Did you ever work for minimum wage?

Yappi

Yappi

Go Buckeyes
Seeing so many messages about a "living wage" and workers deserving tips. This site has a good mix of various ages and I'm curious how many worked for minimum wage?

Personally, I worked for minimum wage ($3.35) at a few different places from 15-19 years old. Most of my jobs worked around sports/school and many of the other workers did too. We didn't expect anything more than minimum wage. They weren't overwhelming jobs but not much different than today (fast food/movie theater/electronics store). It put enough money in my pocket to have fun on weekends.
 
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soccerdad72

Well-known member
In high school - one summer for my dad and then my first lifeguarding job. The following years, I got raises, so I was above minimum wage after that.
 
14Red

14Red

Well-known member
Yappi you've nailed it. "Minimum" wage is just that, minimum for a job. It's not meant to become rich on, or to raise a family. It's minimum wage. And I'd really like to know, and I'm sure these statistics are out there, actually how many people at any given time is being paid minumum wage? I'd guess less than 10% of workers, maybe 5%. But it's a rallying cry for liberals to raise wages. I'd just like someone to mention to people any time there is a raise in wages, there has to be something given back from the other side. If you have 100 employee and you are forced to give everyone a dime per hour raise - doesn't sound like much right? Well, dime and hour raise per employee, 40 hours per week, 52 weeks a year, $208 raise per employee per year, $20,800 increase in labor cost for the year.
 
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PantherProud

Well-known member
I'm sure I did with my first high school job, but that's probably the only time. Certainly wasn't anything to live on. Even in college making above minimum wage, it would have been barely enough to live as a college student.
 
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soccerdad72

Well-known member
14Red said:
Yappi you've nailed it. "Minimum" wage is just that, minimum for a job. It's not meant to become rich on, or to raise a family. It's minimum wage. And I'd really like to know, and I'm sure these statistics are out there, actually how many people at any given time is being paid minumum wage? I'd guess less than 10% of workers, maybe 5%. But it's a rallying cry for liberals to raise wages. I'd just like someone to mention to people any time there is a raise in wages, there has to be something given back from the other side. If you have 100 employee and you are forced to give everyone a dime per hour raise - doesn't sound like much right? Well, dime and hour raise per employee, 40 hours per week, 52 weeks a year, $208 raise per employee per year, $20,800 increase in labor cost for the year.
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Different sites say various percentages, but in general, around 1-2% of the workforce, apparently.

This site says 1.5% in 2020: https://www.statista.com/statistics...ly-rates-at-or-below-minimum-wage-since-1979/
 
14Red

14Red

Well-known member
soccerdad72 said:
Different sites say various percentages, but in general, around 1-2% of the workforce, apparently.

This site says 1.5% in 2020: https://www.statista.com/statistics...ly-rates-at-or-below-minimum-wage-since-1979/
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Boom, I figured I was way high. It's almost impossible to find someone who's been on the job more than 90 days that make minimum wage.

AND IF THEY DO...there's likely a good reason why. They are not a good employee but the but the business can't afford to let them go.
 
Yappi

Yappi

Go Buckeyes
soccerdad72 said:
This site says 1.5% in 2020: https://www.statista.com/statistics...ly-rates-at-or-below-minimum-wage-since-1979/
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Great site. About 12% were making minimum wage when I started. I'm guessing the percentage of teens making minimum wage was well over 50% at that time. We worked hard and had few skills. It felt like a fair wage. I didn't feel like I was getting ripped off. I was happy to have a job and also glad that I got to work with alot of friends. My future "career" was when I planned on making real money. Maybe coming out of a very tough recession had a little to do with it too. These jobs were a step up from being a paper boy, lawn boy, rake boy, or snow shoveler of my early teens. My first real job was picking up baseballs/softballs in a batting cage (around 14/15 years old). I can't imagine anyone getting paid more than minimum wage for a job like that.
 
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Tesoro

Well-known member
Yup....planted tomatoes, cleaned up canning factory....

WOrked cleaning up slaughter house every day...

All minimum.

Heck..in 5th grade I was a carryout boy at small grocery for .50/ hour.

Ten bucks a week and I was happy.
 
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LELL

Well-known member
My first real job, I was like 80 or 90 cents above minimum wage if my memory serves me correctly. Anyone have a chart of minimum wage? LOL!
 
Thavoice

Thavoice

Well-known member
Does $1.80/hr count?

.....and I was overpaid.

but if I could retire and have a job for fun.....I would jump right back on that job in a heartbeat.
 
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JackEd

Well-known member
For sure. Worked at Kroger as a sophomore in school for like $5.15, a nursing home kitchen for the same, and my junior and senior summers at Riverbend for minimum wage as the maintenance crew (cleaning crew is the honest title) with no OT pay because it was “seasonal work”. 70-80 hour weeks were very common. I didn’t mind the hours bc I was young, dumb and with a bunch of my buddies. Perks were watching the shows, checking out the chicks and plenty of beer and drugs (not my style) were to be found after the shows were done.

I did cut grass as well which put $20 a week In my pocket (1996-2001).
 
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Ericles

Well-known member
Sure did...at our local McDonald's. The owner was so cheap and out of touch with reality that he wouldn't pay you more than minimum wage and would address you as "young man" if he ever dealt with you within the restaurant.
 
Zunardo

Zunardo

Well-known member
Minimum wage for two years at Arby's. Then I went across the street to Gold Circle for ten cents above minimum, and I never looked back.
 
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SLS

Well-known member
I worked for a Chrysler dealership in Indiana at a summer job in 1965, 54 hours a week for $1 an hour, Mon.-Sat.from 8am til 6 pm, no overtime pay.The state minimum was $1.25 at the time. I had a company vehicle to drive, first a 54 GMC pickup which was sold, then a 56 DeSoto which was taken away when I was caught by the police chief making it backfire.
 
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CedarBuck92

Well-known member
My very first job as a bus boy at Bob Evans. Pretty sure every job I had after that paid at least a little over minimum.
 
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Indiandad

Well-known member
No. My first job(s) all paid between $5-$5.50/hr. My brother had just graduated college and was making $9/hr.

I have always worked 2 or 3 jobs. By the time I was 19 I had started my own business in real estate. I've owned 9 businesses in my lifetime.
 
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NewOldBlood

Well-known member
Started my first job at Wendy's in 1992 and I made $.25 over minimum wage at $4.80 an hour. Worked there about a year and went to Chi-Chi's as a server's assistant (glorified busboy) and only made $3.85 and hour plus tips which turned out to be a really good job for a 17 year old as it wasn't uncommon for me to make $10 an hour or more with my tips.
 
clarkgriswold

clarkgriswold

Well-known member
Yep, sweeping floors and cleaning toilets. etc. at my parish church and parish school. I also delivered papers for what had to be less than minimum wage.
 
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Steel Valley FB

Well-known member
My first official job, other than working for my dad where I did get paychecks, was at Abruzzi’s Cafe 422 in Niles, Ohio making $3.35/hr in 1986.
 
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eastisbest

Well-known member
irish_buffalo said:
I did the same.

Bunch of us would wash chalk boards and sweep floors to pay off tuition.
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BS: you were a 14 year old bouncer at the Beer Barrel

My first job was collecting returnables to earn enough money to skip church and go buy more unused returnables....and candy. Then I turned 6. I think my next job was covering someone's paper route. Didn't take long to realize that was a chump job. Someone was getting rich but it wasn't the delivery kids. After that,..various ways of bringing in a few dollars. Then I was moved out of the Eastside. Finished high school. Got a pre-college job at the local gas station looking down blouses in the summer and drinking beers in the winter. Been downhill since then.
 
clarkgriswold

clarkgriswold

Well-known member
...and to add, looking back to the days of cleaning and sweeping for minimum wage it seems like I had more money in my wallet than I do now!
 
nupanther

nupanther

Well-known member
No but a few just slightly above minimum. Just did the math. 1984 Private E1 about 30 cents above minimum wage. Wasnt really thinking about payday when coming out the gas chamber with skin burning and lungs on fire
 
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D4fan

Well-known member
Tesoro said:
Yup....planted tomatoes, cleaned up canning factory....

WOrked cleaning up slaughter house every day...

All minimum.

Heck..in 5th grade I was a carryout boy at small grocery for .50/ hour.

Ten bucks a week and I was happy.
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Didn't you recieve significant compensation in the form of tips? My brother worked a job like that in a neighboring small town and he had a base pay of something like $1 /hr in 1980, but commonly pulled in well over $2 /hr in tips.
 
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