Montgmery County approves $15 an hour. Does this = ByeBye to reliabe hours for part timers (my kids)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people pay high school babysitters $15/hour.

Most people do NOT pay high school sitters $15.00/hour. That is laughable.

High school sitters usually get around $10.00/hour.

Don't be foolish.

I was going to ask when did teen sitters start getting minimum wage? When I was a teen babysitting I was paid $1/hr and minimum wage was $3.35. Are the paying parents withholding federal and state taxes? Social security?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm shocked that some of you seriously think that increased minimum wage is to blame for automated kiosks. The two are not related at all. Technology is what is driving automated kiosks. It is *always* going to be cheaper, in the long run, for large chains to utilize technology when possible. Hence the Giant, Panera, Safeway, etc. automated kiosks.

+1. We were going this way anyway. McDonald's, et al will employ this technology regardless of minimum wage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm shocked that some of you seriously think that increased minimum wage is to blame for automated kiosks. The two are not related at all. Technology is what is driving automated kiosks. It is *always* going to be cheaper, in the long run, for large chains to utilize technology when possible. Hence the Giant, Panera, Safeway, etc. automated kiosks.

Yes, technology makes automation cheaper, but study Microeconomics. For each capital expenditure, businesses analyze the impact on their profits. As the cost of labor increases, more and more businesses will see the technology become the cheaper option (especially when the hassles of training, retention, etc. are considered).

The other thing is that the minimum wage pays more to a few people, but in exchange, the prices of businesses catering to poor people need to go up to pay the wages, thus prices for previously low cost food, etc. go up for ALL poor people.

Just not worth the trade-offs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not worried about teens. I’m worried about single adults trying to afford a one bedroom apartment on 40 hours a week, so they have time to go to MC or a training school. I’m worried about the young married couple with a baby trying to afford an apartment, daycare, diapers, and formula with both parents working only 40 hours a week. Those folks need $15/hour.

This makes a very compelling case for why a $15 minimum wage is just as laughable as the current one. Nothing will change, nothing will be helped by going to $15.

If we really want it to be a workable, living wage that gives a single parent a fighting chance, it needs to be in the $35-hr range. And even that is bare bones when you take into account daycare costing $1,500/mo. But $35 would at least be fair. $15 is a complete joke

$35 an hour as a MINUMUM wage?

REALLY?!?!

You're completely out of your mind.


If that were the case, guys driving trucks should be making $200,000 a year

Guys driving trucks are going t be out of jobs in 10 years once driverless trucks hit the road.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people pay high school babysitters $15/hour.

Most people do NOT pay high school sitters $15.00/hour. That is laughable.

High school sitters usually get around $10.00/hour.

Don't be foolish.

I was going to ask when did teen sitters start getting minimum wage? When I was a teen babysitting I was paid $1/hr and minimum wage was $3.35. Are the paying parents withholding federal and state taxes? Social security?

When was this? Fifteen years ago, I was making $10 an hr as a teenage babysitter when the minimum wage was $5 or $6. (This was in a different city, not DC).

[Anonymous]

For all you folks up in arms about the minimum wage, I urge you to read the law (especially the exemptions). It might ease your angst a bit. LOL

Also I own a business in MoCo. I pay my workers more than $15 an hour and I have for a couple years. Sure, I could make more profit but my business only succeeds if I have loyal and dedicated employees. I cannot afford a lot of turnover.

Also, have you guys been to McD's lately? There are very few HS students working in them.

[Anonymous]

My teen (17) makes $13 an hour working at a small boutique in Bethesda; it’s possible that your teen will work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not worried about teens. I’m worried about single adults trying to afford a one bedroom apartment on 40 hours a week, so they have time to go to MC or a training school. I’m worried about the young married couple with a baby trying to afford an apartment, daycare, diapers, and formula with both parents working only 40 hours a week. Those folks need $15/hour.

Simple answer: they should have thought about that BEFORE screwing and having a baby. I don't feel sorry for "couples" like that.

also they shouldn't live in one of the most expensive areas of the country either

just having a high school education is not going to cut it here. Move somewhere cheaper

Will do with all the gang violence going on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not worried about teens. I’m worried about single adults trying to afford a one bedroom apartment on 40 hours a week, so they have time to go to MC or a training school. I’m worried about the young married couple with a baby trying to afford an apartment, daycare, diapers, and formula with both parents working only 40 hours a week. Those folks need $15/hour.

This makes a very compelling case for why a $15 minimum wage is just as laughable as the current one. Nothing will change, nothing will be helped by going to $15.

If we really want it to be a workable, living wage that gives a single parent a fighting chance, it needs to be in the $35-hr range. And even that is bare bones when you take into account daycare costing $1,500/mo. But $35 would at least be fair. $15 is a complete joke

$35 an hour as a MINUMUM wage?

REALLY?!?!

You're completely out of your mind.


If that were the case, guys driving trucks should be making $200,000 a year

$35/hr = $72K per year. That's a nice wage but not a minimum wage.

[Anonymous]

Really dumb.

Move to Howard or Frederick county. 30k a year for a hostess or busboy is absolutely bankruptcy inducing. The county government should take equal paycuts to small business owners then lower the taxes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people pay high school babysitters $15/hour.

Most people do NOT pay high school sitters $15.00/hour. That is laughable.

High school sitters usually get around $10.00/hour.

Don't be foolish.

I was going to ask when did teen sitters start getting minimum wage? When I was a teen babysitting I was paid $1/hr and minimum wage was $3.35. Are the paying parents withholding federal and state taxes? Social security?

In MoCo the teen sitters have been getting more than minimum wage for years. Most kids don’t want to babysit so they pay them to get a sitter. Simple.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really dumb.

Move to Howard or Frederick county. 30k a year for a hostess or busboy is absolutely bankruptcy inducing. The county government should take equal paycuts to small business owners then lower the taxes.

That’s the state of things in Howard and Fredneck, but not here in MoCo. People here have more money and you don’t need to pay people poverty wages. You have to work 2 hours just to cover your uber ride home from work at these wages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My teenager works full-time in the summers at a private school camp in DC and makes $15/hour. The OP's concerns will go the way of the "Ohmigod, the plastic bag tax will mean that DC residents will never grocery shop again!" and "Ohmigod, the smoking ban will mean that all bars and restaurants in DC will close!"

That is just for a few weeks.

What about year round at $15 an hour full time workers?

Yup. Good way to drive small businesses out of business or employees out of jobs.

You think the guy who pushes the mail cart around at the office should get $30,000 a year? What will happen is that the mail guy is fired, and employees pick up their own mail in the mail room.

Also, everywhere I've ever worked, the mail delivery guy is mentally challenged. But he's being productive, building his self-esteem, and enjoying the camaraderie of his office mates. Better that he should do that at $9 to $10 an hour than be let go because $30,000 a year, plus health insurance, is just not worth it to an employer.

Sadly, they aren’t even paying the mentally challenged mail guy minimum wage . And why do you think that if someone is mentally challenged that they shouldn’t get a decent wage exactly? They should live in poverty, is that right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the rite of passage for teens working all summer to save up for a used car?

Gas money?

Money to go out with their friends?

Money for clothes?

Does the bank of mom & dad now have to cover these expenses as well?

Raking leaves, Lawn mowing, babysitting, snow shoveling, house sitting............. Most of the other teen jobs of yesteryear have gone away anyway.

But why? When I was growing up, the teen boys (and some girls) went door-to-door looking for job shoveling snow and mowing lawns. Now, upper-middle class parents consider these jobs "beneath" their kids, and in the process are raising a other generation of entitled, arrogant snowflakes.

I think mostly people don’t want to deal with cranky old assholes like you anymore. Imagine that. Who would willingly show up at your door?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My teenager works full-time in the summers at a private school camp in DC and makes $15/hour. The OP's concerns will go the way of the "Ohmigod, the plastic bag tax will mean that DC residents will never grocery shop again!" and "Ohmigod, the smoking ban will mean that all bars and restaurants in DC will close!"

That is just for a few weeks.

What about year round at $15 an hour full time workers?

Yup. Good way to drive small businesses out of business or employees out of jobs.

You think the guy who pushes the mail cart around at the office should get $30,000 a year? What will happen is that the mail guy is fired, and employees pick up their own mail in the mail room.

Also, everywhere I've ever worked, the mail delivery guy is mentally challenged. But he's being productive, building his self-esteem, and enjoying the camaraderie of his office mates. Better that he should do that at $9 to $10 an hour than be let go because $30,000 a year, plus health insurance, is just not worth it to an employer.

Sadly, they aren’t even paying the mentally challenged mail guy minimum wage . And why do you think that if someone is mentally challenged that they shouldn’t get a decent wage exactly? They should live in poverty, is that right?

Because they are not producing the output of a non-mentally challenged person, but the work is valuable for them socially and personally.

They dont' live in poverty -- they receive social security for the disabled.

My brother is in this situation. He gets paid below minimum wage but he also doesn't actually need more than a few hundred $$ a year since all his expenses for living and housing are paid by the government. He really enjoys the work, which is the main thing. With the new minimum wage, he'll likely be stuck sitting at home... or maybe they'll move the work to PG county.