Gothic.net News Horror Gothic Lifestyle Fiction Movies Books and Literature Dark TV VIP Horror Professionals Professional Writing Tips Links Gothic Forum




Go Back   Gothic.net Community > Boards > Spooky News

Spooky News Spooky news from around the web goes in this forum. Please always credit and link your source and only use sources which are okay with being posted. No profanity in subject headings please.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 07-15-2013, 02:23 PM   #1
Saya
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 9,548
The McDonald's Budget

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/201...uget-low-wage/

Quote:
McDonalds has partnered with Visa to launch a website to help its low-wage workers making an average $8.25 an hour to budget. But while the site is clearly meant to illustrate that McDonalds workers should be able to live on their meager wages, it actually underscores exactly how hard it is for a low-paid fast food worker to get by.
The site includes a sample”‘budget journal” for McDonalds’ employees that offers a laughably inaccurate view of what it’s like to budget on a minimum wage job. Not only does the budget leave a spot open for “second job,” it also gives wholly unreasonable estimates for employees’ costs: $20 a month for health care, $0 for heating, and $600 a month for rent. It does not include any budgeted money for food or clothing.

Basically every facet of this budget is unachievable. For an uninsured person to independently buy health care, he or she must shell out on average $215 a month — just for an individual plan. While some full-time McDonald’s workers do qualify for the company’s $14 a week health plan, that offer caps coverage at $10,000 a year and is often insufficient. If that person wants to eat, “moderate” spending will run them $32 a week for themselves, and $867 a month to feed a family of four. And if a fast food worker is living in a city? Well, New York City rents just reached an average of $3,000 a month.
The sample budget is also available in Spanish. On another section of the site, it concludes, “You can have almost anything you want as long as you plan ahead and save for it.”
Neither McDonalds nor Visa returned requests for comment by the time of publication.
Last year, Bloomberg News found that it would take the average McDonalds employee one million hours of work to earn as much money as the company’s CEO. This immense wage disparity in the fast food industry has sparked a series of protests and walk-outs by low-wage workers working at fast food chains around the country — in New York, Chicago, Washington, and Seattle, to name a few cities, workers from chains including KFC, McDonalds, Burger King, and Taco Bell have spoken publicly about the need for serious wage increases across the industry.


Honestly I'm really shocked they left out groceries. That's a huge monthly expense.
Saya is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-15-2013, 02:30 PM   #2
Judas
 
Judas's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 89
It should also be noted that in some states, like California, fast food restaurants can legally accept EBT cards. The money on EBT cards is provided for by taxpayer dollars, which would include money deducted from employees of those very fast food restaurants. In other words, they get to increase their own profits simply by paying their workers. Since that's the case, you'd think they could increase wages a bit...
Judas is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-16-2013, 11:02 AM   #3
Jonathan
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: northeast us
Posts: 887
It is worth noting that this budget assumes a 40 hour work week at McDonald's, before figuring in the time expenditure for a second job. This is essentially assuming close to 80 hours of labor to have a shot at meeting the budget.

Anyone, particularly gainfully employed individuals, should have a reasonable expectation of meeting the basic necessities of life.
Jonathan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-19-2013, 02:04 PM   #4
AshleyO
 
AshleyO's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 1,700
Oh man. This is no lie. Seeing 2068 dollars a month gets me pretty excited. I must be out of my mind.

Let's see...

575 bucks for rent/utilities
40 dollars for phone
114 dollars a month for unlimited public transit
40 bucks a week for groceries if I spend wisely 160

*sigh* It can be done. If I was making 2068 a month, I'd be high on the hog.
__________________
"Women hold up half the sky" -Mao

"God always picks the strangest things to get angry about. Get an abortion or gay married and he'll aim a tornado right at you.

Rip off a million poor people and Wall street has no problems. " -Rebecca B
AshleyO is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-05-2013, 05:04 PM   #5
Jonathan
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: northeast us
Posts: 887
Student loan payments were conspicuously absent from this budget.
More than a decade after the fact they are finally manageable but for the longest time those fuckers were absolutely crippling.

These numbers look pretty close to bare bones survival - you probably won't die trying to get along at this threshold, and that seems to be the "best" thing anyone can say about it.



You can't be poor! You're making more than McDonald's pays!
Jonathan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-05-2013, 07:55 PM   #6
Alan
 
Alan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,932
We tend to think about the proletariat working for twelve hours straight or more as a thing now reserved to Chaplin movies. The reality is nothing's changed, except now it's fragmented into several jobs, with commuting time added between them for good measure.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by KissMeDeadly
You fucking people [war veterans] are only a step below entitled rich kids, the only difference being you had to do and witness horrible things, instead of being given everything.
real classy
Alan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-05-2013, 08:32 PM   #7
ape descendant
 
ape descendant's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Smexyville, Colorado
Posts: 2,424
On what planet is health insurance only $20? I love how heating/electric is only $90 especially if you live in a shitty apartment that's probably not even up to code, let alone updated enough to be energy efficient.

I've noticed that food hasn't been budgeted for. That's going to eat up between 150 and 300 a month (well where I live, it would), depending on one's eating habits.

What condescending dick-face thinks this is even remotely a useable budget? Grrr. Probably somebody who's never had to use one before.
__________________
******

Be Kind
ape descendant is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-05-2013, 08:50 PM   #8
BourbonBoy
 
BourbonBoy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Alamo City, USA
Posts: 764
They probably figured in that they give their employees scraps from work when it comes to food product. Either way, fuck those people.
BourbonBoy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-06-2013, 03:55 AM   #9
Saya
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 9,548
Its actually not a good tool because a) it leaves out a lot of major expenses/sets unreasonable expectations, b) doesn't tell you how much you should be spending on what. I'm guessing that's why they added the second job (despite the fact that at 7.50 an hour, lets say, the first job indicates its a full time job.) because in this budget the rent would be too high (shouldn't be half your income). The whole point of minimum wage is so that everyone can live comfortably, not barely survive.


And its unfair to say "just get another job". In rural places, it can sometimes be the only place to work, for single moms, students, felons and other people who tend not to be considered good candidates for jobs, its the only places you can find full time work (I say this as a retail worker, unless you have a ton of experience in retail its very difficult to get full time hours.)

Also, this is in the wake of fast food strikes, demands to unionize and raise the minimum wage. McDonald's has always been extremely anti-union and I don' doubt this is an attempt to say that the minimum wage is fine.

The actual website is kinda hilarious because it talks about saving for a million dollars (using this budget, it would take you 144 years if you start at age 26 assuming you never touch your savings), and the actual tool itself does include things like food, but not things like clothing/gifts, a general Other, loan payments or gas.
Saya is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-06-2013, 05:18 AM   #10
BourbonBoy
 
BourbonBoy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Alamo City, USA
Posts: 764
Not to mention this didn't take into account the cost of living in the local area of an employee. For instance in South Texas $2k a month with a second job is just enough for a single person to live off of if they keep proper track of the funds, yet simply moving two hours north to central Texas $2k a month with a second job is barely enough to get by where things like reliable transportation and medical insurance would have to be cut from the budget.
BourbonBoy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-06-2013, 09:34 AM   #11
Jonathan
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: northeast us
Posts: 887
The checkbook with a ledger is just showing you numbers. It doesn't have agency in determining your wages or working conditions. This could be read as a justification for McD's and the like to continue business as usual.

Pretending that it is possibly to get by through magicking up a second job and disregarding typical and substantial expenses makes this an extremely disingenuous budget.

A danger here is people will give this a casual glance, see that according to the budget these amazing workers who somehow don't need to eat can not only pay their bills but even put a little into savings, and draw the conclusion that things are just fine and don't need change.
Jonathan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-06-2013, 11:52 AM   #12
Solumina
 
Solumina's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Cali
Posts: 8,030
How old are you?
__________________
Live a life less ordinary
Live a life extraordinary with me
Live a life less sedentary
Live a life evolutionary with me
-Carbon Leaf
Solumina is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-06-2013, 02:23 PM   #13
Saya
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 9,548
Yeah, and all I could ever get at 18 was a part time job at Wendy's that would never give women full time hours or let them do certain jobs. But I had no job experience, no car so I couldn't drive around, so I had to take it. Just because you had an easy time doesn't mean others do.

What the local McD's does is import workers from the Philippines, makes them live in the same house, and they aren't to get another job and must keep their cell phones on them at all times so they're always on call. No second or third job for them.

Also, the average age of a fast food worker is 29, or 32 for women: http://globalnews.ca/news/762074/wil...-minimum-wage/ So they probably have a lot more expenses, such as children, than you did.
Saya is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-06-2013, 07:52 PM   #14
Jonathan
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: northeast us
Posts: 887
Do you think it is reasonable for human beings to be required to work not one, not two, but three jobs, without having secure dwelling space, access to health care, transportation, or communication tools? You had a group home, so I'm guessing other people were contributing to the monthly rent / mortgage / whatever... You had a POS car so great low registration and no loan payments, but it's sheer luck that no major repairs killed you. Good thing you didn't need any emergency $10,000+ MRI scans or other costly emergency room visits. There's a lot of things that could have gone really wrong, the fact that you won the "No Major Disasters Lottery" is really fortunate, but that's all it is - good fortune. The slightest change in luck could have ruined you.

I mean, good on you for scraping by and bootstrapping and all that, but do you think that's really how things should be?
Jonathan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-06-2013, 09:55 PM   #15
Versus
 
Versus's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 3,812
This is about how McDonald's is trying to say that it's not it's fault that it's employees will never have any kind of security. That it is not responsible to pay it's employees enough to live. If that budgeting advice was honest and genuinely meant to help people, it would be realistic.

I could just as easily say that at 19, I worked 120+ hours a week under the threat of imprisonment and violence, had zero access to any form of communication outside of work, was malnourished, not even given access to basic forms of hygiene, such as running water, and that I wasn't miserable. But you already know that I can't expect you to do that.
__________________
Woke up with fifty enemies plottin' my death
All fifty seein' visions of me shot in the chest
Couldn't rest, nah nigga I was stressed
Had me creepin' 'round corners, homie sleepin' in my vest.


-Breathin, Tupac.
Versus is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-07-2013, 09:46 AM   #16
Saya
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 9,548
Because minimum wage workers aren't idiots, they know what budgets are and probably how to do them. Hell, if you have basic cable there's tons of shows that talk about budgets, if you've never done it in school, and there's tons of budget calculators out there on the web if you're curious. No one benefits from this one, especially since its a shoddy one. McDonald's workers didn't cause the recesssion, they're not all idiot teenagers, in fact most of them are responsible adults, and McDonald's is a huge corporation with billions in profits, it can survive a minimum wage increase. Hell, the minimum wage here is ten dollars and they're doing just fine.
Saya is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-07-2013, 03:22 PM   #17
Jonathan
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: northeast us
Posts: 887
Speculation, sure but sanctimonious I don't really agree with. I would have thought my post made it clear that I wasn't suggesting you having an easy go of things, in fact I commended you for making it despite things being hard. Awesome that you were able to pay for your MRI - how many expensive emergency medical costs do you think you could have absorbed back when you were working 3 McJobs? Do you recognize that unplanned things happen, and that people who are lucky to get by when everything is going well can be ruined through no fault of their own when things go pear-shaped on them?

The fact is when you are living within really tight financial means, relatively minor mishaps can have really terrible repercussions - if your $300 car blows up and you can't buy another one immediately, that's another day or two of lost wages, assuming you don't outright lose your job for failing to report. Now everybody else in the group home has to pick up the slack. Hope two shitty cars limping along don't both need work at the same time!

Living on razor margins is a precarious situation, and a budget that doesn't even account for realistic living expenses is useless.
Jonathan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-07-2013, 03:30 PM   #18
Alan
 
Alan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,932
Why is it so common in modern US to give the benefit of the doubt to corporations far easier than to fellow human beings in the same social class as one's own?
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by KissMeDeadly
You fucking people [war veterans] are only a step below entitled rich kids, the only difference being you had to do and witness horrible things, instead of being given everything.
real classy
Alan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-07-2013, 04:51 PM   #19
Versus
 
Versus's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 3,812
If you had as much power as a billion dollar company, would you have it any other way?

Well, not you personally. YOU NAMEAN.
__________________
Woke up with fifty enemies plottin' my death
All fifty seein' visions of me shot in the chest
Couldn't rest, nah nigga I was stressed
Had me creepin' 'round corners, homie sleepin' in my vest.


-Breathin, Tupac.
Versus is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-07-2013, 05:34 PM   #20
AshleyO
 
AshleyO's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 1,700
Quote:
Originally Posted by Versus View Post
This is about how McDonald's is trying to say that it's not it's fault that it's employees will never have any kind of security. That it is not responsible to pay it's employees enough to live. If that budgeting advice was honest and genuinely meant to help people, it would be realistic.

I could just as easily say that at 19, I worked 120+ hours a week under the threat of imprisonment and violence, had zero access to any form of communication outside of work, was malnourished, not even given access to basic forms of hygiene, such as running water, and that I wasn't miserable. But you already know that I can't expect you to do that.
You get that logic out of here right this instant!
__________________
"Women hold up half the sky" -Mao

"God always picks the strangest things to get angry about. Get an abortion or gay married and he'll aim a tornado right at you.

Rip off a million poor people and Wall street has no problems. " -Rebecca B
AshleyO is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-14-2013, 09:52 AM   #21
Lilyth Von Gore
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Scotland
Posts: 30
In the UK our national minimum wage is £6.31 if you're over 21 Between 18 and 20, it's £5.03. Under 18 is £3.27 and the wage for an apprentice is £2.68.
Trying to live on the National Minimum wage here, in a flat with high Gas and Electricity prices is near impossible.
McDonalds here are notorious for under-paying employees. A friend of mine got fired for complaining that she was left with next to nothing every month after paying bills, rent, council tax, and food shopping. She was told to find another, higher paid job if she was struggling so much. Thing is, there are none. They're all taken by higher qualified people.
Lilyth Von Gore is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 04:35 AM.