Most people in the workforce don’t ask for much; just a living wage and some respect. With fast food workers across the country demanding a change in pay, the living wage topic has been the highlight of many media talks. People want to earn more and keep their same positions. In an industry where the primary workforce used to be teenagers and college students, is a living wage too much to ask?
Way back in 1950, the average annual minimum wage salary was a whopping $1,500. Fast forward to 2012, and workers earning minimum wage now bring home about $15K each year. That’s a lot for a kid in college, but what about adults with families? Stats show that the demographic split of the average minimum wage worker is 50/50. Nearly 50 percent of that workforce is over 25 years old and 50 percent is under 25.
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. If the workers get a raise, how high will the cost of goods and services get? If they don’t get a raise, will they quit, and who will work the jobs that they leave behind? More college students and teenagers?
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