Retail jobs are treated as a temporary bridge to something better, but why?
It&#x27;s treated as a bridge for those who need some life skills before moving onto something else.  A lot of jobs requiring responsibility don&#x27;t want to hire a kid who has no experience other than smoking dope and video games, and retail will give them some proof they can deal with some progressive responsibility.<p>Not a bridge for others.  It&#x27;s fine that it&#x27;s a bridge for some and not one for others.  If stores decide retail is a career job, then they will pay career ladder wages, otherwise market forces make retail as a bridge a self fulfilling prophecy.<p>The issue is if the government dictates a certain minimum wage for retail workers, then they&#x27;ve just outlawed any jobs that provide less value than that wage.  You don&#x27;t gain jobs by outlawing jobs, and those desiring the bridge to something more will be hurt the worst.