Posted on 02/01/2021 6:00:06 AM PST by Red Badger
Progressive lawmakers this week formally launched an effort to hike the US minimum wage, introducing legislation to gradually raise it from $7.25 to $15 an hour.
The proposed increase is much larger than those in the recent past, but supporters argue it is warranted because it has been more than a decade since the wage was lifted, and the current minimum wage is too little for life in the United States.
First enacted by Congress in 1938 as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the wage has been amended several times, most recently in 2007, when Congress voted to lift it gradually from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour.
Since that time, several states and local governments have raised the minimum wage to $15 an hour or to other levels both higher and lower.
Of the 50 states, 21 currently honor the federal level of $7.25, while the remaining states have a higher minimum.
Twenty-five states currently prohibit cities and counties from setting a higher local wage than the state level, according to Resourceful Compliance, which tracks labor law.
Under legislation introduced by Democrats in the House and Senate, the minimum wage would rise to $9.50 an hour three months after the law is enacted, and then to $15 in four intervals over a five-year period.
The proposal also raises base pay for waiters and other employees who rely on tips, and directs the US labor secretary to annually calculate the median hourly wage of all employees.
In years where the median increases, the federal minimum wage would be raised by the same percentage.
Economists have long debated whether the economic lift from boosting workers' purchasing power more than offsets the added wage burden on businesses. There is no consensus on the matter.
"There has been a debate for years," said Gregory Daco, Oxford Economics' chief US economist, noting that some studies have shown it can cause job losses, while others have not.
Even the same study can be interpreted differently.
Critics of the higher wage point to a finding in a 2019 Congressional Budget Office report that said lifting the level to $15 an hour would result in 1.3 million workers losing their jobs.
But defenders of the measure noted that the same report said the proposal would lift 1.3 million people out of poverty and boost wages for as many as 27 million more workers, arguing these benefits more than counter the lost jobs.
There is no consensus regarding the effects, as shown in Seattle, which in 2014 became the first major US city to adopt a $15 minimum wage.
A 2018 study from the University of Washington said the policy reduced total payroll in low-income jobs, with wages rising by three percent but hours dropping by six to seven percent.
But a 2017 study by the University of California, Berkeley found the policy increased wages in the food services industry with no employment loss.
Howard Wright, the chief executive of the Seattle Hospitality Group and the co-author of the 2014 measure, said he largely discounts the conflicting appraisals of the Seattle policy.
"Our economy has been booming so strongly until Covid," said Wright.
Absolutely. Thomas Sowell reported on a survey in one of his books that people in the bottom income tier have moved out of that income level in a decade. Some had even advanced to the top levels.
His place is non union.
$8.50 hamburger
$25.00 car wash
$20.00 hair cut
Hang out of business sign on door.
Welcome to California
For minimum wage jobs?
Fewer people and more automation.
Where I work we are already making changes to the “less skilled” jobs.
Instead of having 5 people we only have 3, they get between 5 to 10 hours a week of OT, but that is much cheaper than carrying 2 people making between 13/15 dollars an hour plus benefits.
Our new owners are looking at getting a “parts picker” system to work in our finished goods area.
If they go through with it, then that is one less person employed.
It will cascade up and down the line.
It really doesn’t matter if it’s non-union. Workers still make coercive comparisons with what they see around them.
You’re kidding right
It’s already that.................
How exactly does that happen? Lots of people work low wage and then go get a better job.
But not necessarily just getting better jobs. Others can work their way up in the same organization. These type of min. wage jobs are not considered permanent. There's plenty of room for improvement. Simple work experience is necessary: showing up on time, following direction, being attentive, taking initiative, and others. This work experience will be denied many because of min. wage increases. I guess the state needs dependent sheeple.
The main way wages are artificially kept down is through state mandated wage caps.
Also us old dependable retirees will go back to work and make a killing!
Tens of thousands on the border now wanting to crash the border so they can work for far less than minimum wage, off the books at that!
Deja Vu all over again! - Yogi Berra..................
And not going to get any better.
It’s not 1960 anymore....
Not kidding, do your own research. It is amazing how many economic myths are easily debunked with the slightest research.
My wife is a teacher.
It is not in their contract. But I actually supply .gov people, and can ask next time I see them.
Fast food places are already automating. Self serve ordering kiosks and automated burger and pizza making will happen. I see no reason why McDonald’s shouldn’t be fully automated by 2024
I would be astounded if there is ANY Union contract in the USA that DOES NOT have a clause regarding the minimum wage.
Every penny that the MINIMUM wage goes up, the UNION contracts rise exactly the same.
My wife is a nurse and has gone through this before. The answer is nobody picks up the slack, and the patients suffer from receiving substandard care.
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