When I was a kid, money equaled cool stuff and freedom to do what I wanted. I was lucky that I didn't have to worry about bills and wasn't really concerned about my ability to make money in the future. As an adult, I wish I had been better informed about finances and economics as I was growing up and moving into the world.
I had no idea how other countries handled their money. Why would I have needed to know? I was just a kid. Right? These days the average person has a better understanding of global economics and how the many countries of the world are all intertwined. It's true: our world is becoming flatter and with that comes knowledge and responsibility.
Ask yourself this: Do you have any idea what the minimum wage is in the United States? Does Kansas have a higher minimum wage than what is required by the federal government? Did you know that states have the option of increasing that minimum wage?
Recently, I discovered that in Australia there is a huge concern that foreign workers are being underpaid. Can you guess how little they're being paid? Would you be surprised to know that it's higher than the minimum wage in the United States? Would you be surprised to learn that the minimum wage in Australia for a full-time adult worker is nearly double our minimum wage? Check out this article, Raw Deal for Sushi Workers, to find out more.
Based on what you've read in the article, what are your impressions of the situation? Would that happen here? What if we increased our minimum wage? Would that have an effect on the economy? How does this affect your future? Knowing what you know now, would you be more likely to consider working abroad?
It seems like all the money in America is going to the companies themselves, not the people.
ReplyDeleteIf we were to increase the pay, it would help the people with jobs, but not as many people could get hired, and we might even lose jobs.
As for working abroad, it actually slightly discourages me, because, like Sapna Sharma said, 'No one else would give international students a job''.
Is there money worth less than ours, cause it doesn't specify that in the article. Heck in the US $11 an hour is not bad at all, but I din't know if there is a deference. On the other side of my post I think they are just greedy, those people are working just as hard if not harder and getting paid half of minimum wage, IS THAT EVEN LEGAL?!?!
ReplyDeleteI think if they would raise the minimum wage, more kids would be happy working at McDonalds or something. They might also want to get a job sooner then waiting till their Junior or Senior year in High School.
ReplyDeleteAnd the same with Peter, It discourages me working abroad, cause the chances are they won't give you a job. Either because you don't know that language or they just prefer the local people instead of people from other countries.
I think people should just strive to get a good education so they won't have to work for minimum wage. However, I do believe that minimum wage should be raised so underprivileged people with no way to get a good education can still survive on a low paying job.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Brady's statement. I absolutely do think that the minimum wage should be raised. I think that raising the minimum wage could help a lot of people keep their life expenses paid for.I personally already have a job and I am definitely payed enough for my needs as a middle schooler.
ReplyDeleteI think that America takes money for granted. Most kids have little to no responsibilities at home. We aren't prepared for real life as well as we could be. I believe school should teach us more about other countries, and their customs and daily life. We need to compare ourselves to other countries and see how well we really are doing.
ReplyDeleteI just want to throw one thing out there. Raising the minimum wage will increase the product price of everything.
ReplyDeleteThe major companies have a budget for employees. What happens when the minimum wage increases for their employees and they need more money? They increase the cost of their product.
I was looking around, and from what I've heard, Australia is an expensive place to live. Due to their high minimum wage.
By keeping wages lower, it makes America more competitive with the world. Then, people would buy more products made in America which, in turn make more jobs at home.
Picture it this way, the more we raise the minimum wage, the higher the product price is. So, when China doesn't raise its minimum wage, and their product price is low, everyone will buy from them, and our companies will go out of business.
Not only that, but if more products are made in America, then we don't have to import as much, making everything cheaper, and stopping us from getting in trade debt.
America takes money for granted and I think most people like it that way.They like to not worry about how much money they have only what to spend it on.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest problem is that there is not a REAL solution. We could make companies give workers at least minimum wage, though jobs would eventually get cut. We could say that we could lower the minimum wage but then we have the same problem we started with.
ReplyDeleteSo eventually we ask "What can we do to fix this" unfortunately there is no TRUE answer that can REALLY fix this problem.
Minimum wage should be raised. It's a problem that can and hopefully will be fixed. Kids looking to purse a higher education level are set back due to money issues. And what's this about foreigners not getting the same benefits and advantages? Racist are we??? I think so. Taking advantage of other people for our own greed? Maybe money isn't the only problem...
ReplyDeleteAs Pstuchlik indicated, most of the money earned by companies in the US goes back to the company, not the people. Wouldn't it make sense to put more of that money back into the workers? Does anyone know how much more money the average CEO makes than the average front-line worker? Also, keep in mind Pstuchlik that you wouldn't necessarily be an international student worker earning less than the minimum wage. You would likely be a regular employee earning much above the minimum wage. Would that make you change your mind?
ReplyDeletefootballfreak - It's not legal to get paid less than the minimum wage, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. As for your question, according to www.XE.com (a currency converter) $1 USD = .98 AUD. This means that one dollar in the US equals 98 cents in Australia. They're nearly the same.
ReplyDeleteI think Pstuchlik, if we raise minimum wage the product of prices will go up. The companies will also not be able to hire as many people and many people would lose their jobs.
ReplyDelete(This is Reber) I, can see where people would come on both sides of this argument. The people who are arguing, who think that it is wrong that the foreign workers are getting paid below minimum wage: which is up to 20.26 an hour. Although, I've got to agree with both footballfreak and Mohnster on this, yes it is still REALLY good getting payed $11 hourly (considering their job). But, also if they did pay them the minimum wage, the price of their products would go up significantly. But, then their sales might go down too because not as many consumers are likely not going to want to pay a big price for what ever they're buying. So if I were the person who had the final say on this: I would say give them a $2-4 pay raise hourly. Which would equal $13-14 an hour which is better, despite that it is NOT minimum wage.
ReplyDeleteI think people should not raise the minimum wage. If we did then prices will just shoot up and we will be in the same situation we are in now. I also think going to work abroad would be a bad idea, because it wouldn't be very easy to find a job for reasons like language or disliking foreigners.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mason, if we do raise minimum wage then they would just raise that prices of every thing else so it would still be the same. I also agree with Felicia that working abroad would be bad for the same reasons how are you going to know what other people are saying if you dont know the language they are speaking.
ReplyDeleteI personally think that we should all start learning about finances at an early age. This way we know to start saving and won't make any financial mistakes once we are adults. To be honest I have no idea what the minimum wage is in American, or in Kansas for that matter. I thought foreign workers were already being underpaid in the United States. Maybe it isn't as big as I thought but I know those who illegally crossed the Mexican border usually end up with an underpaid job.
ReplyDeleteMinimum wage shouldn't be raised. If people could learn to survive with less money without accumulating massive amounts of debt and then weaseling their way out of it this country wouldn't be in debt. As for minimum wage, Companies should be able to pay exclusively based on skill at the job,
ReplyDeleteI think that it was interesting seeing the minimum wage in different countries. I think that our community should not focus on the money aspect though. What I got from this blog post and website is to be grateful for what you have. People will always,always, always have less than you so be thankful. If you say thank you to one person I bet it would make their day.
ReplyDeleteIf we increased our minimum wage at the same rate that we increased the price of living expenses then nobody would have an issue. Plus if we just made the minimum wage to where it can pay for taxes and food and water and a house and car and gas you know the bar minimums then there would be know homeless people in america. The problem is that right know minimum wage can barely pay for food and water right now so that is why we need to fix this.
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