I believe that the minimum wage should be enough to enable a working couple to feed and clothe a family of four and keep a roof over their heads.

[Mamarsupial]

I don’t think I am BU for a moment, interested to see how many agree with me.

Totally agree- and assume both of the couple working

Its the cost of housing that fucks everything up.

Entry level jobs and minimum wage jobs should all pay enough to live on. If you're working full time, no matter your skill level, you should earn enough to eat, heat your home, have a home. Not talking 5 bedroom houses but there should be affordable housing, enough to go round, and people working full time, no matter the job, should have enough money coming in.

Wages can rise for jobs above that for a better quality of life but no one working full time should be choosing between heating and eating.

I agree.

That means significant uplift for most of the bottom rungs.

I agree, OP, it should.

I don't understand the question about entry-level jobs. Of course some entry level jobs pay minimum wage (others don't), but surely there are lots of people who get a job aged 18 and simply stay in that job, or that kind of job, all their lives. There are lots of people who don't get off minimum wage. Not because they don't work hard, but because there are lots of jobs that just don't involve much by way of upwards progression.

www.livingwage.org.uk/what-real-living-wage

depends what you mean by living. sky tv, cigarettes and takeaways arent a human right its a luxury which should be worked for

That's the problem though. Someone with a lot of experience should generally expect to be paid more than someone who has just started the job.

Minimum for one person to live.

Agree re cigarettes and sky tv etc. but surely basic housing, food, heating when it’s cold outside

But realistically, if you're working a job where you can get the expertise pretty fast (say, an hour or two's training), then ...

I guess I've always just seen mw roles as entry level /part time.

But thinking on it, thats not right. Lots of roles (care etc) are also mw. Although I don't think care should be mw.

I suppose I think there should be a not actually needing to support yourself just need a job level too

With 2 children, a minimum of 2-bedrooms (be it a house of flat), anywhere in the country.

I think the lower limits for tax and national insurance need to change. If you are over 23, on minimum wage, working 40 hours a week, you are paying nearly £200 per month. Raising the limits would help the working poor. Those earning the most can afford to pay more to balance it out.

I agree. 2 minimum wages in a household should keep a family of 4 to a reasonable standard.
I am shocked at the price of childcare in the UK and the price of housing in some parts of the country.
We need more childcare provision and subsidy. It gives families (and especially women) more choices and ensures the children are looked after properly.

I didn’t say any of these things. I am referring to adequate housing, warm clothes and a healthy balanced diet.

Your post is simplistic OP. Sustain how? Rent on a three bed house in London? Two cars? One holiday and two weekend breaks? Or a two bed flat in a cheaper provincial town?
Some people are good with money - some waste it.
I do agree wages should be higher however.

Yes I agree, a couple in full time employment should be able to afford to have a family.

I suppose I think there should be a not actually needing to support yourself just need a job level too

I think that would just be open to abuse, though? I work somewhere where there is a roughly even split between people who fall into that category, and people who absolutely, definitely, need every penny. If you say, ok, Helen can be paid the 'not needing to support herself' wage because she mainly does this to keep herself busy in her retirement, then Helen is going to be furious if she's doing the exact same work as Bob who really needs the money. Or, an unscrupulous boss will just pay both of them the 'not actually needing it' wage.

Any suggestions as to how much MW would need to be to achieve this?

I disagree. Full time minimum wage should support one adult, and if necessary one child with government support. Minimum means minimum, not privileged. Even supermarkets pay over the minimum. The more pressing problem is that jobs that require skill, knowledge and experience are only paid at minimum wage or just above. If that didn’t happen, people wouldn’t need minimum wage to support a family.

Sometimes i think that, but other times i think employers arent there to solve societies problems and social housing and subsidised childcare would have the same impact.
But i do think minimum wage is too low and employers get subsidised by benefits and its not governmenrs job to subsidise business.

I was thinking more about teenagers young people but I suppose there already is an age difference isn't there

I don't think it's just about the wage. There should be proper council housing - decent housing - reasonably priced and properly maintained. And working people should be prioritised for this. Instead working people are bottom of the list.

DH and I are both professionals, we earn well, but we had to stop with our kids when we did. They share a room (twins) and we would have had to stop at one of it wasn't twins. I've just paid off a dmp to cover the costs of childcare.

To fix this will need a massive uplift in tax and people may not like it but the 'squeezed middle' is a thing, and we can't afford more tax. We are already facing a massive mortgage uplift plus all the other shit that's going up.

No one will come out of this well.