“Why do you people think that someone who has years of experience or a college degree deserve the same amout of pay as someone working at Walmart at the self checkout lanes that literally just sits there doing nothing?????? “

… No one is thinking this.

I and many others, with lots of experience, college degrees and whatnot, are saying that at the very minimum, someone working full time should be able to cover the basic cost of living in their area AND all the rest of our wages should scale up, just like they all should have been doing this whole time and haven’t.

Of course factors like having a family, dependents, wanting extra luxuries and saving for more are all considerations to take into account when agreeing to a wage, but that should be in addition to a basic living wage for a given area. It’s also an issue where if someone working minimum wage must work 2–3 such jobs in order to just afford rent if they do happen to need more than 1 bedroom, then when exactly are they supposed to also get additional training, education, shop for nutritious food, spend time with family and friends, look after their own health (physical and mental), avoid burnout, spend time with their children if applicable, and even clean their home?

The answer is, they cannot. What denying basic livable wage does, is make it so those who, for one reason or another, have to be in a minimum wage position (outside of age discrimination of students and others apparently) will likely remain there without real help or change to a system that exploits the time and energy of workers.

40 hours a week of your life given to someone else for whatever reason, should be compensated with AT LEAST the means to support yourself in a healthy and comfortable manner in your area, in my opinion.