Minimum wage hike would help blacks: study

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070126/us_nm/minimumwage_blacks_dc ^

[celejrm313]

DALLAS (Reuters) - Proposed increases in the U.S. minimum wage would likely result in pay raises for around 2 million black workers, according to a study released this week by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

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The Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives earlier this month approved legislation to increase the minimum wage over two years to $7.25 per hour from $5.15 per hour -- which would be its first hike in a decade.

But Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked the bill, demanding it also include small business tax relief. The Senate was set to debate the bill again on Friday with passage of a wage hike-tax break measure expected next week. The Senate and House would then have to negotiate a final version.

"Our analysis shows that this increase in the minimum wage would have a significant positive impact on African American families and communities," said Ralph Everett, president and CEO of the Joint Center, a Washington-based think tank.

"African Americans are more likely to live in states that either have no minimum wage or have minimums equal to the federal rate, and so they would certainly benefit from a new law raising the floor," he said.

The report estimates the following numbers based on the proposed staggered increases up to 2009:

2007 - 189,000 black workers benefit when minimum wage rises to $5.85 an hour.

2008 - An additional 419,000 benefit when it goes to $6.55 an hour.

2009 - 753,000 more benefit when it climbs to $7.25 an hour.

"Wages for many low-income workers are just above the current federal minimum wage but below $7.25 and that is why the numbers get larger as you go along," Dr. Margaret Simms, an economist at the Joint Center, told Reuters by phone.

[L98Fiero]

Thanks. Just another liberal, racist organization, I see.

[driftless2]

"help everyone?"

excellent point. Saying a pay raise would help someone is like saying being healthier is good for you. This article i states the obvious. More money is good for EVERYBODY!!!.

[meyer]

It still won't help when ILLEGALS are paid far below the minimum and the democrats refuse to vote on tougher fine enforcement of employers who use them. It will cause employers to look to hire ILLEGALS instead.

Unfortunately, it's not just the democRATS - a good portion of the Republicans are content to allow the invasion to continue as well. Most of them are in the Senate.

[RobbyS]

So illegals are going to demand minimum wage?

[TheTruthAintPretty]

Abolish the minimum wage. If I only wanted to pay a penny an hour, and I can find someone desperate enough to take it, it is between me and them...not me, them, and Uncle Nancy.

Like the Liberals crying about Nike and Adidas plants overseas...they would rather see people making 0% of 7.15 an hour than 100% of a dollar a day.

[Sprite518]

If you only qualify for the minimum wage, then you need to go get some job skills and education. That is usually a starting wage for teens that are on their first job.

[TheTruthAintPretty]

If the teens that hold most of the minimum wage paying jobs could just get enough per hour to live on (a living wage) then they could forget about going to college or working towards something better. Why bother? In 40 years we could expect the cashiers at Burger King to be wearing "45 years of service" badges. Woo hoo! What a life! Way to go leftist fools.

And the sad thing is...it will STILL take them 45 minutes to get your order, it will be cold, and it will be wrong!

Not that I know from experiene! :)

[Sprite518]

I think there is actually less than 500,000 that make minimum wage. Oh and half are teens that are on their first job. So they probably live at home. The other half is usually in their first year of a job.

Now if you have been working for minimum wage for over two years and that is all an employer thinks your wort. Then you have some serious personal issues.

[KingArthur305]

I think if you are part of a group that overwhelmingly will benefit from minimum wage then I think their some ambition issues and motivative issue at work in that community or group or class. Teens should and are doing these jobs because it makes the most sense, but to equate simple mindless entry level work with something that "should" generate a living wage is so loony. Peoople gain skills and sacrific to move up mostly through school.

Liberals are fools. I hope that ghetto blacks wake up. I hope that if this feel good minimum wage hike goes through, the real generators of wealth, productivity and opportunity, would be givin a tax cut, or tax relief. Where will the jobs be if the liberals continue to attack productive people and reward less productive people in the name of "social justice". Their should be a law stating: "Thou shall not think with you heart and emotions". Just for liberals.

[Sprite518]

Amen... Since posting this I heard many Unions wages are based off some sort of percentage of the minimum wage. Therefore, when the minimum wage goes up so do the Union salaries that wayyyyy more than the minimum wage. This is probably the real reason.

The Unions have manged to destroy great companies like GM.