Minimum wage should be £24000+

[syne]

That is the funniest thing I've read all day, and there isn't even a punchline.

 

I agree. I submitted a mortgage app and my boss -privately- argued the toss that I don't earn 16600p/y and he lied when he agreed on the phone that I did. my p60 claims I earn a lot more but I still wish my current wage for doing 'sod all' was capped at £26000!

[syne]

I think what the OP is highlighting here, is that everyone is talking about the impact of cuts in benefits, inparticuarly housing benefit to claimants.

 

However, over the past few years, no one has been too bothered about the plight of people who do very important jobs, and are paid the minium wage.

 

Where would we be if everyone refused to stack shelfs in Supermarkets because the pay is too low?

 

Realistically, the minimum wage will not get to £24,000 a year for decades, but what it does highlight is what a person would need to be earning if in work, to match what someone gets who isn't working

 

true, but the stacking of shelves isn't an important job by a long strech of the imagination its basically a job that nobody can be arsed to design a machine to do. Its a go between a pallet and your shopping trolly. Where would we be.. picking our own goods off a pallet in a warehouse a la a wholesalers. the important jobs are not paid minimum wage. the poor employers pay minimum wage.

[ANGELFIRE1]

You could always reduce benefits.

 

Those who didn't like living on benefits and who aren't prepared to work for minimum wage could become self-employed.

 

Minimum Wage in the US is $7.25 an hour. £4.47 an hour.

 

Is there a shortage of people who want to go there?

 

 

 

Aye, $7.25 maybe, but their cost of living is way way below ours. My Cousin went back to the States last week after a visit, he was shocked at the high prices we pay for most things. Petrol and food were high on his list.

 

Regards

 

Angel*

[syne]

You could always reduce benefits.

 

Those who didn't like living on benefits and who aren't prepared to work for minimum wage could become self-employed.

 

Minimum Wage in the US is $7.25 an hour. £4.47 an hour.

 

Is there a shortage of people who want to go there?

 

hmm £4.47 doesn't sound like a lot but how much is , a litre of petrol in the us?

http://www.dexknows.com/business_profiles/bp_oil-l801477933/map?view=street

I'm guessing that price isn't in £ per litre....

[ANGELFIRE1]

hmm £4.47 doesn't sound like a lot but how much is , a litre of petrol in the us?

http://www.dexknows.com/business_profiles/bp_oil-l801477933/map?view=street

I'm guessing that price isn't in £ per litre....

 

It's $3 a gallon = £1.86, about 35p a litre. And the yanks are upset it's got that high.

 

Regards

 

Angel.

Edited May 25, 2011 by ANGELFIRE1

[Darth Vader]

Minimum wage should be £24000+

 

And people working for minimum wage should get a free bus pass.

 

 

http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/ihstory.aspx?storycode=6514926

 

 

 

A minimum wage of £24000 a year and a free bus pass would guarantee a single person working is £2 a day NET better off than a single person on benefits.

 

Minimum wage should be £24000+

 

Interesting post. Food for thought. And you're right of course, with all the other 'add ons', financially, it is not really worth going out to work for the low wages many employers offer, especially, for those needing to fork out loads for child care and travel expenses.

 

This government promised they were going to work make pay more than benefits....right.

[Rupert_Baehr]

Petrol costs far more in the UK than it does in the US, but I'm surprised that your cousin thinks food in the US is expensive.

 

When I lived in the UK I could shop at the US Forces Commissary (big supermarket) or down town. The Commissary charges 'cost plus 5%' and is generally reckoned to be far cheaper than non-military shops (in the US.)

 

Beef prices in the commissary were far lower than in the UK, as were soap powder, dish-washer powder and those US branded (and US made) products which were imported into the UK. Most other foods were actually cheaper in UK Supermarkets. (I did more than 60% of my shopping in British shops.)

 

The commissary is a part of the US Department of Defense and can only source certain items from 'approved' suppliers. Beef can only be bought from US Suppliers (and flown into the UK.) During the early 1990s, there was a problem with beef supplies from the US and DeCA obtained permission to buy locally-sourced beef. I could buy Irish filet steak cheaper than I had been able to buy mince! - DeCA wasn't paying the 'Meat Mountain' taxes.

 

Many prices in the UK are artificially high, but (IMO) that's because there are too few 'wealth producers' supporting too many 'supporters'.

 

It isn't all bad.

 

I'm coming to Sheffield this weekend. My son has a small house, so we decided to stay at a B&B near him. I've never stayed there before, but we checked the prices last year.

 

Since we checked last year, VAT has gone up, food prices have gone up and electricity and gas prices have gone up. His costs have probably risen by at least 10%, but he has held the prices at last year's levels.

 

I'm impressed! - If the place is good (and I expect it will be) I'll advertise him as much as I can.

 

If you want cheap petrol, you can have it ... but you will have to cut welfare costs.

 

That doesn't mean that you can't provide support for those who really need it, but it does mean that you can't provide support for those who get a better deal being supported by the state than they think they will get elsewhere.

[Rupert_Baehr]

Interesting post. Food for thought. And you're right of course, with all the other 'add ons', financially, it is not really worth going out to work for the low wages many employers offer, especially, for those needing to fork out loads for child care and travel expenses.

 

This government promised they were going to work make pay more than benefits....right.

 

 

The UK (and much of mainland Europe) relies on a system of 'social support.'

 

I'm not arguing against such a system, but there is little (or rather 'no') evidence to suggest that social support systems are more efficient than 'pay as you go'.

 

All societies will always rely on 'safety nets' and other forms of help for those who really need it. The US - and since that's the society I mentioned, so that's the one I will use as the other example - does indeed have safety nets. They are set rather lower and they have a wider mesh.

 

Consider socialised healthcare (and I'm not starting an argument for or against the NHS.)

 

If Mr Bloggs has to go and negotiate with a provider to provide - for example - a tonsillectomy, then it is likely that he will be quoted a higher price than would an organisation which bid for 15,000 tonsillectomies.

 

If Mr Bloggs wants to buy 100 Aspirin tablets, then it's likely that his unit cost will be significantly higher than that of an organisation which buys 100 million Aspirin tablets.

 

Economies of scale.

 

The UK spends a significant amount of money per capita on healthcare. Health services are free at the point of provision.

 

Yet people complain about (and are faced with) denial of provision.

 

In the US, if you're poor, you get free healthcare. If you're old, you get subsidised (it isn't quite free) healthcare and in the middle, you buy health insurance ... or do without.

 

The UK system should, in theory, be more efficient .. but is it really? Why do we read about BritCits having to go to the US for procedures which are simply not available in the UK? Why is the bulk-buying NHS not able to compete with private hospitals? Are bloated administrative costs a part of the problem? Is lack of competition a part of the problem?

 

Germany (where I am right now) comes somewhere in between the 'free market' of the US and the 'free provision' of the UK.

 

In the US, the hospitals set their charges. In the UK, the hospitals provide their services for nothing, but if they run out of (government) money, you don't get served.

 

In Germany, the government sets the prices.

 

An Aspirin costs X cents. A tonsillectomy costs Y Euros (and the charge will be broken down and set by law for every element of the treatment.)

 

Hospitals never run out of money, because they get paid (by the German government/state insurance/private insurance schemes for what they do.

 

It works, too.

 

In the UK, you can wait for months for a specialist appointment. I have a primary care provider (who I see once a year) and specialist doctors. My Endocrinologist (Dr Krob) recommended that I see a Cardiologist and asked me which specialist I would like to see.

 

"Dr Nagengast" said I. "Are you sure?" She asked. "Yes, let's keep it in the family."

 

The wait for an appointment was 7 days, but since I'm going to be in the UK next week, he'll see me on 09 June. Dr K will see me half an hour later. The average wait for a (non-urgent) specialist appointment here is about 2-3 weeks.

 

Doctors here get paid a fixed rate (because they have fixed charges) by the state and the get paid for the work they do. The waiting time for an appointment is minimal. I'm not a private patient, so I don't get any form of preferential treatment. I don't have to wait long for an appointment, either.

 

It's not free - everybody gets a bill, but your insurance (usually the state insurance, or [occasionally] private insurance or (in my case) the Bundeswehr picks up the bill. There is no preferential treatment, nor is there queue jumping.

 

It's not necessary.

Nor are there long queues.

[*_ash_*]

It's $3 a gallon = £1.86, about 35p a litre. And the yanks are upset it's got that high.

 

Regards

 

Angel.

 

A US gallon is less than a UK one. And it's nearer $4/US gall at the mo.

 

It works out at around 67p/litre.

 

((4/1.62)/3.78 )) rather than ((3/1.62/4.5)) which I assume is how you worked it out.

 

edit, yours would work out at 41p, not sure where 35 comes from?

Edited May 25, 2011 by *_ash_*

[perplexed]

Apart from anything else, with a minimum wage of £24,000 I'd have a bit of a bet on inflation shooting up...

 

Rapidly followed by a hike in interest rates on mortgages...