Flu Outbreak + No Paid Sick Days = Disaster

Jeanwah

Flu Outbreak + No Paid Sick Days, No Healthcare = Disaster

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/01/14-4

brianlux

This could be right out of Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed. A sad state of affairs.

know1

If you're afraid to stay home sick a couple of days due to the loss of wages, then your real issue is living below your means and having a savings account or emergency fund.

JimmyV

know1 wrote:

If you're afraid to stay home sick a couple of days due to the loss of wages, then your real issue is living below your means and having a savings account or emergency fund.

And for many people this is a real issue. So now it isn't just the welfare cases we hate, it is anyone who does not make enough at work.

81

:(

know1

JimmyV wrote:

know1 wrote:

If you're afraid to stay home sick a couple of days due to the loss of wages, then your real issue is living below your means and having a savings account or emergency fund.

And for many people this is a real issue. So now it isn't just the welfare cases we hate, it is anyone who does not make enough at work.

I don't hate anyone. But if a couple of days of lost wages = a disaster then the person was in bad shape financially anyway.

It's shocking to me the number of people making decent wages who are living paycheck to paycheck because they do not understand how to budget their money and live on less than they make.

My wife missed a couple of days last week due to being sick. She doesn't have sick time. It was very far from a disaster.

JimmyV

know1 wrote:

JimmyV wrote:

know1 wrote:

If you're afraid to stay home sick a couple of days due to the loss of wages, then your real issue is living below your means and having a savings account or emergency fund.

And for many people this is a real issue. So now it isn't just the welfare cases we hate, it is anyone who does not make enough at work.

I don't hate anyone. But if a couple of days of lost wages = a disaster then the person was in bad shape financially anyway.

It's shocking to me the number of people making decent wages who are living paycheck to paycheck because they do not understand how to budget their money and live on less than they make.

My wife missed a couple of days last week due to being sick. She doesn't have sick time. It was very far from a disaster.

And it is people who are in bad financial shape for whom this is indeed a disaster. I doubt she falls into this category, but I am glad your wife is feeling better and back at work.

cincybearcat

JimmyV wrote:

And it is people who are in bad financial shape for whom this is indeed a disaster. I doubt she falls into this category, but I am glad your wife is feeling better and back at work.

Right, but what he is saying is not everyone ends up in bad financial shape just due to chance or bad luck. It is sometimes bad choices.

know1

JimmyV wrote:

And it is people who are in bad financial shape for whom this is indeed a disaster. I doubt she falls into this category, but I am glad your wife is feeling better and back at work.

My point is that, in the situation where no paid sick days = disaster, the absence of no paid sick time is not the only problem.

JimmyV

cincybearcat wrote:

JimmyV wrote:

And it is people who are in bad financial shape for whom this is indeed a disaster. I doubt she falls into this category, but I am glad your wife is feeling better and back at work.

Right, but what he is saying is not everyone ends up in bad financial shape just due to chance or bad luck. It is sometimes bad choices.

Certainly, no argument there. But that is not the case for everyone who faces financial difficulty. We should not lump them all into one.

JimmyV

know1 wrote:

JimmyV wrote:

And it is people who are in bad financial shape for whom this is indeed a disaster. I doubt she falls into this category, but I am glad your wife is feeling better and back at work.

My point is that, in the situation where no paid sick days = disaster, the absence of no paid sick time is not the only problem.

True enough. But we spend so much time worrying about welfare and people not working, here is a situation where a poor person could be doing everything we ask them to and still fall off the tight rope.

know1

JimmyV wrote:

know1 wrote:

JimmyV wrote:

And it is people who are in bad financial shape for whom this is indeed a disaster. I doubt she falls into this category, but I am glad your wife is feeling better and back at work.

My point is that, in the situation where no paid sick days = disaster, the absence of no paid sick time is not the only problem.

True enough. But we spend so much time worrying about welfare and people not working, here is a situation where a poor person could be doing everything we ask them to and still fall off the tight rope.

I agree, but again if you're at a stage financially where missing 2 days of work will be a disaster to you, then the issue really isn't the lack of paid sick time. That's all I'm saying.

brianlux

I'm going to repeat myself here because after reading some of the posts here I'm compelled to do so. I highly recommend Barbara Ehrenreich's book Nickel and Dimed. It deal a lot with stuff like this from a very real perspective. Ehrenreich cut herself off from all of her finances (put them on hold so-to-speak) and went out and worked various minimum paying jobs and tried to live that way. The woman is a heroine of the first degree.

Seriously, I can't recommend this book enough.

Jeanwah

Why are people blaming the worker? Companies have been dropping benefits to employees for years. The problem is that paid sick time is not offered anymore when it should be.

Zoso

brianlux wrote:

I'm going to repeat myself here because after reading some of the posts here I'm compelled to do so. I highly recommend Barbara Ehrenreich's book Nickel and Dimed. It deal a lot with stuff like this from a very real perspective. Ehrenreich cut herself off from all of her finances (put them on hold so-to-speak) and went out and worked various minimum paying jobs and tried to live that way. The woman is a heroine of the first degree.

Seriously, I can't recommend this book enough.

think the book sucks but the message is a good one...

poverty is a real issue in the USA but the working poor seems to be even a bigger issue just no one focuses on it.. people assume if you have a job you can survive.. people need atleast 2 jobs to make it nowadays...

brianlux

Zoso wrote:

brianlux wrote:

I'm going to repeat myself here because after reading some of the posts here I'm compelled to do so. I highly recommend Barbara Ehrenreich's book Nickel and Dimed. It deal a lot with stuff like this from a very real perspective. Ehrenreich cut herself off from all of her finances (put them on hold so-to-speak) and went out and worked various minimum paying jobs and tried to live that way. The woman is a heroine of the first degree.

Seriously, I can't recommend this book enough.

think the book sucks but the message is a good one...

poverty is a real issue in the USA but the working poor seems to be even a bigger issue just no one focuses on it.. people assume if you have a job you can survive.. people need atleast 2 jobs to make it nowadays...

Nothing like killing a book recommendation. I'm sorry to hear you didn't like it. I agree with you summation, however.

Hugh Freaking Dillon

just a short 7 years ago, just before we started a family, I had a job where I worked full time hours but was technically part time so no paid sick days. yearly equivalent of 3 weeks holidays time paid out in increments every 2 weeks. call in sick, don't get paid. so people I worked with came in sick CONSTANTLY. this meant that everyone in the environment (about 17 people) was constantly exposed to viruses. this was NOT a good environment to work in. I think, however, in my situation, it actually worked the opposite way, as I rarely got sick (I think my immune system got a boost from all the germs around).

But think of it this way. Flu epidemics can start because of people going to work when they should stay home, causing a much larger crisis. I worked in hospitality for a decade (cook), and I don't know of any restaurant in my city that had paid sick days or even paid holidays. PEOPLE COOKING YOUR FOOD WERE SICK. And this would obviously cause many of the establishment's patrons to catch whatever virus was floating around. and around and around we go.

it would cost the economy a LOT less if sick time was mandatory.

Hugh Freaking Dillon

that being said, I KNOW I could afford no sick days if we lived below our means. which wouldn't be too hard. I mean, we lived on a lot less just a few short years ago.........