This is the problem in this country. Wages are atrocious compared to the USA and quite a few European countries.
The National Minimum Wage is a disgrace
It should be £8.50 an hour at least
Yeah that's a good idea. Let's bankrupt half the small businesses in the country while ensuring those that do survive put up their prices by huge amounts thus cancelling out the effects of the increase.
How much do you propose the minimum wage should be?
Better still, you tell us what you think should be the minimum wage? Do you think we should continue to have wages topped up with tax credits due to poor wages?
Yeah that's a good idea. Let's bankrupt half the small businesses in the country while ensuring those that do survive put up their prices by huge amounts thus cancelling out the effects of the increase.
I think the current system could be simplified by raising the minimum wage so that everyone can have a decent standard of life, do away with working tax credits and using that money to subsidise small businesses.
It's nuts. After conversion i'm only getting just over $6 less being a regular Customer Service Assistant living in Sydney compared to being an assistant manager back home in Hull. I'm fine giving up that much to have none of the responsibilities. It's just not enough extra to be worth it.
Referendum aside, it has happened here in the past. I remember the re-introduction of a NMW being a hot topic in parliament back in the 80s and the same being rejected because it would deflate the value of wages generally, among other cons. Which is exactly what we have seen since it was brought back 16 years ago.
The difference being between that and Switzerland which i thought i'd made clear how it 'worked', was in Switzerland 75% of the nation voted against an increase....not Swiss MP's because their Government simply raises an issue which then immediately goes to a referendum.
Here, we vote a Political party into power in Westminster and they then pretty much have carte blanche to implement whatever they like. If the UK decide to cap pay increases at 2%, the nation doesn't decide that.....Parliament does.
However, the implementation of the NMW in the US varies between States. Many have a lower minimum for staff in "tipped" jobs. Work in a bar or restaurant and the owner need only pay $2 to $3 per hour though staff will expect to make much more due to tips. That's why if you go into any bar in the US there are always a lot more staff than you get in a pub here because they are cheaper to employ. I was talking to a waiter in a high end restaurant who said he had "declared" over $100,000 in earnings in the last year (and presumably more in "undeclared" earnings).
Yes i imagine that figure was taken as an average. I simply googled it but realise it will vary from state to state.
Not anymore, the USA can seem cheap to us because of the exchange rates but Americans are struggling. Hunt around for a full copy of this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgxxT4xpVNI its on torrent sites
Just swap the $ signs for £ and that's UK. Why do we now have Food Banks sprouting up all over the place? Why are people deserting 'the big four' Supermarkets in droves and heading for Aldi and Lidl stores?
I think you will find there are many items much cheaper in the US than UK. CD/DVD's have always been much less often by as much as 50%. I've purchased photographic equipment which came in at less than half the price of the UK rrp, yet had been exported from a warehouse in Wolverhampton......less than 60 miles away from me!
Also, the most obvious which goes without saying......fuel!
There isnt one but different states do set their own. I do know that fast food workers get a very low wage less than the NMW here.
The idea that everyone in the US is on huge wages is not true but average salaries are higher but then again it is a much wealthier country than the UK.
Nurses get a paid a great deal more in the USA. In the US the starting salary for a newly qualified nurse is 35K while here in the UK it is £21,478.
Big difference. No wonder UK trained nurses are heading abroad.:(
Just swap the $ signs for £ and that's UK. Why do we now have Food Banks sprouting up all over the place? Why are people deserting 'the big four' Supermarkets in droves and heading for Aldi and Lidl stores?
I think you will find there are many items much cheaper in the US than UK. CD/DVD's have always been much less often by as much as 50%. I've purchased photographic equipment which came in at less than half the price of the UK rrp, yet had been exported from a warehouse in Wolverhampton......less than 60 miles away from me!
Also, the most obvious which goes without saying......fuel!
I've worked in Orange County in the USA. ( Costa Mesa which is about 35-40 miles south from central LA )
It's swings and roundabouts really and cost of living varies massively in the US.
Supermarkets seemed much more expensive than here.
Fuel, well yes much cheaper in the USA but if you're in California you tend to drive a lot more. LA isn't really a pedestrian friendly city. When I was there the cars were useless at fuel economy.
Fast food is a bit cheaper
Eating out, socialising I found way more expensive. Partly because of amount of tips. You literally seem to have to tip for every thing including just sitting at a bar having a drink.
The kicker was accommodation, which is outrageously expensive in California. I was renting a reasonably basic condo apartment for nearly $2000 / month this was around 13 years ago so not sure what it would be now.
House prices out there are super expensive as well. Just the opposite of Florida where you can get a mansion for the price of a semi in Southern England.
I think mobile phone and internet services are quite a bit more expensive over there too.
I heard that broadband was nearly 3 times the price compared to the UK
Oh and 10 days per year would be considered a reasonable amount of holiday ( apart from bank holidays ) in the US compared with a 20 minimum in the UK
I've worked in Orange County in the USA. ( Costa Mesa which is about 35-40 miles south from central LA )
It's swings and roundabouts really and cost of living varies massively in the US.
Supermarkets seemed much more expensive than here.
Fuel, well yes much cheaper in the USA but if you're in California you tend to drive a lot more. LA isn't really a pedestrian friendly city. When I was there the cars were useless at fuel economy.
Fast food is a bit cheaper
Eating out, socialising I found way more expensive. Partly because of amount of tips. You literally seem to have to tip for every thing including just sitting at a bar having a drink.
The kicker was accommodation, which is outrageously expensive in California. I was renting a reasonably basic condo apartment for nearly $2000 / month this was around 13 years ago so not sure what it would be now.
House prices out there are super expensive as well. Just the opposite of Florida where you can get a mansion for the price of a semi in Southern England.
I think mobile phone and internet services are quite a bit more expensive over there too.
I heard that broadband was nearly 3 times the price compared to the UK
Oh and 10 days per year would be considered a reasonable amount of holiday ( apart from bank holidays ) in the US compared with a 20 minimum in the UK
This must also be the case in Texas too (bib)?
A cousin of mine relocated there three years ago due to work. They bought a 5 bed 2 bath detached complete with Cinema room and the obligatory outdoor pool. Huge garage too. They also have a small 3 bed semi-detached in Derby which cost almost as much!
I forget what type of car he runs in the US but he told me nobody pulls on a forecourt and sticks a few gallons in....they 'tank up' every time. He hasn't a clue what he spends each month on fuel....he doesn't even notice it!
Better still, you tell us what you think should be the minimum wage? Do you think we should continue to have wages topped up with tax credits due to poor wages?
Problem is, put up the minimum wage and basically every business will increase their prices to cover the cost of paying the higher wage, and people in higher up positions will expect a payrise to ensure the differential between their wage and the lowest paid person's wage stays the same.
It isn't just as simple as saying "right, you now have to pay everybody at least £8.50 an hour". It doesn't work like that.
Problem is, put up the minimum wage and basically every business will increase their prices to cover the cost of paying the higher wage, and people in higher up positions will expect a payrise to ensure the differential between their wage and the lowest paid person's wage stays the same.
It isn't just as simple as saying "right, you now have to pay everybody at least £8.50 an hour". It doesn't work like that.
Which just goes to show that capitalism has now reached the stage of becoming a stagnant hierarchial system.
There is a state in the US that pays a min wage of $17 per hour, quite a difference compare to the UK.
An issue a lot of people don't think about when talking about a living wage is that it won't benefit a hell of a lot of people. If you are getting any form of tax credit, housing benefit, council tax etc this will simply be reduced to accommodate your pay rise leaving you no better off. It also for this reason at 34 I choose to work for close to minimum wage, I would need a super duper pay rise to clear what I get in working tax and housing benefit and its just not going to happen.
Well while I'm unemployed so I don't get wages but I am a carer for 3 disabled family members so I "work" 24/7 and have to pretty everything for them and the house especially my Mum and youngest brother which can including feeding and both are incontinent so pad changes and showering is included at at time of the day or night
I sleep for about 2 hours a day if lucky sometimes less sometimes it can be days without sleep.
I do get a carers allowance for this
£61 a week
Carers are treated appallingly. You're probably saving the council hundreds, if not thousands, a week in care or care home charges.
You should be getting £45 a week in income support as well as your carer's allowance. Still an insulting amount of money, but better than £61.
Better still, you tell us what you think should be the minimum wage? Do you think we should continue to have wages topped up with tax credits due to poor wages?
Around £8.50 ph. However, I agree with the poster who suggested it should be a regional figure, because of the huge variation in housing costs around the country.
I also think that public sector salaries should be settled regionally, for the same reason. Two people doing the same job will have vastly different standards of living if one is in the south east and one in south Wales.
I'm disabled. Employers are reluctant to employ me despite the disabilty act. I'm an intelligent person, not the brain of Britain by any means but nevertheless not stupid. I've applied for better paid jobs and turned down. It's sole destroying knowing that you can do the job but yet because of what i am i'm turned down. I'm stuck in the shite, mimimum wage jobs, the jobs most of you would never consider doing but i have to do them as its the only work i can apply for knowing that i would be successful in getting. In the past i've even been turned down for employment even though i've been doing the job for 2 1/2 years voluntary.
Minimum wage jobs are sole distroying. I want to support myself through life without the need for asking for beneifts but sometimes some of us don't get the choice of getting another job, getting extra qualifications, working for nothing to show it. No matter what we do makes no difference we stuck in low paid jobs but we make your world turn.
Don't be so hard on those who do find crap wages hard to live on. Without people like me and other's like me you'd not have your bins emptied, public toilets cleaned, NHS workers etc, people cleaning up after you, the list goes on.
That's a thought provoking post. Thanks for sharing.
Around £8.50 ph. However, I agree with the poster who suggested it should be a regional figure, because of the huge variation in housing costs around the country.
I also think that public sector salaries should be settled regionally, for the same reason. Two people doing the same job will have vastly different standards of living if one is in the south east and one in south Wales.
No I think your only partially right.
Right wing politicians use this argument as a trojan horse to undermine collective bargaining of wages and working conditions etc.
The only place that needs special regional rates is arguably London and the south east.There is no need for an ideology of regional bargaining across the board as the variation isnt great enough to warrant this as a national policy.
An issue a lot of people don't think about when talking about a living wage is that it won't benefit a hell of a lot of people. If you are getting any form of tax credit, housing benefit, council tax etc this will simply be reduced to accommodate your pay rise leaving you no better off. It also for this reason at 34 I choose to work for close to minimum wage, I would need a super duper pay rise to clear what I get in working tax and housing benefit and its just not going to happen.
Very true. A lot of people don't realise how steep the "taper" is when it comes to benefits.
If you're over the tax threshold you'll lose 32p of every extra pound you earn, and 41p in tax credits, so you're left with 27p. You'll lose 65% of that (around 18p) of that in housing benefit, leaving you with 9p.
You'd have to work an extra 15 hours at NMW to earn an extra £100, but you'd only be £9 better off. No-one in their right mind would bother.
It makes me laugh when higher earners moan about paying 40% in tax on any extra earnings. Their net gain from extra money is still 60%, more than 6 times that of someone on a low wage, tax credits and HB.
Education doesn't have to stop just because you've left school. There are plenty of options for restarting your education and a lot of them can be fit in around a full time job.
I also didn't take school seriously and now I am paying the price of that. If only... ! Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I have been from one dead end job to another since I left school.
It not guaranteed by any stretch of the imagination that better qualifications will get you a better paid job. Good business sense often plays a part.
Carers are treated appallingly. You're probably saving the council hundreds, if not thousands, a week in care or care home charges.
You should be getting £45 a week in income support as well as your carer's allowance. Still an insulting amount of money, but better than £61.
I'm also a Carer for my Dad - 95, and income support is means tested. And the DWP want to know all your business, and want proof. And what you get isn't worth the hassle to get it.
As for savings, us three million Carers save the country £118 Billion every year.
Comments
Yeah that's a good idea. Let's bankrupt half the small businesses in the country while ensuring those that do survive put up their prices by huge amounts thus cancelling out the effects of the increase.
I think the current system could be simplified by raising the minimum wage so that everyone can have a decent standard of life, do away with working tax credits and using that money to subsidise small businesses.
Here, we vote a Political party into power in Westminster and they then pretty much have carte blanche to implement whatever they like. If the UK decide to cap pay increases at 2%, the nation doesn't decide that.....Parliament does.
Yes i imagine that figure was taken as an average. I simply googled it but realise it will vary from state to state.
It has now. Implemented back in July last year;
I think you will find there are many items much cheaper in the US than UK. CD/DVD's have always been much less often by as much as 50%. I've purchased photographic equipment which came in at less than half the price of the UK rrp, yet had been exported from a warehouse in Wolverhampton......less than 60 miles away from me!
Also, the most obvious which goes without saying......fuel!
Nurses get a paid a great deal more in the USA. In the US the starting salary for a newly qualified nurse is 35K while here in the UK it is £21,478.
Big difference. No wonder UK trained nurses are heading abroad.:(
I've worked in Orange County in the USA. ( Costa Mesa which is about 35-40 miles south from central LA )
It's swings and roundabouts really and cost of living varies massively in the US.
Supermarkets seemed much more expensive than here.
Fuel, well yes much cheaper in the USA but if you're in California you tend to drive a lot more. LA isn't really a pedestrian friendly city. When I was there the cars were useless at fuel economy.
Fast food is a bit cheaper
Eating out, socialising I found way more expensive. Partly because of amount of tips. You literally seem to have to tip for every thing including just sitting at a bar having a drink.
The kicker was accommodation, which is outrageously expensive in California. I was renting a reasonably basic condo apartment for nearly $2000 / month this was around 13 years ago so not sure what it would be now.
House prices out there are super expensive as well. Just the opposite of Florida where you can get a mansion for the price of a semi in Southern England.
I think mobile phone and internet services are quite a bit more expensive over there too.
I heard that broadband was nearly 3 times the price compared to the UK
Oh and 10 days per year would be considered a reasonable amount of holiday ( apart from bank holidays ) in the US compared with a 20 minimum in the UK
A cousin of mine relocated there three years ago due to work. They bought a 5 bed 2 bath detached complete with Cinema room and the obligatory outdoor pool. Huge garage too. They also have a small 3 bed semi-detached in Derby which cost almost as much!
I forget what type of car he runs in the US but he told me nobody pulls on a forecourt and sticks a few gallons in....they 'tank up' every time. He hasn't a clue what he spends each month on fuel....he doesn't even notice it!
I think it should be whatever it is now.
It isn't just as simple as saying "right, you now have to pay everybody at least £8.50 an hour". It doesn't work like that.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29873409
Today I received my pay slip.
£269
>:(
What is your tax code. It should be 1000L?
Which just goes to show that capitalism has now reached the stage of becoming a stagnant hierarchial system.
An issue a lot of people don't think about when talking about a living wage is that it won't benefit a hell of a lot of people. If you are getting any form of tax credit, housing benefit, council tax etc this will simply be reduced to accommodate your pay rise leaving you no better off. It also for this reason at 34 I choose to work for close to minimum wage, I would need a super duper pay rise to clear what I get in working tax and housing benefit and its just not going to happen.
Carers are treated appallingly. You're probably saving the council hundreds, if not thousands, a week in care or care home charges.
You should be getting £45 a week in income support as well as your carer's allowance. Still an insulting amount of money, but better than £61.
Around £8.50 ph. However, I agree with the poster who suggested it should be a regional figure, because of the huge variation in housing costs around the country.
I also think that public sector salaries should be settled regionally, for the same reason. Two people doing the same job will have vastly different standards of living if one is in the south east and one in south Wales.
That's a thought provoking post. Thanks for sharing.
No I think your only partially right.
Right wing politicians use this argument as a trojan horse to undermine collective bargaining of wages and working conditions etc.
The only place that needs special regional rates is arguably London and the south east.There is no need for an ideology of regional bargaining across the board as the variation isnt great enough to warrant this as a national policy.
Very true. A lot of people don't realise how steep the "taper" is when it comes to benefits.
If you're over the tax threshold you'll lose 32p of every extra pound you earn, and 41p in tax credits, so you're left with 27p. You'll lose 65% of that (around 18p) of that in housing benefit, leaving you with 9p.
You'd have to work an extra 15 hours at NMW to earn an extra £100, but you'd only be £9 better off. No-one in their right mind would bother.
It makes me laugh when higher earners moan about paying 40% in tax on any extra earnings. Their net gain from extra money is still 60%, more than 6 times that of someone on a low wage, tax credits and HB.
Most of which cost a lot of money.
It not guaranteed by any stretch of the imagination that better qualifications will get you a better paid job. Good business sense often plays a part.
I'm also a Carer for my Dad - 95, and income support is means tested. And the DWP want to know all your business, and want proof. And what you get isn't worth the hassle to get it.
As for savings, us three million Carers save the country £118 Billion every year.