Reply #46: I hope young people reading these threads are now more [View All]

[WestSeattle2]

motivated to get a college education or learn a skilled trade. Our economy is diverging into a two-tiered economy and has been for 30 years. We'll have low-paying service jobs, often paid at minimum wage, and higher paying professional and trade jobs which require a college degree or knowledge of a skilled trade. That middle section, that allowed high school graduates to earn a somewhat decent living is disappearing.

My advice to anyone on minimum wage who desires more is to obtain an education. In many cases this will require that you move away from family and friends, to a location that will offer you educational opportunities at a cost you can afford. There are thousands of trade programs, including Women in Trades that offer apprenticeship programs for electricians, instrument technicians, plumbers, carpenters, etc.....find one you like and enroll. Again, you may have to move out of your state to find opportunities, but that's a choice you'll have to make.

In five years you could easily be making $40/hour in a skilled trade (on the west or east coasts), or you could be stuck doing the same thing you are now, working in a dead-end job and waiting for the federal minimum wage to go up .50/hour.

First and foremost, you have to believe in yourself. If you don't, no one else will.