of wage till they find something stable.

Even then I don’t get the point of this. Where would one find the time to get the qualifications for a more suitable job if they’re too busy working full time minimum wage let alone two part time minimum wage jobs? What are they suppose to do in the intermediate between working the minimum wage job and landing a stable one? Starve?

Attitudes like this make life especially difficult for single mothers in low income brackets.

I do understand that it's hard for single mothers to live on minimum wage. We do need to consider the implications of giving minimum wage to all however. Not that I'm opposed to it but just not sure if it will help majority in the long run.

Can you elaborate on this? Anyone and everyone has access to minimum wage jobs baring very certain exceptions. What’s the difference ?

2 bedroom is absurd to expect at minimum wage, but it says the price for a 1 bedroom is at ~$20. Yeah I agree, minimum wage is the floor, but it should still be possible to live.

Do poor families not need separate bedrooms?

I'm pretty sure you could get a 2-bed home with minimum wage 70 years ago, so I suppose you're saying that it's absurd to expect societies to advance and make life easier.

That was not the original intention of minimum wage. Also consider how long it would take a person to "move up" from minimum wage to a liveable one.

Got it. I don't know if all jobs can give such a wage. Perhaps we need to define what it would mean to live a minimal comfortable life. I think it's fair to ensure people get good opportunities.

If a job cannot afford to give its employees a livable wage then it does not deserve to exists. It’s similar to a Restaurant that cannot adhere to safety standards does not deserve to operate.

Anyone who works 40 hours a week deserves a comfortable life.

What if they're working for a startup that rings radio stations for free concert tickets and resells them?

So? I don’t see the point of going down such a rabbit whole as if all jobs or even all high paying jobs are morally acceptable. I’m sure a VP at Exxon does a lot to earn their bread. They’re still apart if a piece of shit company that puts all of humanity in danger with their actions and lies.

The moral value of the employer is mostly irrelevant when discussing the remuneration of the employee. I can see the case for disallowing a business from performing unethical actions like that, but so long as that business is legally allowed to exist, yes, anyone who works there for a full time work week should have a comfortable life.

Sounds like the startup is the problem here, not the employee.

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