I suspect lack of wide-spread welfare and other socialist programs, and parental and societal shunning of jobless bums, were major contributing factors.
If Kennedy's proposal made any sense there'd be no reason to make the minimum wage so low at $7+/hour. He should propose to pay them $40,000-50,000/year. Heck, he could even propose that they make as much as he does! But he knows you really can't artificially create wealth.
Minimum wage laws are just part of teenage unemployment. Limits on hours that teens can work during the school year, added 'paperwork' for the employers who hire teens, and being barred from operating a lot of types of machinery are all contributing factors. From the employers' perspective, a lot of the time, hiring a teen is more hassle than it's worth. Suffice to say that, in 1948, there were simply a wider variety of jobs available for teens. The options available to the youth of today have drastically narrowed.
I just love it when a man who has never hit a lick in all his life tells us what a days work is worth.
Raise the minimum wage and all you do is raise the amount that is called the Poverty level.
The same people will be earning the minimum wage , but that amount of money will buy less as the Companies raise prices to compensate. Why cant Fat Ted understand that?
With energy driven Inflation about to kick in the minmum wage can go to $12 per hour and not change the overall poverty equation.
We are about to see 1979 all over. Expect small cars to come back ( K-Car, part 2). Expect Winnebago stock to crash. Interest rates will come up, real estate prices will plunge, the building trades will vapor lock.
If you have fixed rate loans the ride will be bumpy, but you will be ok. If you have CD's locked in for the next 60 months the ride will be really rough.
Disclaimer: If I was smart enough tp predict the future I wouldn't be leaving for work in a couple of minutes, my track record for financial predictions is poor at best.
It stuns me that Corporate America just takes any ole crap Washington throws their way. What if the top five employers in this nation got together and annouced that as of June 1st, they will no longer be acting as tax collectors for the federal or state governments.
(Damn! I sound like a DU dumbass!)
Gee Senator how much would you pay someone who can't make change, who has no serious work skills, dropped out of high school, has poor work attendance, often arrives at work drunk or high and spends most of their work time screwing around?
With today's modern communications why can't instructors in India lecture undergraduates using two-way HD, large screen images?
Why can't papers, tests, etc. be faxed offshore and graded in India?
College professors. Who needs 'em?
Keep going Walter...The disparate impact of minimum wage laws means they are racist!
The cost of goods and services are tied directly to the cost of labor. When the cost of labor rises, the cost of goods and services will rise proportionally.
Therefore, employers will simply pass on the cost of higher wages to the consumer in the form of higher prices for their goods and services. Hence workers will see any wage gains offset by higher prices.