Not nearly as much as inflation. Groceries alone are up something like 40% in the last 2-3 years. Your and everyone else's wages have not risen that fast on the whole.
People that were making near minimum wage before absolutely have though, and I think that's been a huge driver of the inflation. Pre-pandemic, the Walmart in our area had a starting wage of $10 or $11 an hour. It's now $18.
Can you verify the position, hours, benefits, and expectations of those offers?
'Cause I can offer (up to!) $18.50 and then negotiate down. I can also give somebody 10 hours a week and duly provide no benefits. When I worked there they took me on PT no benies, and only after proving myself did they extend an offer for FT employment. PT can be highly flexible as to the definition. Whether it's a permanent or temporary position is also something noteworthy. I think these are just some of the elements we should be considering if we're going to say wages have risen.
I can. I do high school senior photography and I asked the kids last year where they worked, and how much they made doing it. Oddly, that doesn't seem rude to ask 17 year olds.
The ones working at Walmart absolutely made $17 an hour (then). It's Walmart. They aren't playing games with stuff like that. I'm sure they're mostly doing under 32 hours a week where possible with their employees as usual.
