<story><title>Wages rise on California farms, Americans still don’t want the job</title><url>http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-fi-farms-immigration</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>greedo</author><text>When I was younger, I worked at a McDonalds in SoCal. Almost all the employees were white teenagers. The managers were white as well. We didn&amp;#x27;t make much, just a bit above minimum wage, but we were all mostly high-school students or college students working in the summer to pay tuition.&lt;p&gt;This went on until around 1984 or so, when it became much harder to hire this demographic. It wasn&amp;#x27;t as cool to work at fast food, and the area was becoming more affluent.&lt;p&gt;Fast forward five years, and 99% of the staff was now Hispanic, including several illegal immigrants. The restaurant had to do what it could to make money and stay in biz.&lt;p&gt;I don&amp;#x27;t know how high wages would have to be to attract the previous demographic to that type of work. The area is far more affluent than when I was growing up, and house prices start at over $700K and go higher easily.&lt;p&gt;I do think something is missing though when kids don&amp;#x27;t learn what it&amp;#x27;s like to hold a retail type job dealing with the public. You learn hard work, humility, and often an appreciation for higher education.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>diogenescynic</author><text>There are plenty of white teenagers who work at every In-N-Out I&amp;#x27;ve ever been to--because they pay better. Otherwise those kids, in nicer areas like you point to, have better alternatives for minimum wage like retail. The reason the jobs you describe are being replaced by immigrants is because the wages have been stagnant or not kept up with inflation. Unskilled immigrants take labor jobs that Americans aren&amp;#x27;t really willing to do, like being a janitor or emptying septic tanks or pouring concrete in Bakersfield.</text></comment>
<story><title>Wages rise on California farms, Americans still don’t want the job</title><url>http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-fi-farms-immigration</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>greedo</author><text>When I was younger, I worked at a McDonalds in SoCal. Almost all the employees were white teenagers. The managers were white as well. We didn&amp;#x27;t make much, just a bit above minimum wage, but we were all mostly high-school students or college students working in the summer to pay tuition.&lt;p&gt;This went on until around 1984 or so, when it became much harder to hire this demographic. It wasn&amp;#x27;t as cool to work at fast food, and the area was becoming more affluent.&lt;p&gt;Fast forward five years, and 99% of the staff was now Hispanic, including several illegal immigrants. The restaurant had to do what it could to make money and stay in biz.&lt;p&gt;I don&amp;#x27;t know how high wages would have to be to attract the previous demographic to that type of work. The area is far more affluent than when I was growing up, and house prices start at over $700K and go higher easily.&lt;p&gt;I do think something is missing though when kids don&amp;#x27;t learn what it&amp;#x27;s like to hold a retail type job dealing with the public. You learn hard work, humility, and often an appreciation for higher education.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>CalChris</author><text>Minimum wage in that era had much stronger purchasing power. 1980 saw its decline.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;oregonstate.edu&amp;#x2F;instruct&amp;#x2F;anth484&amp;#x2F;minwage.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;oregonstate.edu&amp;#x2F;instruct&amp;#x2F;anth484&amp;#x2F;minwage.html&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>