A survey of American economists found that 90 percent of them regarded minimum-wage laws as increasing the rate of unemployment among low-skilled workers. Inexperience is often the problem. Only about 2 percent of Americans over the age of 24 earned the minimum wage.
Advocates of minimum-wage laws usually base their support of such laws on their estimate of how much a worker “needs” in order to have “a living wage” — or on some other criterion that pays little or no attention to the worker’s skill level, experience, or general productivity. So it is hardly surprising that minimum-wage laws set wages that price many young workers out of jobs.
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Low wages are more about supply and demand than value produced. Value produced affects the existence of the job itself. But the more people qualified to produce adequate performance, the lower the value of wages an employer will pay.
ReplyDeleteIf a McCashier can produce more value than their likely paycheck, the job is created. It's a really easy job to hit the Big Mac button, occasionally take some bills (no need to count change!), and get a soft drink. So there are a huge number of people who can do the job, and they fill out enough applications to select an adequate candidate. So the wages are really low. It doesn't matter if McCashiers produce a billion dollars in income. The pay is still going to suck.
If you are unhappy with your pay, get an education and/or learn a trade in a field that has higher requirements to entry. Be willing to move for the right job. That is what will improve your income - find a job that creates more value and demands skills that are more scarce than welcoming people to McDonald's.