4 ms·

Counterpoint. Few people who the education system worked out for are going to be working on the department store shop floor. Not that I disagree, but the opin

Counterpoint. Few people who the education system worked out for are going to be working on the department store shop floor. Not that I disagree, but the opinion is coming from a very specific view point. If the kids had strong educations, would they be okay getting paid £10 an hour / £16k a year.

Hamuko 5y ago
>£10 an hour Is that terrible in the UK? That's like $14 an hour and large swaths of Americans are expected to live on that with much shittier welfare than the UK.
- ck425 5y ago
  It is. These days most things are more expensive in the UK than USA. Particularly housing.
  - dukeyukey 5y ago
    Although overall the US is more expensive that the UK, albeit not by much. Sources: https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_result.jsp?country1=United+States&country2=United+Kingdom https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_resu... https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/100214/what-cost-living-difference-between-us-and-uk.asp https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/100214/what-cost-li...
    - hollerith 5y ago
      Maybe you are both right: maybe the US is more expensive if you plan to live off savings, but the UK is more expensive (in units of labor) for the average worker because the average pay is lower. In other words, almost all statistics on cost of living do not take into account differences between countries in the ease of getting money.
- Wildgoose 5y ago
  It's a common wage for shop staff - most of the big supermarkets pay that amount. Smaller employers may only pay the "living wage" which is £8.91. The UK national minimum wage is £8.36.
- zabzonk 5y ago
  In provincial England, I pay my cleaning lady 15.00 GBP per hour (she is very good at what she does, and I'd be lost without her), so 10.00 GBP is pretty low.
  - Hamuko 5y ago
    Is she your employee or is she billing you 15 GBP/hour?
- ownagefool 5y ago
  It's terrible in that the average house north of £250k and average rent is £1000 and that John Lewis is a fancy brand, and thus is more likely to be found in above average areas. Compound this with that they're only clearing ~£1200 and you just gotta ask, what are they expecting?
doublejay1999 5y ago
Well put. It's not at all dissimilar to walking into a conference of learned and decorated economists, and being disappointed that only a handful know how to administer First Aid. I would have thought Mrs White might recognise the limitations of her data, as a scholar would, given her Economics degree from Cambridge and her Masters in the same, gained at UCL. Presumably, John Lewis has an application & interview process which would have been successfully navigated by the people is talking about. Methinks her motives are not perhaps not pure.

Hamuko 5y ago

>£10 an hour Is that terrible in the UK? That's like $14 an hour and large swaths of Americans are expected to live on that with much shittier welfare than the UK.

ck425 5y ago
It is. These days most things are more expensive in the UK than USA. Particularly housing.
- dukeyukey 5y ago
  Although overall the US is more expensive that the UK, albeit not by much. Sources: https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_result.jsp?country1=United+States&country2=United+Kingdom https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_resu... https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/100214/what-cost-living-difference-between-us-and-uk.asp https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/100214/what-cost-li...
  - hollerith 5y ago
    Maybe you are both right: maybe the US is more expensive if you plan to live off savings, but the UK is more expensive (in units of labor) for the average worker because the average pay is lower. In other words, almost all statistics on cost of living do not take into account differences between countries in the ease of getting money.
Wildgoose 5y ago
It's a common wage for shop staff - most of the big supermarkets pay that amount. Smaller employers may only pay the "living wage" which is £8.91. The UK national minimum wage is £8.36.
zabzonk 5y ago
In provincial England, I pay my cleaning lady 15.00 GBP per hour (she is very good at what she does, and I'd be lost without her), so 10.00 GBP is pretty low.
- Hamuko 5y ago
  Is she your employee or is she billing you 15 GBP/hour?
ownagefool 5y ago
It's terrible in that the average house north of £250k and average rent is £1000 and that John Lewis is a fancy brand, and thus is more likely to be found in above average areas. Compound this with that they're only clearing ~£1200 and you just gotta ask, what are they expecting?

doublejay1999 5y ago

Well put. It's not at all dissimilar to walking into a conference of learned and decorated economists, and being disappointed that only a handful know how to administer First Aid. I would have thought Mrs White might recognise the limitations of her data, as a scholar would, given her Economics degree from Cambridge and her Masters in the same, gained at UCL. Presumably, John Lewis has an application & interview process which would have been successfully navigated by the people is talking about. Methinks her motives are not perhaps not pure.