[mft_]

> Minimum wage is not the problem as this article seems to imply. People move up from those starter jobs, they don't stay there forever.

[citation needed]

The phrase 'starter job' may indicate where you're coming from, attitudinally. For many people, of all ages, there aren't starter jobs - they're the only attainable jobs. And I suspect many people bounce around between different similarly-poorly-paid jobs, without significant moves up. We're talking about people for whom 'the grind' is just surviving, and for whom the American dream of self-improvement through hard work has died - if it was ever alive in the first place.

[kortilla]

> For many people, of all ages, there aren't starter jobs - they're the only attainable jobs.

Citation?

I have family members that weren’t very ambitious and they work in these jobs. However, they don’t make minimum wage because nearly every company offers some raises for people who just consistently show up for 6 months+ straight.

In order to be stuck at minimum you have to additionally have stability issues or issues in general that cause you to consistently get fired or pushed out. These habitual min wage earners are not even a meaningful portion of the people earning minimum wage at any given time.

[ac29]

> I have family members that weren’t very ambitious and they work in these jobs. However, they don’t make minimum wage because nearly every company offers some raises for people who just consistently show up for 6 months+ straight.

But what kind of raises? Starting at minimum wage and grinding out a 25c/hr raise each year for a decade is still going to leave you in poverty. No one starts at $8/hr and is making $35/hr for the same position 6 months later.

[kortilla]

Do you know what “minimum wage” means?

[kylebyproxy]

> nearly every company offers some raises

I've worked at least a dozen jobs. Received exactly 2 raises: one for $0.25, the other $0.33.

> In order to be stuck at minimum you have to additionally have stability issues

Or just not be able to afford a bachelor's degree

[kortilla]

You don’t need a bachelor’s degree to become a shift manager.