Minimum wages may have been championed by employees, but they were also championed by companies who stood to benefit from introducing machinery to replace workers in the field, etc. Higher wages make it cheaper to go the mechanical route, or these days, to ship jobs overseas. Until massive corporations aren't headed by boards concerned only with the dollar a fair minimum wage will never be of benefit to the common worker.
Considering businesses prefer to cut hours, jobs, or outsource, there's no way such a substantial wage increase would ever take place, even though increased wages would result in increased spending and possibly stimulate the economy over time. It wouldn't hurt to have a larger class of workers able to maintain credit.
While we don't have a minimum wage in Sweden we do have a collective agreement established by corporates and trade unions. And for most manual labors it's around 120 SEK (or 18.50 USD) per hour. Luckily I have an education and make twice as much.
But 7.25 USD per hour? That must suck. How are you even able to afford shit?
...all that money? then how will society punish and berate people for performing essential non-skilled labor? this must not be!
perhaps a compromise. give them their desired wage but make it legal to spit in their faces whenever the pressure of our unfulfilled sense of supremacy and personal entitlement becomes too oppressive.
Originally posted by Astner
While we don't have a minimum wage in Sweden we do have a collective agreement established by corporates and trade unions. And for most manual labors it's around 120 SEK (or 18.50 USD) per hour. Luckily I have an education and make twice as much.But 7.25 USD per hour? That must suck. How are you even able to afford shit?
Keep in mind that your taxes are relatively higher because you have a better social safety net and benefits for being a citizen that we lack in the U.S. Also, in 2007 almost half of U.S. personal bankruptcies were due to medical bills, so obviously we're not using all that surplus un-taxed income to do anything constructive.
Originally posted by Astner
While we don't have a minimum wage in Sweden we do have a collective agreement established by corporates and trade unions. And for most manual labors it's around 120 SEK (or 18.50 USD) per hour. Luckily I have an education and make twice as much.But 7.25 USD per hour? That must suck. How are you even able to afford shit?
Generally, they manage by being effectively paid more, because the average US wage is higher, relatively speaking, than the average Swedish.
The effective Swedish minimum wage is far too high. The lower US one does not represent a poorer standard of pay- it just represents far more available entry level jobs.
Originally posted by Ushgarak
Generally, they manage by being effectively paid more, because the average US wage is higher, relatively speaking, than the average Swedish.
Don't get me wrong, I couldn't care less for the average Swede. I was just shocked that the minimum wage was 7.25 USD.
Originally posted by Ushgarak
The effective Swedish minimum wage is far too high. The lower US one does not represent a poorer standard of pay- it just represents far more available entry level jobs.
And don't get me started on the ridiculously high wages in Norway.
This is an average wage, not high level corporate salaries. The average US wage earner is better paid than the average Swedish. Any amount of progress in the US gets you off the minimum, whilst huge amounts of people get stuck on the Swedish effective minimums- the median of people on it is very high indeed as a propotion of the workforce.
And 7.25 is much higher than 0, seeing as the high Swedish minimum is almost certainly a factor in its abnormally high youth unemployment rate. Like I say, the low US rate simply reflects more available jobs. If you think there are more available jobs in Sweden on average, you are mistaken.
Originally posted by Ushgarak
This is an average wage, not high level corporate salaries. The average US worker is better paid than the average Swedish. Any amount of progress in the US gets you off the menu, whilst huge amounts of people get stuck on the Swedish effective minimums- the median of people on it is very high indeed as a propotion of the workforce.And 7.25 is much higher than 0, seeing as the high Swedish minimum is almost certainly a factor in its abnormally high youth unemployment rate. Like I say, the low US rate simply reflects more available jobs. If you think there are more available jobs in Sweden on average, you are mistaken.
For a start, they're not, because that's just the entry wage and not necessarily meant to carry a household.
Secondly, as has been alluded to already, things are simply cheaper there and taxes are lower
But mostly what I simply meant was that if you have a high unemployment problem amongst the young, throwing lots of free money at them will only make that worse. Having such a high welfare average is clearly not working in Sweden.
There is a lot that is good about the Nordic economies, but high wage minimums- itself a representation of over-powerful unions- is actually one of the problems.
Originally posted by Bardock42
What are the negative consequences of high welfare average in Sweden, in your opinion?
I read the following from his posts:
Originally posted by Ushgarak
But mostly what I simply meant was that if you have a high unemployment problem amongst the young, throwing lots of free money at them will only make that worse. Having such a high welfare average is clearly not working in Sweden.There is a lot that is good about the Nordic economies, but high wage minimums- itself a representation of over-powerful unions- is actually one of the problems.
Originally posted by Ushgarak
And 7.25 is much higher than 0, seeing as the high Swedish minimum is almost certainly a factor in its abnormally high youth unemployment rate. Like I say, the low US rate simply reflects more available jobs. If you think there are more available jobs in Sweden on average, you are mistaken.
Originally posted by Oliver North
if Sweeden does have higher youth unemployment than America, a high minimum wage can cause this. Higher wages = less employees = more competition for entry level positions.
If the overall unemployment is similar however would that then not mean more mid and senior level positions?