This I don't think all of you realize that it's not just young kids working minimum wage jobs for spending money, some people are trying to get by in life. It is extremely hard to pay the bills on 7 or 8 bucks an hour, do the math and see that 15$ an hour isn't entitlement, but rather necessary as a livable wage for people in 2016. Do you guys know how ridiculous it is to try to get by on 14-19k a year? This is the reality for many people, according to some news articles up to 40% of Americans make under 20k per year.
the minimum wage is always $0 <iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7DS0XXFdyfI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The biggest problem I see here are the side effects. So entry level jobs that anyone can do are now $15/hr. I know a bunch of young people who do jobs one step up from that who currently make ~$15/hr, such as Office Managers, Back Office payment processors, hospital insurance verifiers, etc. These jobs are usually entry level of some profession that requires at least a little bit of knowledge or experience. Do those jobs stay at $15 or do they move up too? Does $15/hr speed up the drive towards automation? I've seen diner concepts with fewer workers and tons of automation. Are we going to eliminate 100K minimum wage jobs to create 1000 high paying engineering jobs created by the automation products? I don't mind being that I am on the technology-side myself but I wonder if this leaves more people behind in the long run.
This is a big problem I see with raising the minimum wage. If you increase those lower-paying jobs, you have to scale other jobs to justify the level of work/skill for those currently earning higher and to find applicants worthy of more than flipping burgers. I don't see how businesses could adjust for that. The theory that businesses will hire less workers for the same productivity to keep current margins is a plausible scenario. At the least, minimum wage should increase parallel to inflation. I don't think minimum-wage jobs merit $15/hr. Ideally, everyone should have a livable wage, but working the line at McDonald's should not be someone's career in life. At the same time, they should be seeking better opportunities and furthering their education and skills. I get that not everyone can do that because they're supporting a family (and that's another problem - should a family have more kids if they cannot support their current kids?), but I don't think it's as simple as increasing minimum wage.
I do not have a problem with people making more money and live better, I am just not sure how this will work in practice. Maybe it is like some have suggested that everyone get the corresponding increases but the businesses just hire fewer workers or close down if they cannot afford it. Can someone suggest an ideal situation where everyone is better off?
How are you defining "livable wage"? What expenses should a "living wage" pay for? But generally, no. They wouldn't be ineligible for welfare.
Would this happen though? If I had to choose between two job opportunities, one entry level office worker vs burger flipper being paid at the same price, I would go with office worker. More room for growth and sellable experience.
Well, this is what federalism helps us figure out. Kansas and Louisiana can serve as laboratories for right wing economic policies and now CA will do so for a left leaning policy and we will see the impact.
Exactly, if cutting tax was the solution to all of life's problem, we wouldn't have any problems in this world. Let's bring back this thread in a few years and see how it turned out.
So now WE (taxpayers) have to subsidize the businesses that can't pay their employees enough to survive? WTF? I can make a choice to not got to ****ing Wendy's for **** burger. I can't not pay my taxes!
Texas minimum wage is $7.25 Proposed minimum wage $15.00 Average working hours per month is 175 or so. Gross Monthly Income $1,269 (175 x $7.25) $2,625 (175 x $15.00) So, for a single parent, raising the minimum wage makes them inelligible for food stamps and TANF
If your business can't afford to operate without paying living wages, you shouldn't be in business. Simple as that.
Or how about Walmart want to pay a little more than Mama's chicken wings to have better employees who are on time and do a better job? So they offer $16 or $17 per hour, I fully expect this to happen. To compete with Walmart, your local drug store might want to $18 an hour, pretty soon the same pay structure will be restored with $15 being at the botom again, is this how it will work? No one knows yet.
But how are people supposed to have jobs without businesses getting money from taxpayers? I can't believe people can't see past this stupid cycle.
