Could someone please explain to me why would anyone want their salary paid weekly, instead of monthly?
Here in EU I doubt that it even is possible to pay weekly so I am not used to that idea, but it seems to me that it just encourages the hand-to-mouth spending habits, and makes people save less for cushion and future problem.
Everything I pay is either monthly, yearly, or one time. So unless I count drinking my self to unconsciousnes every friday and saturday, I can't see any purpose for being paid each week.

So does it have any actual benefits, since it seems quite popular in the u. states of A?

 

Many companies here in Canada are paid bi-weekly.
Max.

 

Sometimes, it is a matter of law: https://employment.findlaw.com/wages-and-benefits/state-pay-day-requirements.html

At other times, one example being seasonal labor, weekly payments make sense as those employees tend not to stick around. When I worked seasonal (Christmas "box boy" or weekends as a bus boy in a restaurant) I was paid every night.

 

Hello,

I get payed every month around the 21e of the month.
A weekly pay is very unusual.

Bertus

 

It greatly depends on the line of work here.

https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-3/how-frequently-do-private-businesses-pay-workers.htm

TABLE 1

The earnings analysis presented in this article reveals that businesses paying on a weekly pay schedule have the lowest average hourly earnings. This schedule may represent an effort on the part of businesses to pay lower earning workers more frequently. The businesses using the two longest pay periods—semimonthly and monthly—pay the highest average hourly earnings. Those working under either of these pay periods may be less constrained in their purchasing decisions by the lower frequency of their paydays because of their higher hourly earnings.

 

A weekly pay is very unusual.

In our "eastern" part of the world very unusual, but in the US as jpanhalt posted it seems to be the opposite, for example Arizona, Maine and Utah allow no longer than semi-monthly, just by a quick glance at the footnotes.

 

https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-3/how-frequently-do-private-businesses-pay-workers.htm

wow, the 12% or so of monthly payments is much less than I acutally anticipated.

 

Could someone please explain to me why would anyone want their salary paid weekly, instead of monthly?

Of course there have been exceptions Historically, when events necessitate it, for example pre-WW11 Germany when people were demanding getting paid at the end of every DAY.
Rampant inflation caused a 50% drop in currency value on a 24hr basis!!
Max.

 

Of course there have been exceptions Historically, when events necessitate it, for example pre-WW11 Germany when people were demanding getting paid at the end of every DAY.
Rampant inflation caused a 50% drop in currency value on a 24hr basis!!
Max.

Still happening today in Venezuela.

https://www.theorganicprepper.com/what-hyperinflation-really-looks-like/

Getting paid monthly would be madness there.

 

In pre-computer days and payroll outsourcing, it was certainly a PITA to pay more frequently. Today, everyone I knew was on salary, and the frequency of deposits was barely noticed.

For workers who move around a lot, I think daily or weekly makes sense as it is often quite hard to track those people down. But, if you don't pay them timely, they can track the employer down months, even in some cases years later and cause real problems for the employer -- especially if they claim "overtime."

 

Well yes, but the few hudred precent inflation of that era is not really relevant, at least not in the US. So what good does it do when you get paid weekly? If I imagine myself in that position, I would spend my money a lot more carelessly than if when I get it monthly. Also, do the people set aside a bit from this week to pay the rent, a bit from the next week to pay electricity and netflix, etc.?

 

I really think that managing money depends on individual mentality I have worked along side those that have virtually the same commitments and income that I had, at the end of each month they were broke and usually had to borrow money or get a high interest loan, I paid my place off and even bought a summer cottage.
Many start using credit because they want all the goodies at once.
Read my book 'How I turned $1million dollars of real estate into $50.00' !
Max.

 

Just some anecdotes.

My sister lived in Turkey for a while when they had massive inflation. On payday, everyone would get off early enough to run to the bank and then they would immediately buy gold or transfer money, as U.S. dollars, out of the country. Holding cash was as good as flushing it down the toilet.

I remember once when my company chose to switch payroll from twice a month (24 checks per year) to every two weeks (26 checks per year). The level of hysteria this caused was stunning to me. We had HR giving regular seminars about how to handle this earth-shattering change. People just couldn't accept that they weren't being screwed somehow, and a lot of people were in a total panic how they would pay their bills because now their checks were going to be 24/26 of what they used to be.

 

but it seems to me that it just encourages the hand-to-mouth spending habits, and makes people save less for cushion and future problem.

Sorry, but I refuse to accept that an employer (or even a government) has any business minding the spending habits of free individuals.

Damn, when is the infantilizing of human beings going to stop?

 

Damn, when is the infantilizing of human beings going to stop?

When they quit behaving as infants?

 

Could someone please explain to me why would anyone want their salary paid weekly, instead of monthly?
Here in EU I doubt that it even is possible to pay weekly so I am not used to that idea, but it seems to me that it just encourages the hand-to-mouth spending habits, and makes people save less for cushion and future problem.
Everything I pay is either monthly, yearly, or one time. So unless I count drinking my self to unconsciousnes every friday and saturday, I can't see any purpose for being paid each week.

So does it have any actual benefits, since it seems quite popular in the u. states of A?

I've never been paid weekly. It USED to be the norm (back in the mid-20th century and before). My dad got a weekly paycheck and would give it to my mom and then she would make magical things happen since, after she had her stroke and my dad had to start paying the bill, he was never able to figure out how she paid everything on the money he brought home.

When I worked in low-level jobs (i.e., fast food) I was paid biweekly. In the military it was semi-monthly. All of my "professional" jobs have been monthly, whether in government, academia, or private sector.

One benefit weekly (or even daily) pay has conceptually is that you get the money you have earned sooner than if you get paid less frequently. Thus you can invest your money sooner and have it working for YOU longer instead of for the person that owes it to you and is not paying you any interest on it.

The other case where it can make a huge difference is if you are experiencing hyper inflation. In real bad situations people have been paid several times a day and given breaks to go buy stuff with the money within hours of earning it because if they waited until the end of the day they wouldn't be able to get anything with it. They also got raises almost as frequently. I know that this has happened many times in many places even in the not too distant past -- for instance, in Zimbabwe just a decade ago inflation hit right at 100% per DAY so that prices were doubling every day -- but I have never been able to wrap my head around how any system could function under those conditions -- and I guess the answer is that it can't.

But I would agree that, for a large fraction of people, the opportunity to better use your income would not be what would result from getting paid more frequently and, instead, it would encourage exactly the paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle that should be avoided.

 

When they quit behaving as infants?

I guess all hope is lost, then.

 

I guess all hope is lost, then.

It's not, our kids will rule the world.

 

- for instance, in Zimbabwe just a decade ago inflation hit right at 100% per DAY so that prices were doubling every day -- but I have never been able to wrap my head around how any system could function under those conditions -- and I guess the answer is that it can't.
.

As the pre-war Germany example I used, people were literally taking a a wheel barrow of cash to buy a loaf of bread.
I still have postage stamps from the Deutsches Reich that were originally printed 200 marks, they had been over stamped with 2 millionen!
Max.

 

It's not, our kids will rule the world.

Unfortunately, no matter how well we raise them, they will be (intended?) victims of the lowest common denominator.