Everyone I talk to thinks they should be getting paid more. I’ve heard about people who haven’t gotten raises in more than five years and everyone I know has some kind of debt, whether it be student loans, credit cards, mortgages, whatever.
I recently found a stat for the median income in Campbell River in 1985, someone making minimum wage today wouldn’t be making as much.
I know that the median doesn’t say much about income at all. It isn’t the average, just the middle number if all of them were put in a line of smallest to largest, but I still found it unsettling.
How much has the cost of living increased in the last 30 years? It seems to have risen more than wages have.
I’m paying more for products and services, but the person providing the products and services isn’t getting paid enough, so who is?
It isn’t the producers, the difference between what my dad gets paid for a bushel of wheat and what a loaf of bread or a package of flour sells for is huge.
A pretty specific example I know, and lots of processing involved, but if the workers and producers aren’t making money who is?
You’d think it would be the business owners, but their main argument against raising minimum wage is that they won’t be able to afford to pay their employees and they would have to increase the cost of their products, which would kind of make the raise redundant.
So who is making the money?
I understand the idea of the one per cent and a few powerful people raking in a lot of money, but is that how it really works? Is there really a few who have their hands in everything?
That is a lot of money to wrap my head around.
I also struggle with budgeting in general, how much is enough?
Are some of us, who make enough to live month to month with nothing left over at the end, are we okay?
Should we be making more? Or are we just greedy?
I don’t really know what the answer is.
I just believe that if someone is working full time they should be able to support themselves without worry or stress. I also believe that we can’t compare the value of a job, as hard as it is.
Every job is important and everyone who works hard deserves the money they earn.
Another question with endless answers, and another reason I wouldn’t want to be a politician.