It's no secret that many people earn below minimum wage, but in this day and age, we should no longer be allowing people to do this.
Just how many years were women underpaid for no reason? It seems stupid and crazy to me to think that we do this... to discriminate against someone over their sex... but it happened.
However, there is a far worse and wider reaching discrimination which doesn't care whether you're male or female, black or white, experienced or a novice at your job. That is the delights of age-discrimination.
Anyone under the age of 25 is on around £7.38 an hour in the UK, which at one stage sounded much better than the £7.05 under 25s were earning.
However, at the same time as the wage "going up," the cost of public transportation went up, a sugar tax has been implemented (which has inflated the cost of food and drink), and to make things worse, we are now forced to pay into a pension scheme which they keep raising the age before claimants can be made... I heard somewhere it will be now moved to 70 years of age for men... no man in my family that I know of has made it past 65... let alone 70. What an insult to those who put 50+ of their best years only to have the carrot dangled slightly further away from them.
On a personal note, I cannot deny I am really struggling. I work 5-7 days a week in a bar/restaurant doing 8-12 hour shifts. On a given day, I will walk over 10 miles in that place... physically its a much more taxing job than anyone thinks. What it does to you mentally is a different story, but lets just say spending most of your waking hours working in a place where people think you're some kind of slave and treat you like dirt doesn't do you much good.
But this is the thing... I have bills just like everyone else... I pay my rent on time every time and don't get help paying it. I have to pay tax and council tax. I have to pay to get to work and buy my own food... by the end of the month there is almost nothing left... and its not like I go to restaurants and bars all the time... I work in one so I avoid them if I can.
I have bills just like any normal person on the planet... yet I am expected to be able to pay them without help despite I am earning less.
This has opened me up for exploitation... I am put on the longest and busiest shift all because I am the cheapest worker. I am good at my job, but I have seen zero thanks for it. If I am lucky, I will earn around £15,000 in a year... and that money is eaten by all my living costs. How will I ever save up 20,000 for a deposit on a house if this is how I am expected to live?
So now, can anyone tell me is there any reason behind this? Why do the government allow the exploitation of under 25s which is making my life extremely difficult. It would be different if the government were helping me... that they were on my side and willing to help. But they are not... my boss has no idea why (and naturally won't pursue it), the distract manager keeps "forgetting..." citizens advice agreed it was wrong but could do nothing for me... and my local labour MP simply has not got back to me... so now I appeal to you to help me. Please share this so we can get fair pay men and women those under 25.