Should federal minimum wage be raised from $5.15/hr to $7.00/hr to help the poor?
At one time I managed a restaurant that was part of a nation wide chain of restaurants and I had the Regional Director explain the process to me. When Congress passes a law raising the minimum wage, companies raise their prices to cover the increase in paying the employees. They usually raise them well before the date so that when the increase in the minimum wage takes place the company will have a reserve of cash. Now if the minimum wage increase is small enough some companies will not change their prices as it isn't' cost effective to change every store, computer programs, and paperwork.
Should the federal minimum wage be $12 / hour or $15 / hour?
The most compelling argument for a minimum wage is that people "need to live" and the government can ensure workers are paid enough to do so. However, the cost of "living" varies significantly by locale. It is much more expensive to eat and sleep in New York City than in Casper, Wyoming. By nature of being federal, a federal minimum wage cannot properly account for each area's unique cost of living. Thus, if the "living wage" argument is at all valid, minimum wages should be instituted by states, counties, and cities, not the US federal government.There should therefore be no federal minimum wage.
Federal minimum wage vs. State minimum wage.?
I am trying to understand the difference between federal minimum wage and a state minimum wage. I have come from WA. state where minimum wage was high. As a tipped employee(banquet server) WA. state had passed a law that if a percentage of the gratuity/tip was collected from the client than it was made into law that the guest would know precisely how much of that went to their server and how much of that the hotel kept. Now that I am in another state looking for work... this state of VA. has a low minimum wage for tipped employees. It is 2.13 an hour. Why is it the federal wage is not honored in this case. To me 2.13 an hour in this day is ludicrous. This is not the only state that allows this there are several out there. Why do government allow this of a tipped employee to only allow companies to pay so low. Yes the tipped employee has to make up to the minimum wage in tips at job location and yes, there are allot of tipped employees that do very well per hour. However, at 2.13 an hour and if you were to get a server job as say a diner/coffee shop than you may be lucky to make a little more than minimum wage. Then the government comes in and taxes your gratuities and leaves you with very little. Which is the other part of the question. Why only tax servers who are tipped and not other tipped employees like taxi drivers or hair dressers/barbers? Sorry... didn't know where to post this so hopefully this will work here.
What would be impact of raising US federal minimum wage to $50?
The purpose of minimum wage increases is to $15 per hour is to allow those working full time at the bottom of the wage and skill scale to be able to survive with a minimum quality of life, i.e. earn a living wage and also have them make enough money so they don’t have to rely on government assistance/welfare.Raising the minimum wage to significantly more than the proposed $15 per hour would be counter productive because it doesn’t just elevate the wages of those at or near the bottom of the skill/ wage scale, it completely disrupts the entire wage continuum. Instead of affecting 3% of workers as a $15 minimum wage would, raising to $50 per hour would effect nearly 100% of workers in one way or another.Even those that support a $15 per hour federal minimum wage want it to be scaled in over a few years so as to be minimally disruptive to our businesses and economy, while still supporting those at the bottom of the skill/wage scale. The idea is to give the benefit of a living wage to those working full time at the bottom, with minimum disruption to business and the economy.Raising the minimum to $50 would be far too disruptive to the system. Too chaotic. It would be unproductive and disastrous.$15 is good. $50 is too far.
What benefits are there to raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour?
RE: "What benefits are there to raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour?"More money flowing through the economy and a boost for business.Why do people keep asking this question over and over and over and over again?Do some research... look up what happened with Seattle... lowest unemployment in 9 years:Perspective | Seattle’s higher minimum wage is actually working just fineThe five big claims against boosting minimum wage, debunkedokay... I did a bit of digging... again... and there's a LOT of garbage disinformation out there; so it's really easy to get confused... the bottom line is the economy needs money flowing through it to work effectively and efficiently; and it accomplishes the opposite of both if money is allowed to be hoarded.Without minimum wage increases, the economy will eventually grind to a halt because people simply cannot afford to participate in it beyond essential needs. No economy can thrive if half its participants can afford only essentials like food and housing.
What if the federal minimum wage decreased?
It would all depend on the state of the job market. The law of Supply and demand affects everything including the job market. So if the minimum wage was reduced are repealed- and the economy is healthy then apart from the lefties screaming you might not notice much. You might see the return of full-service gas stations or the like but not much will change.On the other hand, if the economy is bad and unemployment is high you will see wages and prices fall until the economy has recovered. In the end, it would all depend on one question, what would is the market clearing rate for entry-level labor?If the minimum wage was ever below the market clearing rate people would simply get paid more since the average employer will know- posting a job for the minimum wage won’t get any resposne
Why is the federal minimum wage set at a rate so low that doesn't even pay a full time worker enough to survive?
Why is the federal minimum wage set at a rate so low that doesn't even pay a full-time worker enough to survive?This debate confuses me. Not the concept of a minimum wage, that’s just silly. The fact that there are people that think they can artificially raise the value of something. They can’t, they can only raise the cost. Because of the minimum wage, there are people being overpaid for services and not fairly paid.The standard profession examined is a burger flipper. Someone that has to literally flip a burger and then hand it to an assembler that finishes the process. This is beyond unskilled labor. This is something that my 6-year-old does at a higher level. She assembles the burger with a recipe. She adds an egg, seasoning, forms the patties, cooks them to order, and even assembles them (with adult supervision). She’s 6 and an adult is asking for a living wage to do this? The reason that they’re not paid a living wage is that it isn’t worth a living wage. That the cost of paying them a living wage makes the end product cost too much to sell and support the employees’ pay.In order for you to earn a living wage, you need to produce something worth a living wage. Anything that a child can do, isn’t worth a living wage.