It is not illegal for a child to work. Although there are different rules in terms of wages, hours and working conditions. It would be nice if folks took at least 10 seconds to do some research and DD before posting, but I suppose that is too much to ask.
+1 Good post. Likewise, I had several restaurant jobs washing dishes, cleaning tables, waiting tables when I was young. Some hard labour jobs too. Builds character and makes one appreciate the value of money; how easy is it to spend it and how difficult it is to earn it. Then when you land a decent job as an adult and hear others complain about how bad it is, you can have a good laugh.
I understand where you are coming from, but we cannot expect a business to pay someone what they need to live on. 'Hello McDs, I have 5 kids, a mortgage and wife to support, so please pay me $80K per year instead of minimum wage' Simply put, wages from certain jobs cannot by themselves cover expenses for families to live on. They would need multiple people working or be resourceful in other ways.
Unless things changed drastically from 1985 to 1990, I'm pretty sure that McDonalds would not have hired you unless you were 14 years old. They were relatively corporate by that time and did not mess around with child labor regulations.
...Indeed. Much easier. I figure 70% of the 11 million jobs lost are gone forever. I believe the new catch phrase is "structural unemployment".
Let's forget those who have 5 kids. How about a single adult trying to survive? It may be possible to make ends meet when one is in good health, but a few sick days and one becomes homeless. Perhaps MacDonald's need to copy Wal-Mart, teach its workers to sponge off taxpayers applying for food stamps etc. The Execs are worth multi-millions in compensation, while a rank-and-file worker working full-time is can't keep himself together w/o public assistance?
The unemployed sit on their ass and collect welfare. -------------------------------------------------------------- Interesting point....what is going to happen to the 99ers here soon? Are all those collecting unemployment going to be moved to the welfare rolls? oh well, Who is John Galt. Obama will probably be re-elected by the fools (many on this site) in this country. States will soon start to rethink their ties to the United States.....hell even the crazy scum sucking Parasites in AZ want to break away from that "Conservative" state and create their own little UTOPIA. So, if the SCUM BAG LIBERALS are talking about breaking away from the UNITED STATES.........Com'n Texas.....We should be the first Conservative state to push that issue!
"structural unemployment". ------------------------------------------ another good point. That is what happens when you get rid of your manufacturing base and allow the Unions to control what little is left. That is what you get when you have 70% of the GDP consumers spending money they don't have. Structural unemployment will last centuries.
I remember being a teen and working all kinds of shitty jobs. Even at 13 having to help deliver newspapers and collect the old ones from all the stands. I was so careful with the money, My first investment was a 50 dollar face value treasury bond and some silver coins. When you realize how hard it is to make a buck, you learn to invest and save.