Minimum wage workers deal with the most. From assholes completely willing to scold retail employees for unreasonable discount, to the hangry bastard acting ruthless to their waitress – the emotional side of working minimum wage jobs is often taxing. And so is the pay.
Overall, the hardest part of working a minimum wage job is working full-time only to just scrape by financially.
However, sunnier days may be on the horizon and minimum wage workers can expect a 3% increase in wage starting July 1. This means an extra $21.60 a day, resulting in $740.80 pay cheques a week. Congratulations mates, you might be able to comfortably afford a mixed drink at the bar outside of happy hour.
While this isn’t as much as last year’s 3.5% minimum wage, at least it’s something.
This pay increase will affect 2.2 million Australians working minimum wage jobs. It’s worth noting that inflation is currently somewhat slow, and employment rates are actually pretty damn good. Also, Australia has the highest paying minimum wage in the world. Great job getting jobs Aussies.
Unions pushing for a 6% wage increase (an extra $43 a week) are understandably upset. They actually got half of what they were asking for, similar to how fans felt about the ending of Game of Thrones.
Yet business groups are shocked the increase in wage is more than they were hoping for, a whopping 1-2% increase ($14.40 or less a week). Seriously business groups, ouch.
While the wage increase for minimum wage jobs is somewhat of a good thing, unions are arguing this wage is not enough for a living wage.
The 3% increase in the minimum wage is a step in the right direction for the millions of workers who rely on it and the awards system, but still falls far short of re-establishing the living wage and ensuring that no worker lives in poverty.
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— Australian Unions (@unionsaustralia) May 30, 2019
Having spent years working in a minimum wage job, I understand it’s not always ideal. The obvious hardest part of minimum wage jobs is barely making ends meets after working all the time. While Australia has one of the highest paying minimum wages in the world, it’s definitely not really enough to be fully comfortable.
Sources: Giphy, Unsplash.
