This can be answered relatively quickly. According to a study by the Congressional Budget Office, the minimum wage increase just implemented in 2009 - over a three year span - will result in a minimum loss of 1.3 million jobs. That is either in layoffs or - if you include jobs not created, 3.2 million jobs.
Of course, the CBO projections are based on projected economic conditions. In 2020, the economy shrank by 3.5% - the largest one year decline since World War II. Throw in the transition of the economy that began in roughly the 1980s from a manufacturing/extractions base to a service/high tech base, and the time it is taking for the education system and labor force demographics to catch up to that transition, and it is not surprising that job cuts AND lost hours will result.
Just to add then that, as a general rule, where the minimum wage is increased in a weak economic environment where wage growth is slow, unemployment will rise and working hours will be lost. Where it is increased in a strong economy with low unemployment and high wage growth are the norms, it is apt not to matter very much.
Thus the paradox. When it is needed most, as a social matter, it is apt to be counterproductive. When it is not needed, it will over time, be largely beneficial at the margins and mostly inconsequential.
A little long winded but I like it. Speaks the truth in plain English no bullshit icing.
@DARKCLOUD1945X Thanks for the kind - sort of - compliment, and the positive emoji.
If you think inflation matters, and you want the cost of living to explode then sure increase it. Democrat us this to pander to poor people, but increase the minimum wage only shrinks the middle class... because when you increase the minimum wage, by lets say 50%, then the cost of living will increase by 50% so you will essentially gain nothing because retailer will pass the cost of wages onto the consumers.
The rich will be just as rich because they will just sell everything at higher prices... and still make just as much as they are making now. So if you want to control inflation and and reduce the cost of living then you need to have a tax policy that sets some type of maximum wage, which makes higher wage earners pay more... like all those that earn more then 200K to 400K a year, with some type of price control on essential service Coupled with a fair corporate tax rate and no more NAFTA. NAFTA literally makes it cheaper for American manufactures to build plants outside of the US which is why they cut cooperate taxes to entice companies to come back to the US. But with an effective trade policy they would want to stay at home to begin with. So minimum wages is not a principle of a free economy, just as much so as price controls are not. So a minimum wage without price control is more harmful than having one with out the other.
Sure, let’s raise it to $15/hour. But seriously, why would you logically stop there. How about $25/hour? Or $50/hour? Maybe even higher? Wouldn’t that get everyone who works out of poverty, provide a living wage (or some contrived real living wage), and close the gap between the poor and the middle class? Yeah, that would work and have zero collateral effects. And an added bonus is that it would bring all the evil corporations and their capitalist billionaire owners to their knees by crushing their profits. And we could tax the rich more too just for the sake of making them poorer. Don’t think of it as stealing; you can rationalize it. Just ignore the fact that the top 1% of taxpayers pay 38% of all income taxes and the top 5% pay almost 60%. And 45% of taxpayers pay no tax at all. Just keep taxing those evil rich people who don’t pay their fair share. We must redistribute wealth and create equity. That’s what democracy is all about. Or wait, my mistake……. that’s socialism. Never mind.
You’re the only girl in here who actually understands what’s she’s talking about. Thank you.
I do support raising it in a very specific way. If they raise it from $7.25 an hour to $15 an hour, that would give those earning minimum wage a $7.75 an hour pay increase.
The method I speak of, will raise everyone $7.75 an hour, someone currently making $15 an hour would get $7.75 an hour and thus be up to $22.75 an hour.
Otherwise all it does is squish the middle class further, and hoping businesses will raise to compensation to be fair, isn't a guarantee they will actually do that. They can cap it to say if your making like 250k a year, it won't apply to them, etc... rich people don't need it.
Otherwise I do not support raising it the way they have traditionally raised it.
It does seem kind of pointless though, around here businesses are paying well above it due to the labor shortage. Even a fast food place is hiring $20 dollars an hour for graveyard shift, $16 for day time.
I haven't seen a job opening under $15 an hour for the last year.
Opinion
95Opinion
u 1. The minimum wage is the amount paid by any employers in entry level jobs. t is not intended to be a wage upon which a family can be sustained.
2. When minimum wage increases, people providing goods and services will be required to raise their prices to cover their labor costs.
3. When minimum wage increases, some employers will reduce the nuber of hours per week for entry level employees and some wll eliminate some of these positions. A 10% increase in minimum wage does NOT increase the average weekly income for minimum wage earners by 10%. The numbers are closer to 1-3%.
If you want to be paid a substantial salary, develop a job skill that rises above flipping burgers.
No. Raising the minimum wage $1 only increases the purchasing power of people making minimum wage by $0.20 to $0.25 each time due to it increasing inflation. At the same time other people that are either retired on a fixed income or those that actually bettered themselves to earn a higher wage get no raise so their purchasing power decreases.
Raising minimum wage rewards lazy and incompetent people while punishing people that actually put in effort in life.
Minimum wage jobs are meant as entry level and for temporary work for young people. Those jobs are NOT meant to make a living on, buy a house, and raise a family on.
If someone wants to be in a better financial situation they should go to college and earn a degree to make more money, or learn a trade. There are federal pell grants that will let people go to community college for free and get up to an associate's degree or certificate in whatever program they choose. It is pure laziness on the part of people making minimum wage to not better themselves.
Yes I think so. It would be good, at the same time it wouldn’t. It would be good for someone who may still live w their parents, w no real bills to pay. Possibly a married couple who both work, w no children or just one. Maybe good for someone who lives w roommates w no children. But on the other hand inflation will continue to rise, which is outpacing that of pay increases. Owners of businesses certainly aren’t going to fork that money out of their own pockets so they will raise prices, cut hours, limit OT or do away w it all. It’s possible they may invest in technology, to replace employees. I think we need to be educated on finances as well. I k ow plenty of people who make descent money, even better than descent yet complain they’re still broke. It doesn’t matter if you make a million dollars a year if you can’t manage it you’re still going to be just as broke. People get money right away they want to go shopping. I started education myself on this 5 years ago. I can honestly say I’m on a better place. I can go out w out having to think will I have money for the bills. If I got hit w a car repair I could pay it w out worrying about it. So yes it needs to be increased but people also need to learn to make money work them, not the other way around.
As for a comparison for everyone:
1968 the minimum wage in the U. S was the today equivalent of 12$.
Since 1968 U. S real and adjust gdp per capita has more than doubled.
If the minimum income was Maintained: Not raised, maintained. It would be above 24$ an hour and that would have Zero impact on wealth distribution. Zero. It would just be economy in the 1970s.
So unless people feel the 1970 U. S was a communistic shithole, a 25$ minimum wage is basically just going back to the glory days.
I am happy to bite into the ethics, morals and practicality of a minimum wage but I feel that sometimes stating simple facts is more eye opening.
For a minute when I read this I was gonna be like "fuck, $7? I feel sorry for you Americans".
But then, here in this country, $15.00 is probably equivalent to just a little over than anyway when you convert and the cost of living here is much higher to begin with 'cause everything has to be shipped North. Further North, further North the price goes. But then you also get exempt on your Federal and provincial taxes. Which is exactly why the Territories are so fucking destitute: No provincial or federal budget.
honestly don't know, probably yes... but the system is a mess and don't see that solving anything. the govt hands out money via tax system to those who don't make enough, so they are making up for some of the gap. how much don't know.
We tip extra when we go out to help those who show up for work. That's my part I can control.
ditto for social security... how do seniors survive when govt lies about inflation for decades
I'm not sure there is a solution to the mess at this point, the printing press has been run so long... a full reset probably required.
No, I just think people need to not go for minimum wage jobs. Forces businesses to pay more or go under. It doesn't make sense trying to take care of a family on minimum wage. So don't.
People can make 60-90k doing gig work. Starbucks and whole foods pay more. Mowing lawns pays more. Taking up literally any skill at random and doing it for money pays more. Pretty sure McDonald's even bumped theirs to 12-15 because they needed employees so bad.
Really comes down to people's decisions. Government bumping minimum wage won't change much.
I don't know. I'm very skeptical about its benefits. I've seen a paper suggesting that it can actually help in the case of monopsonies, but I have a feeling far more employers are going to start doing things like reducing more workers to part-time, slashing benefits, raising prices on consumers and overall living costs, seeking more automation, etc. There's this point from Sowell:
It can also displace workers. Even when there's no loss in net employment, there appears to be a fairly tight correlation between minimum wage hikes and rising levels of unemployment in certain groups like minorities and teenagers.
It can also interact with welfare in bizarre ways. For example, my brother-in-law owns a cleaning business and he has a very difficult time finding workers that can put in the required hours since many who apply are elderly women whose government benefits would be slashed if they put in too many hours and make too much money through cleaning.
In his case, many of the elderly women who work for him actually want to put in more hours and aid his struggling business better. Yet they can't given the minimum wage here because they'd actually lose their benefits if they put in more than a couple dozen hours a week.
But I also question this from an ethical point. Proponents usually look at it as a way to get employers to pay their workers more. I think that's backward. We're actually forcing workers to charge more. We're making it illegal for them to charge less. The employers aren't forced to actually hire them or keep them when they're charging more.
Yes, absolutely. But rather than to a fixed amount, I think it would be better defined as a fraction of the median wage for the state (or even county).
Median wage, where half are above and half below, is the kind of "average" I could never see the point in, in school. It wasn't until it was used to describe income in an uneven environment, it suddenly made sense.
9 people earning $1, 1 earning $91, mean income: $10 :) , median income $1 :( .
DC: Median: $71,690, Mean: $115,923
Mississippi: Median: $30,580, Mean: $44,285
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_median_wage_and_mean_wage
While we're about it, the last increase was half a generation ago (which is not recent, and since when the cost of living has gone up over 30%), and if it resulted in lost jobs (did it really? - unemployment dropped from 10% to 7.7% from 2009 to 2012), the time to make an increase is when unemployment is at a near record low. Like now, when nearly half a million new jobs were added just last month.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/UNRATE
www.inflationtool.com/.../2009-to-present-value
edition.cnn.com/.../index.html
Everyone would love to earn more money from working. Any type of job.
If a non or low skilled minimum wage job were to lets say double in wages. Then the skilled jobs that people are working will be needing to increase by the same percentage. Otherwise, we can all flip burgers and earn a good living. College education wouldn’t be needed to earn a good living
When I started working after high school. I earned a whopping four fifty an hour and had more money in my pockets than I do now!
Inflation ate all of that extra money up. Even though my earnings increased about eight fold.
In my opinion. This is a double edged sword. As inflation goes up. Wages go up to keep pace. And that in turn will drive up inflation!
No good answer!
A college degree isn't necessary to make a good living... honestly unless you are going to get an 8 year, college is outrageously expensive and hardly worth it.
@Subarugirl. I totally agree. Plenty of trade school, blue collar jobs, that will give you a decent living without the college expense.
You don't even need a work a blue collar job or get into a trade. I didn't.
@Subarugirl. I was lumping blue collar jobs and trade jobs together.
and I am saying that if you don't have a degree those aren't your only two options
If adjusted to inflation and productivity it would be waaay over.
"If the minimum wage had kept pace with gains in the economy's productivity over the last 50 years, it would be nearly $26 an hour today, or more than $50,000 a year in annual income, one economist notes."
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/minimum-wage-26-dollars-economy-productivity/
Despite having a PhD in economic and social sciences and having worked the last 3 years in economics departments, the last 2 of which in a top department. I am extremely wary of thinking about generalized labor policies in different economic and social contexts where there are developed areas and underdeveloped areas. The minimum wage if present in my opinion should be a regional problem defined by individual states or in individual areas of the state. On the contrary, it results in the exclusion of unskilled people from the workplace especially in underdeveloped areas. The minimum wage should also be different in highly developed areas, such as Los Angeles or NYC.
No! Minimum wage jobs are not meant to be living wage jobs. They are meant to provide jobs for children and high school students. If you need a living wage, you should NOT BE WORKING IN A MINIMUM WAGE JOB.
The only thing raising the minimum wage does is force employers to hire fewer employees and harm the very people you think you are helping.
Employers will also pass on the cost of the wage hike to consumers, thereby exacerbating and already serious inflation problem we face right now. Have you bought anything at McDonalds lately. The cost of everything there has gone through the roof due to other economic factors. Raising the minimum wage would be the death of countless businesses.
It's crazy to me how few people understand the very basics of economics. Raising the minimum wage is something liberal politicians do to garner votes from their ignorant electorate.
No, in fact I think we need to leave the wage the same, and we need significantly higher taxes on the sinfully rich. Stop tax breaks for billionaire and trillionaire corporations, and increase Capital Gains tax. Most rich people get their income through Capital Gains, and they only pay a 10% marginal tax rate on that share of their income, while middle class people make much less income and pay 25% marginal rate taxes or more.
well if the middle class handled their finances the same way the upper class the taxes would be the same
It should be. But only enough for a person to cover their basic needs. So things like rent, food, utilities and basic clothing. Once we start talking about a minimum wage that is meant to cover more then a persons basic needs, raising it any higher then a amount to a persons basic needs is a hard no.
Target and Wal Mart are starting people at $20 or more per hour... $7.25 is literally slavery. Right wingers who say it's for high school kids want kids to be slaves and not actually be in school 7am-2pm but in the satanic mills producing surplus profit for them personally. Fk them and their min slave wage
Personally, I don't think there should be a federal minimum wage, it should be left up to the induvidual states. There are significant differences in cost of living among the several states, and to try to enforce a federal minimum wage will be too high in some states and too low in others.
I support it 💯. A lot of people have families and bills so they definitely need more pay I understand that. I honestly don't think a highschooler should get paid minimum wage either. Because a lot of highschoolers may not have anyone helping them with gas, phone bill or saving up money to go to college and they need more also. And because people need money for food. With $7.25 that's nothing. I also heard if they raise the pay then gas and everything in the stores going to go up also. The gas in my area is almost $4 and prices is definitely going up in stores. Like 4 rolls of tissue cost $5 almost. I don't know if there any truth to that. My mom have to work 2 part time jobs just to survive.
Yes I do how are we going to pay our property taxes if we get paid like a teenager? Not everybody can get the job that they want? And when are you become an old man bills two have to be paid and the old man has to work they wanna have something to show for
Well if you are making minimum wage, property taxes are going to be the least of you worries since you wouldn't be able to afford property anyways...
Sure, give them $18 per hour your Mcdonalds hamburger will cost you $14.50 French fries $10 a cup of coffee $5 Happy meal $9.75. Do not forget that your paycheck won't buy as much because everyone will have to raise their price to recover money, they had spent paying higher wages so go ahead raise, raise, raise the wages.
no. i think minimum wage is idiotic. it sounds good for lower income poorer families. but what it does is rise the prices of goods and services above the prives that foreign countries offer... making poorer people lose their job, cause their products can't sell on the local market. it wrecks the domestic economy and helps nobody. because the inflation this causes makes the "gain" of a minimum wage for poorer people pretty much 0.
Absolutely. Only reason I can even make it on 15 an hour is because I live in a relatively inexpensive area and don't have kids or ever go out for anything fun (although I could probably afford to... I just don't have friends).
And the sad thing is... we fought for $15 an hour being the standard so long that it now just wouldn't do for a normal human being with a family to support.
It's my understanding that minimum wage was designed to create a baseline pay that was livable on a national level. I know raising it would cause issues but at the same time I can't think of anywhere a person working full time could live without the aid of roommates on minimum wage.
Something has gotta change at some point cause this isn't sustainable for most.
In NY minimum wage is already 15$ but many jobs are cutting out staff.. a store I usually shop their staff now includes only 7-8 people use to be at least 15 people it’s a very big store and that’s because the owner can’t afford that much workers with a 15$ per hr..
The concept of the minimum wage predates the US, probably at least to the 11th century, very likely much earlier. It was then conceived that people's minimum financial needs are met, food and rent so that workers have stable living situations and reliably show up to work each day. A minimum wage would fluctuate across the year based on living costs.. A wage does not provide enough for peoples basic needs is not a minimum wage, and should be adjusted to that region's cost.
In my mind minimum wage is to help keep the companies from screwing people over, not guarantee that you can make a living wage. At one point in time a company could make its own currency and you would have to use that currency at the company store. Naturally, that gave the company full control as the had little compitition. A loaf of bread could cost you a days wage. But the other stores didn't except your money. So what do you do.
If you want to make more money, increase your worth.
Of course not. There should be no minimum wage. All it does is guarantee that those worth less than the minimum wage are unemployed. If minimum wage didn't cause unemployment, it should be raised to $100 per hour or even $1,000 per hour and everyone would be millionaires.
Definitely, America is the only so called first class countries compared to other 1st class countries that refuses to raise the minimum wage to adjust to inflation, in fact America is dead last compared to other 1st class countries in that regard.
Says a lot about a country that likes to pay its most vulnerable citizens close to cat food in terms of wages.
Yes. Raise it. I'm not American and I don't live in the US but just raise minimum wage to 15 p/h and increase all wages of other jobs too. In my country the minimum adult wage is $21 an hour which is worth about $15 US dollars.
No.
That is not the issue and will cause companies to move outside of the country.
The real problem is the endless printing of money (infation), governments fuck ups and blatant money wasting, and consumers buying crap like overpriced apple products, instead of using their money to vote for something of value that doesn't try to take your anal virginity.
Absolutely it should be. Raising wages is the best way to boost the economy. There are a lot of people earning minimum wage, so raising it means all those people have more money to spend and reinvest in the local economy.
If that that is true, then why not make the minimum wage $100 per hour? Then there will not be any homeless or poor people and even your baby sitter and the kid mowing your lawn will be rich. Obviously, the fact, that it is not worth it to you to pay $800 to your baby sitter and $200 to mow your lawn wouldn't keep you for hiring them.
@DWornock it's not a question of paying extremely good salaries. It's a question of paying decent salaries to allow people have a decent life and spending more in the economy. If the babysitter, the gardener or a cashier earns more, they will go more often to have lunch, they will buy more stuff, and will enjoy some small luxuries of life like a spa weekend.
This increment of salary flies back into the economy. So if you allow to pay $58 to a babysitter for 8 hours work, you should be able to pay $100 too. Cause you are in a privileged position to hire a person.
Same with the lawn.
Moreover, if the whole economy is profiting, your salary will surely go up too (usually in a higher amount) so you can afford to pay those people a decent salary.
And please come to me if you have interesting topics to debate, but not with absurd ideas. Thank you
The rich are in control. They like their fat pay checks. Until they decide to give it up, and they won't, what are you or me to do? Continue to raise minimum wage and the price of McD's? No kidding, a number two at Mcd's costs more than a full fledged meal at a sitdown restaurant. So the restaurants can eke by with tips by customers. Unless you convince the rich to not take their fat cat payment as CEO's and whatever, this is as stupid as anything.
Minimum wage needs to be tied to the CPI if we want to fix it for good. Probably should be closer to $11 or $12 now. In 2014 I wrote an essay about the minimum wage and used a brief by the CBO, saying by 2016 the least it should be is $10.10 based on the CPI.
$12 a hour? One bad car break down and they are screwed. The minimum wage should be at least around $17 to $18 dollars a hour to live with dignity.
And in places like New York City and California the minimum wage should be around $22 a hour.
@Hispanic-Cool-Guy it's not a living wage. Read the law.
Should be a living wage as it is in other develop countries. Anyone that works at least 40 hours a week should be paid accordingly and with dignity.
@Hispanic-Cool-Guy I am not disagreeing about what they should be paid, but if you're talking about the federal minimum wage, then it cannot be a living wage as there is a difference. A minimum wage is to provide a single person to the minimum necessary standard of living without substantially curtailing employment.
I think they could have a minimum shift or minimum wage rule, either you pay your worker X + Y dollars or you pay them X dollars but you make sure they work at least H hours each shift or T hours each week.
Long answer but short - no it shouldn't be raised, with the inflation rate of the U. S. is nearing another all-time high since the last 50 years a higher minimum wage wouldn't solve many issues other than average cost of living to also increase as it has the past year with all of the recently printed money. Across the U. S. store bought goods increased over 20% in the past year due to inflation and it's going to continue at a very fast rate.
It sounds good at first BUT once you learn about inflation and how that system works you might not like the idea so much. We are currently in a very bad situation of spending way too much saving too little and increasing wages too fast
Yea i’m sure you would want to raise minimum wage when your terrible voting decisions caused inflation, high gas and taxes. If you want better living conditions, cheap gas, cheap prices, and low rent, stop voting democrat.
… I don't
It should be a real living wage, not a minimum one.
there is a difference between a minimum wage, a living wage and a real living wage.
It should be raised even though most states have their own minimum wage which is more than the federal wage. This will encourage more companies to invest in automation and it will cause an increase in efficiency which will benefit everyone
Minimum wage should be the minimum amount of money a person needs in order to survive on full time work.
No it should not be raised and below some of the opinions explain why I feel it should not be raised.
No. It's not supposed to be a wage you can live on, it's supposed to be one to keep some money in your pocket while you go find something better. You want better pay, get a better job!
Hmm, raising pays will not cut it even in US. Reason being simple. More dollar supply will only increase prices further.
There is a need to encourage more small and medium sized businesses like in Germany
It is a lot less than in UK. I am not in US, but I think it should be raised.
Absolutely. No one can live on that wage even working 40 plus hrs a week. I'm in Canada. In Ontario minimum wage is currently at $15 an hr. Even at that it would be difficult to live.
When I started working it was 2.25 an hour. Raising minimum wedge during a recession is not a good idea for business. There are many good paying jobs out there right now since a lot of people aren’t working or are working from home.
The federal minimum wage is meaningless. No one uses it. The minimum wage should be up to the local city and state governments. The fed has no business telling local businesses what they have to pay people.
Id love to see a reason why the FAR RIGHT thinks the poor should stay poor.. and the RICH become RICHER
maybe a very minor increase would help. but nothing significant.
I would say yes, because I have never paid anyone minimum wage.
That's crazy. $7.25 an hour?
Not really but I only think that because I hardly had a job that actually paid me minimum wage and the idea of increasing minimum wage to $15 feels like pressure
Notice how all the girls — without an iota of understanding — used their FEELINGS - which are the product of brainwashing — to opine on this question
You mean just like all the boys are doing...
Fam... Minimum wages are rubbish!!! I don't know how you can support this.
To keep up with inflation: $32/hr. But I also realize our economy is not about labor anymore. It requires skills to earn money.
@Juxtapose apparently. Boomers bought their houses for $24,000 and now it’s worth $500,000.
Millenials start out life with $24,000 of student loan debt. Although I’m handling my student loans fine. They’re not that big a deal…
Actually on average student debt is closer to $40,000 for under graduate students, way more if your more than a 4 year degree. My husband worked through under grad and ended up with about $250K in student debt after graduating with his doctorate.
Doctors don't make as much as you would think
It might be a tough sell with all that is going on with COVID-19 and all.
Money is a human invention, and a terrible one at that.
It's a joke, I was paying $20 an Hour at my business in the 90's.
Hell yes we should have a 15 dollar minimum wage at the least and the bill that passes it must written in a way that adjust with inflation
No. Raising the minimum wage doesn't give their work any more value. It only serves to decrease employment and increase inflation. There's a difference between giving people money and giving people spending power. What they need is spending power.
Sounds like socialism
Well, raising the minimum wage would be from the same branch of economics as socialism. So yeah.
That does seem low, but all the jobs around me in Texas are paying well above that. Even the fast food chains are starting at 10 and up.
Might as well since the main argument against it was inflation and the $7 trillion QE last year already took card of that.
You can also add your opinion below!
Girl's Behavior 
Guy's Behavior 
Flirting 
Dating 
Relationships 
Fashion & Beauty 
Health & Fitness 
Marriage & Weddings 
Shopping & Gifts 
Technology & Internet 
Break Up & Divorce 
Education & Career 
Entertainment & Arts 
Family & Friends 
Food & Beverage 
Hobbies & Leisure 
Other 
Religion & Spirituality 
Society & Politics 
Sports 
Travel 
Trending & News 
