Back on topic, here's my view on minimum wage, it was never meant to be a sustainable, living wage. Most of us here are say, over 35. I'm not sure anyone in our age range who say, graduated high school in Calgary 15+ years ago is still working a minimum wage job. Minimum wage jobs were meant to be a stepping stone to gain experience. A 16 year old working at a Safeway for $7 an hour in the 90s, that was a lot of money! That money was saved up for the future, leaving home, going to post-secondary, continuing to work, starting a family etc...
At some point minimum wage jobs became careers so to speak, and I don't know why. I don't know why that logjam occurred. Some possible reason.
1. Kids no longer want to do those jobs so they went to adults
2. Only immigrants now do minimum wage jobs
3. Population increased, more people in above minimum wage jobs pushing people down to minimum wage jobs to survive
4. My favorite argument (too many degrees). The qualifications keep increasing, there are people with degrees being cashiers at Walmart
5. The minimum wage circle is larger. When minimum wage was $10 a decade ago, there were $15 jobs. But when minimum wage was increased incrementally to $15, those already existing $15 job didn't increase, so they are now lumped in.
I realize that cost of living has spiraled. I don't know if Minimum wage will ever catch up. At $15 in Alberta it still seems low. Is $20 the answer? Can businesses afford it?
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