To think all ages should be paid the same.

[Potterhead113]

AIBU to think that all age groups from 16 and upwards should be paid the same minimum wage as someone aged 40 for example. I know many young people aged 16-25 who are paid less for the same job as their elder coworkers but they equally pay rent and provide in some cases for children solely from their wages.
I think that all people should be payed the same for the same job. I know a girl who is 17 who has a baby and works 4 days a week for £2 less an hour than someone in their 30s that she works with who does the same job as her.

I think nmw shoukd be the same from 18 up

We have two 16 year olds at work and they get paid so much less for doing exactly the same job

And i dont really understand why people cant figure out that there always has to be a large 'unskilled' workforce...they just have to be paid a going rate

And i have no idea wha that rate is...i just know that there are no payrises in my retail job. No matter what you know or how hard you work

I agree that it's bizarre.

I had a part-time job where everyone was routinely sacked when they turned 18. They employed kids from the local school and the excuse was inevitably "you're going off to college/uni and you won't be as flexible once you are there"

I had a much better but still minimum wage summer job in a tourist attraction as a student. The argument that older people bring extra skills and abilities is a bit ropey to me. I was at uni at the time and my student colleagues and I were significantly more efficient- we understood the computer systems and could fix them, managed quick arithmetic when the tills (frequently) went down and our problem solving skills were generally higher, particularly in terms of dealing with customer complaints. Most of us had basic abilities in more than one other language which was handy dealing with tourists.

The older, full-time people who were there were generally working in the same role as us because this was literally the only job they could hang on to. Most had no qualifications and struggled with basic IT, literacy etc. While I accepted that in terms of the person specification they could do that job to the same basic standard as I could, it always riled that I got paid so much less for doing a better job. It certainly wasn't an incentive to stay on and consider the company's graduate programme.

Why is retraining, night school, giving up luxuries etc something that under 25 should do if they want the same standard of living as their peers? Why is it a more viable option than employers simply paying the same rate of pay?

And it's not always possible. Sone people are already working themselves to the bone on a bread and butter budget. Others are more suited to the industry they're in.
And starting a company in a base position and working your way was much more the done thing for older generations, not quite so much now.

"And starting a company in a base position"

Yep And how can you do this now when people are being advised not to spend on "other things"

No point starting up a company that sells these "other things" then!!

I can't get almost any benefits until I'm 25 ... I know people who have had full time jobs for 9 years, have 2 kids and a house to rent at under 25 ... it's insane!
If you class someone as a legal adult at 18 why are they not afforded the same rights as other legal adults? It's like an extension of childhood ...

If it is exactly the same job then yes they should be paid the same but of course this is not always the case. It is not unsusal for employees of different worth to a company/firm to be in the same 'roles' or working under the same job title. A good example are solicitors in a law firm. You may have two senior associates but one may bill only £50k a year whereas the other may be hitting £250k. Even though they may operate under the same title, they are not doing the same job and their salaries should reflect that.

Balsamic that's an appalling argument and even if true could be addressed by govt subsidy rather than the young having their wage cut.

Dangermouse the hours they work irrelevant too - as pay is generally calculated hourly for low paid workers.

Kingof - I barely know where to begin with your blatant ageist nonsense!

The same argument for age discrimination is as for all other discrimination - you do the same job, the same productivity you should get the same pay!!

An employees worth isn't ONLY in experience, it's also in knowledge, ability, skill and energy. Some jobs are performed BETTER by younger employees (generally speaking) as eg they are more physically demanding.

Not all older employees have common sense, skill, work ethic etc. I've worked with some appallingly lazy older employees and some amazingly good and helpful younger employees but that was down to individual personalities and attitudes not age.

Definitely agree that the REAL reason is younger folk less likely to vote and under 18's can't vote in general/uk elections (but can vote in local/national elections in Scotland).

To the pp that said under 18's have to be in education that applies to England not Scotland or Wales and I believe not NI.

You could have an 18 year old that's been doing the job for 2 years and a 27 year old that's JUST started and the older one gets more! That blows the 'experience' excuse out the water eh?

And what an employer spends their money on isn't the issue either. Both a 16 yr old and a 30 yr old - if they're making the same money for the business by producing the same work they deserve the same wage.

Greentulips you need to check the stats. Far far fewer 'taking the piss' re benefits than taking the piss in MASSIVELY greater amounts with tax evasion/avoidance. Geez from reading your other posts I think you're TM. Cuts have affected businesses, schools, training, availability of jobs for EVERYONE. I was reading an article recently that had discovered the REAL unemployment figures based on govt stats are that there are 9 X the number of people looking for jobs as there are jobs! College courses are rapidly disappearing due to funding cuts. Nearest admin course for me necessitates a 3 hour journey each way as the 2 nearest colleges no longer run one due to cuts. Only 20 places on the food hygiene course. No first aid or safe handling courses despite where I live being an area of high elderly population in nursing/residential homes. As for machinery use you must be kidding! Seriously what planet are you on?

Invest in your own career - do you understand what 'poor' means? We have people in FULL TIME JOBS using food banks ffs!!

Impossible to get a job with no qualifications now if under 25. Not much easier if over. I have a degree and am job hunting and getting nowhere fast. My dd 16 is apprenticeship/job hunting she has good qualifications behind her and references and is still finding it very hard.

Suggest you begin here

digitalsynopsis.com/inspiration/privileged-kids-on-a-plate-pencilsword-toby-morris/

"Ask for training heavy lifting or fork lift truck driving" no longer provided by employers but outside companies and employers won't pay for it. You really should check your facts before commenting.

"All based on hard work" if you haven't yet - look at the link I posted. In addition he did that IN A DIFFERENT ECONOMIC CLIMATE!

Talk of rations suggests you are in your early 60's at youngest so are a baby boomer. Your generation which is my parents generation benefited HUGELY from economic booms in the post war years, free university education etc etc etc

I think pay not keeping up with inflation applies to lots of jobs not just NMW or under 25s. Teachers for example, nurses have a problem I remember one at the time of the election saying she hadn't had a payrise in years.

I do think full NMW should kick in earlier but I don't think it should be 16 and that is just based on my own experience of the support 16 year olds need moving into fulltime work.

I think inflation is starting to hit alot of people.