Minimum wage: how much is too much?

[Ken]

In my opinion we are largely dealing with first-world problems. We have no idea how good we Americans have it compared to much of the world. As Americans we believe the world owes us everything. Even Covid has really not caused horrendous economic damage. Food pantries are flooded with food. Nobody needs to go hungry. Nobody needs to be jobless if they have basic work skills and a reasonably good work ethic. And yet we hear nothing but complaining it seems.

Okay lets make some specific applications to a conservative Mennonite here. Where would a husband with three children and a wife get a job if their specific job market dried up?
Lets make it more specific, this guy is me.

Specific points:
1: Church doesn't want welfare, and they also want you self supportive
2: Church will pay big medical bills but isn't meant to pay routine little bills
3: I have a house with affordable rent, if I had to move for work I would double my cost for a 3 bedroom house which would be required by almost all rental agencies. (cheapest I saw was 1470$, that was local though)
4: I can't work where I would sell alcohol, tobacco or contribute to the drug/alcohol industry.
5: Because rarely is the person looking this perfectly fit 21 year old (they generally find work) I have physical limitations limiting the use of my shoulders.

This last point effectively eliminates bagging seed (also a horrible long term option with little upward mobility), construction (a great job for paying the bills, especially if you can end up with a contractor license and start your own business).
Now throw in the current political situation for a Conservative Mennonite. Do you gender affirm? Do you like listening to the radio all day? Dirty perverted talking in the breakroom?
Job options for us would involve working for a Mennonite otherwise we would potentially end in trouble. Vaccine? an additional issue now which is partly the driving reason for looking for new work.

Now among the Mennonites would generally get their work handed to them on a silver platter you can still find people who really struggle to find work. I can think of one who has pretty severe limitations and had to stop driving truck, he's effectively jobless after a few years of looking. I get accused of being too picky or not wanting to work what seems like reasonable jobs but Conservatives who work for other Conservatives or are self employed have no idea what the job market actually looks like.

My caregivers start at 11.25$ an hour and that will be going up to 12.75 the new minimum wage. Assistant program coordinator is the next step up, a 50 cent raise. Program coordinator can make 15-20 depending on experience so... they generally start at 15.
3% raises per a year eventually after years of working give you a decent wage and can be livable. Shifts often change from week to week and most of them are in the area of 28-36 hours a week. If you knew how much my shifts change in a single month from week to week you would be horrified.
I also make considerably more then them as I hold a license and have been college educated.
I'm not throwing this out there because I want someone to take pity on me and offer a job, I'm trying to make a point that the economic situation on the middle bottom isn't that rosy as people seem to think. I actually have several options thanks to my experience in the Military for retraining into a new career.
I'm not really interested in driving truck, that's how my son was killed...

Do you have any sort of technical background? The Patent Office is hiring hundreds of new technical-oriented folks for what are essentially work-from-home positions doing initial review of patent applications. You can do the job from your own home office from anywhere. And your military work history should give you preference for federal jobs. Here is a recent announcement from last month but there will likely be more: https://www.uspto.gov/about-us/news-upd ... -examiners

The initial training is in Virginia, but then you can take the job where you want.

[Neto]

They don’t know that until they get here and it’s too late, and they’re deeply in debt to a people smuggler who got them across the border in the first place.

Interesting. I'm surprised that the coyotes operate on credit; I would have figured they work on a cash basis. Learn something every day.

I suspect that you may be scoffing, but it's actually true. Sort of like loan sharks "operating on credit". They know where to find you, or can send someone else who will find out. I think I've told this story here before, but on one of our trips back to Brazil we met a Brazilian man who was being deported. He had come up through Central America & through Mexico and agreed to pay a handler $10,000.00 to get him in. He told us that it took years for him to pay it off. (He may have been working directly for the outfit that brought him in, so that they kept a large part of all of his pay.) Later he met an American girl, and they got married. He said that he didn't know that getting in that way was illegal. At any rate, he went in to register for a marriage certificate, and that is how he got caught and deported. (Our flight was diverted to another city, and we had a long lay-over there, so we had a lot of time to visit.) Sure, he could have been pulling my leg, but I really doubt it - I believed him.

[Soloist]

Do you have any sort of technical background? The Patent Office is hiring hundreds of new technical-oriented folks for what are essentially work-from-home positions doing initial review of patent applications. You can do the job from your own home office from anywhere. And your military work history should give you preference for federal jobs. Here is a recent announcement from last month but there will likely be more: https://www.uspto.gov/about-us/news-upd ... -examiners

The initial training is in Virginia, but then you can take the job where you want.

I don't have any tech background. My life education and work experience has basically been in the medical community. Brief time working with horses, brief time driving tractor and running a cleaner.
This is the program I'm hoping to get into. The program I want starts on the 23th if the money is still available.
https://www.va.gov/education/about-gi-b ... h-program/

[mike]

They don’t know that until they get here and it’s too late, and they’re deeply in debt to a people smuggler who got them across the border in the first place.

Interesting. I'm surprised that the coyotes operate on credit; I would have figured they work on a cash basis. Learn something every day.

I suspect that you may be scoffing, but it's actually true. Sort of like loan sharks "operating on credit". They know where to find you, or can send someone else who will find out. I think I've told this story here before, but on one of our trips back to Brazil we met a Brazilian man who was being deported. He had come up through Central America & through Mexico and agreed to pay a handler $10,000.00 to get him in. He told us that it took years for him to pay it off. (He may have been working directly for the outfit that brought him in, so that they kept a large part of all of his pay.) Later he met an American girl, and they got married. He said that he didn't know that getting in that way was illegal. At any rate, he went in to register for a marriage certificate, and that is how he got caught and deported. (Our flight was diverted to another city, and we had a long lay-over there, so we had a lot of time to visit.) Sure, he could have been pulling my leg, but I really doubt it - I believed him.

Interesting. I seriously did not know that. I wonder whether that is the typical situation. Thankfully, though, the story turned out well, and deportation saved him from a life of dangerous, hard work for little to no pay. Sorry, I am probably overdoing the sarcasm today.

[Ken]

Interesting. I'm surprised that the coyotes operate on credit; I would have figured they work on a cash basis. Learn something every day.

I suspect that you may be scoffing, but it's actually true. Sort of like loan sharks "operating on credit". They know where to find you, or can send someone else who will find out. I think I've told this story here before, but on one of our trips back to Brazil we met a Brazilian man who was being deported. He had come up through Central America & through Mexico and agreed to pay a handler $10,000.00 to get him in. He told us that it took years for him to pay it off. (He may have been working directly for the outfit that brought him in, so that they kept a large part of all of his pay.) Later he met an American girl, and they got married. He said that he didn't know that getting in that way was illegal. At any rate, he went in to register for a marriage certificate, and that is how he got caught and deported. (Our flight was diverted to another city, and we had a long lay-over there, so we had a lot of time to visit.) Sure, he could have been pulling my leg, but I really doubt it - I believed him.

Interesting. I seriously did not know that. I wonder whether that is the typical situation. Thankfully, though, the story turned out well, and deportation saved him from a life of dangerous, hard work for little to no pay. Sorry, I am probably overdoing the sarcasm today.

Coyotes operating on credit is super-common. Especially in Central America. The gangs and cartels know where you family is back in the home country and they will come looking for their money. Guaranteed. And you will be made an example of if you don't pay. Actually the more common situation is loan sharks providing the funding and then coming for your family if you don't pay. It isn't necessarily the coyotes themselves who are extending credit. But they are probably all working together. In other words, the coyote sends you to his cousin who is the loan shark.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/pke5nb/ ... to-default

[Sliceitup]

Interesting. I'm surprised that the coyotes operate on credit; I would have figured they work on a cash basis. Learn something every day.

I suspect that you may be scoffing, but it's actually true. Sort of like loan sharks "operating on credit". They know where to find you, or can send someone else who will find out. I think I've told this story here before, but on one of our trips back to Brazil we met a Brazilian man who was being deported. He had come up through Central America & through Mexico and agreed to pay a handler $10,000.00 to get him in. He told us that it took years for him to pay it off. (He may have been working directly for the outfit that brought him in, so that they kept a large part of all of his pay.) Later he met an American girl, and they got married. He said that he didn't know that getting in that way was illegal. At any rate, he went in to register for a marriage certificate, and that is how he got caught and deported. (Our flight was diverted to another city, and we had a long lay-over there, so we had a lot of time to visit.) Sure, he could have been pulling my leg, but I really doubt it - I believed him.

Interesting. I seriously did not know that. I wonder whether that is the typical situation. Thankfully, though, the story turned out well, and deportation saved him from a life of dangerous, hard work for little to no pay. Sorry, I am probably overdoing the sarcasm today.

Can I just mention that I really appreciate how you acknowledge that someone else was correct and that you learned something new. It’s not the first time I’ve noticed your willingness to listen and learn and I gotta say it is so refreshing.

[steve-in-kville]

So, is that $10k realistic or just an example? This has me strangely curious... I never knew rates for this stuff.

[Josh]

Recent migrants often work in near slavery. They have to send almost all of their money back to repay these loans, and employers know they can impose very bad conditions and these employees won’t quit. They can’t.

That’s why I think focusing on present day slavery is a much better idea than focusing on past slavery.

[Josh]

So, is that $10k realistic or just an example? This has me strangely curious... I never knew rates for this stuff.

It was 10 years ago, but I heard a price of $1,000 for one person - except with exorbitant interest. All the person could pay was the interest. The interest was based on how much they were earning (from a agricultural type of job.).

I encouraged my friend who was a reporter at the time (and could talk to them in Spanish) to write about it but the local newspaper was not interested. The employer was a wealthy farm operator who was quite open that he only hired “illegals” because he could make them work long shifts and they wouldn’t report accidents/injuries to workers comp.

Most these workers had no idea what they were getting into.

[temporal1]

The whole immigration/illegal aliens/refugees thing is disgusting.
U.S. career politicians have been kicking the can down the road since the 1950’s, at least.

Shameless politics, both parties.
POOR performance.