Minimum Wage: By The Numbers
Minimum Wage: By The Numbers
Morgan Spurlock is at it again. The man who exposed the unsavory side of fast food in the popular documentary Supersize Me takes on minimum wage in his new series “30 Days.” In the show, which launches tomorrow night on FX, Spurlock will submerge an average American in a completely different lifestyle for one month. (The Center For American Progress is holding an advance screening of the show in Washington, DC tonight.) For his first episode, Spurlock decided to explore exactly how hard it is to live on a minimum wage income for thirty days. He and his fiancee, Alex, moved to Columbus, OH and lived on $5.15 an hour for a month. They found out it’s pretty impossible. Here are the facts behind minimum wage in America:
4.3 million: Number of Americans who have fallen into poverty since President Bush took office
$5.15: Federal minimum wage
26%: How much the inflation-adjusted value of the minimum wage has eroded since 1979
0: Number of times minimum wage has increased since 1997
7: Number of times Congress has increased its own pay since 1997
$0: How much more a year people earning minimum wage earn today compared to 1997
$28,500: How much more a year members of Congress make today compared to 1997
$10,700: Amount a person making minimum wage will earn in a year
$5,000: Amount below the poverty level working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year at minimum wage will leave a family of three
7,300,000: Number of workers who would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage
72%: Percentage of adult workers who would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage
1,800,000: Number of parents with kids under the age of 18 who would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage
11 million: Number of jobs added to the economy in the four years after the last minimum wage hike
$8.70: Amount minimum wage would have to be today to have the same purchasing power it had in 1968
2.5 years: Amount of health care for two children which could be bought by raising the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25
86%: Percentage of Americans who support raising the federal minimum wage
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What can I say? The truth does not need to be highlighted. It points to itself.
June 14th, 2005 at 3:05 pmNow show the amount of money that will be spent to fight the increase of minimum wage and any other legal American worker’s benefits or protection of rights…
June 14th, 2005 at 3:08 pmAlso show the amount of taxes refunded to the top 1% on income.
June 14th, 2005 at 3:10 pmAre they hiring in the Marianas Islands?
June 14th, 2005 at 3:14 pmGreat Summary. Where is the “up or down” vote on this Tom Delay/Bill Frist?
What always gags me is when some $400/Hour lobbyist goes before congress and says we can’t increase the minimim wage because it would “hurt” lower income earners.
On the good side, most progressive states already have their own min wage laws that are much higher than the Fed limit.
June 14th, 2005 at 3:16 pmWhile I am not in total disagreement of raising the minimum it would appear that your sense of basic economice is askew. Raising the minimum does not necessarily pull more people up from povertry. While I will cede that there may be more jobs created it won’t be necessarily a good thing. Why? you ask. The majority of minimum wage jobs are partime, That will not change. The jobs created will also be overwhelminly part time. These “new” part time jobs are created by doing away with full-time positions. Make no mistake. this is not for the better. Here is why…The majority of minimum wage jobs are also part-time, i.e. not full-time. Meaning less money to the employee and a real reduction in benefits such as health insurance. Or if they do have health insurance the out of pocket cost will remain the same or go up due to businesses raising the employee’s amount to be paid. So, while on the surface it might seem like a good idea to raise the minimum it has long lasting and far reaching effects. Now, while I am instantly dubious of any claim that uses statistics as its main prop, because as we all know stats can and are manipulated, I am shocked to see a lack of statistical reporting where the number of workers making the minimum is listed or how many of those are full time and part time. I also noted a lack of demographical data. Why?
June 14th, 2005 at 3:29 pmisn’t FX part of the FOX empire? How did this get on?
June 14th, 2005 at 3:41 pmIn 1969 I had a job that paid a minimum wage of 1.60 USD. The price of gold was 35.07 USD. Today gold is 426.50 USD.
1.60/35.07 = x/426.50, x = 19.458
You would have to be earning $19.46 per hour to equal the buying power of 1969 dollars. It is less than 1/3 that amount for today’s mininum wage workers.
Congress has been doing its job. It has made America poorer in terms of real value for the dollar.
No brains, no headaches.
June 14th, 2005 at 3:55 pmMaybe this is why we are no longer on the gold standard.
June 14th, 2005 at 3:56 pmFlamethrower, I take it you don’t like dissenting opinions.
June 14th, 2005 at 4:00 pmFlamethrower, I take it you don’t like dissenting opinions.
Is that you Sensenbrenner?
June 14th, 2005 at 4:03 pmBrett, get with the program. How about throwing a bone to those that have feed off the bottom due to Shrub’s reinstitution of the Reagonomics. I guess you’d have to have some compassion for that right?
June 14th, 2005 at 4:09 pmNow, while I am instantly dubious of any claim that uses statistics as its main prop, because as we all know stats can and are manipulated,
I trust any and all stats that have been paid for by the federal government to support it’s position. (But I also argue that all government is evil).
I am shocked to see a lack of statistical reporting where the number of workers making the minimum is listed or how many of those are full time and part time.
Shocked! I tell you!
I also noted a lack of demographical data. Why?
Have I mentioned that I am shocked!?
Shorter Brett
‘?.
June 14th, 2005 at 4:10 pmComment by brett  June 14th, 2005 @ 3:29 pm
You are also missing a key stat, how many workers are working more than one part-time job to make ends meet. Yes, companies want to hire more part-time workers so they don’t have to pay benefits, but if you raise the minimum wage, those working multiple jobs to earn enough to live will be able to cut back on some of the hours they work to meet the same financial demands.
Raising the minimum wage by $2.50 would for a person working 40 hours would raise their income by 50%. Those working more hours or more jobs could reduce the amount of time they work and have more time for family, etc.
As for your argument about seeing some statistics missing, I suppose the writer could have added another 50 statistics, but at some point you have to draw the line.
June 14th, 2005 at 4:15 pmSo in essense Brett, you are saying that minimum wage shouldn’t be raised because businesses will strike back against the employee by making their job part-time instead of full-time? If true, what does that tell you?
I’d love to hear some stories about temp. services also. That’s another great idea we’ve come up with.
June 14th, 2005 at 4:18 pmHere’s your bone…More jobs of a technological nature, the training in which can and should be funded by government, that provide a higher quality of life. Minimum wage jobs have place in the workforce but not as a reprensentation of the whole.
June 14th, 2005 at 4:19 pmI know, I know…big business=EVIL.
June 14th, 2005 at 4:24 pmThere is a reason its called business. I don’t necessarily agree with it but it’s a fact…they are going to make money. For instance…GM cutting 25K jobs.
So I should just sit up straight and nod in agreement and accordance rather than call a turd a turd, is that it? Geez, it all makes so much sense now Brett.
June 14th, 2005 at 4:28 pmI love it when someone can’t argue the facts and falls back on smarmy witticisms there Pot. Original. Really.
June 14th, 2005 at 4:28 pmComment by brett  June 14th, 2005 @ 4:28 pm
I guess I still don’t understand your point as to how raising the minium wage actually hurts the economy? Please clarify.
June 14th, 2005 at 4:31 pmNo you shouldn’t accept it for the sake of acceptance Skid. Doing that might be worse than complacency. But surely you understand that the successful economies of the world are built on the back of big business rightly or wrongly working the little guy to death. In order to change the mentality there would have to incentives which most likely would come in the form tax breaks. Now, feel free to boo and hiss but it won’t change. Big business is not in the business of being altruistic.
June 14th, 2005 at 4:34 pmQuit giving the pass Brett. There is a difference between wiping my ass for me and paying a fair/deserving wage.
June 14th, 2005 at 4:40 pmAlright MNSasquatch here goes. Raising the bar necessarily forces a rise in prices of goods and services that is usually disproportionate to the wage hike. Proof in the pudding: the auto industry. Or jobs get cut. Proof in the pudding: the auto industry. Now while prices rise the higher paying jobs get cut over time. So yes in the immediate there is a rise in jobs. Low paying minimum wage jobs, as compared to the higher paying counterparts. Now as the jobs get cut more and more people go a-hunting in the work force and take less satisfying lower paying jobs. In the meantime please don’t forget that prices are on the rise. To combat this the fed lowers the interest rate to help rejuvinate a sagging economy but in reality all it will do is balance out the dip caused by the large scale wage hike. So prices rise, fewer people in the work force making above minimum, more in the workforce MAKING minimum, the gap between haves and have nots widens. This is exactly how it plays. Now lets talk about the little businessman. He ends up taking it in the keister because he won’t be able to keep the same amount of employees, who are now knocking down the doors of that evil empire better known as wal-mart. So he spends more hours working taking two steps back for every one forward, he can’t send his kids to school and eventually goes tits up himself. This happens. Shall I continue?
June 14th, 2005 at 4:53 pmWhat determines fair/deserving Skid?
June 14th, 2005 at 4:55 pmthere’s also evidence that raising the minimum wage is good for business - people stick with jobs longer, so there’s lower employee turnover and higher productivity. And when people make a little more, there’s less of a strain on state programs like Medicaid and welfare, so economically, it makes sense all the way around.
June 14th, 2005 at 5:04 pmPartially correct Max. The evidence actually points more to the fact that its good for the individual business. Not necessarily the economy. True, its does promote goodwill between the employee and the employer even though it’s really the government mandating the raise. and yes the trend is that people will stay longer, as in not leave of their own accord, thereby cutting down on turnover. But what happens, and this is most common in local and state government jobs, is that the employers hire fewer NEW employees, and take on, in goverment jobs what is called vacancy credits. which is a fancy way of saying they would rather work short or pay overtime that hire new employees because it’s cheaper in the long run. Business does it and gov’t does it. It would be better to attach pay incentives to employee performance. This gives the worker a better sense of self worth and achievment.
June 14th, 2005 at 5:19 pmUse your intellect Brett. For an example of fair/deserved wages, see #8 and #14 in this post.
June 14th, 2005 at 5:38 pmRe: #8-see #9
June 14th, 2005 at 5:50 pmRe: #14-Doggone those missing stats I asked about regarding demographics. Hmm? Darn convenient that we don’t have those…oops, wait one. Most of these workers are in service industries, ya want fries with that, and are not supporting a family. Thats not to say that there are many that do. Again, incentives are a better way to travel. And whats so wrong with working long hours. Hell, if I’m making minimum and minimum is 10 bucks, for the sake of easy math, then why wouldn’t I want to work more, therefore earn more, and climb my way up. Don’t forget the raising of minimum wage also helps promote an entitlement mindset in many folks. I know that’s not PC but give it some deep thought. for every person you show me that wants to better themselves, and fit in this scenario we are discussing, I’ll show two that want it handed to them. You know it’s true.
successful economies of the world are built on the back of big business rightly or wrongly working the little guy to death.
Tell that to Japan.
June 14th, 2005 at 6:00 pmThis post must be mistaken. We all have Tom DeLay’s word that families trying to exist on minimum wage don’t exist, and he can’t be wrong, can he?
“Emotional appeals about working families trying to get by on $4.25 an hour [the minimum wage in 1996, when the statement was made] are hard to resist. Fortunately, such families do not exist.”
Tom Delay, quoted in the Congressional Record, H3706 4/23/1996 [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?r104:1:./temp/~r104PBihL9:e6877:]
BRETT: Please don’t tell me that you think the auto industry’s problems are the result of minimum wage hikes. In fact, please don’t tell me that you really think there’s a definitive answer to how minimum wage laws affect the domestic economy–that’s something everybody has an unsupported opinion or unproved theory on.
The one thing minimum wage hikes definitely do that is “bad” is give some employers yet another incentive to ship jobs overseas. But even that’s almost irrelevant given the fact that the difference between wages here and overseas is already plenty large enough to induce outsourcing.
June 14th, 2005 at 6:01 pmLee: I use the auto industry as an example. Minimum wage is not the problem there. It merely illustrates how wage hikes coupled with other factors affect the job market. Yes, minmum wage laws affect the economy. Earlier I talked about service industry jobs being predominately minimum wage. My local McDonalds offers hiring bonuses and starts above minimum. I concur on outsourcing.
June 14th, 2005 at 6:13 pmYou want spit in your freedom fries sir? Remember that SERVICE WORKERS handle YOUR food, often times fast and fresh, maybe even with a smile. That’s quite a responsibility for around minimum wage, considering health and sanitation rules/laws. I bet Brett couldn’t/wouldn’t do it. Not many really want to. Service industry workers have families (expected/unexpected) like anyone else, and from what I have seen, tend to work harder than a lot of blowhard suits I know.
June 14th, 2005 at 6:20 pmHello again Buckshot, you are still boring.
Do you believe you are a good parent?
Do you want your children to have more than you had?
You are failing miserably and this article proves it!
votetoimpeach.org
June 14th, 2005 at 6:22 pmIf raising the minimum wage is bad for the economy and will really do nothing to help the poor, then lowering the minimum wage would be good for the economy, right? (the opposite of bad is good). Then, since they will be saving so much on labor, businesses will gladly lower proces to make everything more affodable for all - a win win win, right?
The truth is that people can discuss the “net zero effect” from raising the minimum wage. Sure, in theory, raising the minimum wage will just move prices up on the chart - the net effect is “no change” for the poor. But are we just supposed to stay in analysis paralysis? Something needs to be done - even if the minimum wage needs to be adjusted every few years to stay ahead of prices, there’s no way a family can survive on $5.00 per hour in this country. It’s hard enough to live on $10 or even $15 per hour.
Time for a little compassion for the poor, don’t you think? Analysis be damned…
June 14th, 2005 at 6:24 pmWell, since you want to discuss my work history I did in fact work at a McDonalds and bagged groceries at the Kroger across the road while in high school. In college I worked for the university and again to up the illustrious position at McDonalds to help pay my way. Now, when I go to a fast food joint I EXPECT to see a smile. I also am critical about baggers at the grocery and oftentimes rebag my stuff. I then worked in retail for next to nothing. I’ve also been a waiter/bouncer and currently work for local government. You shouldn’t resort to calling someone out not armed with the facts. If you read carefully you will see that I don’t deny that there are food service workers supporting families.
June 14th, 2005 at 6:40 pmOh, by the way, I am in a union and in fact I am on the executive board of said union.
June 14th, 2005 at 6:43 pmExactly what tech jobs? Hi-tech cash registers? More computer programers/IT guys out of work? Since I’ve heard this all before, I am curious what these tech jobs are?
June 14th, 2005 at 6:43 pmSusan, are you talking to me?
June 14th, 2005 at 6:46 pmSo the answer is “Yes”, you are proud of yourself. See? That wasn’t hard to figure out what I was referring to.
Armed? I may disagree with you with good reason to do so, but THIS is not the fight. You may support the problem, but you Brett, are not THE problem. Why so defensive?
June 14th, 2005 at 6:50 pmWASHINGTON - The income gap between the rich and the rest of the US population has become so wide, and is growing so fast, that it might eventually threaten the stability of democratic capitalism itself.
Is that a liberal’s talking point? Sure. But it’s also a line from the recent public testimony of a champion of the free market:
Federal Reserve Chairman
Alan Greenspan.
There ya have it!
June 14th, 2005 at 6:55 pmLast i checked there are more tech jobs out there than programmers. Not that there’s anything wrong with programming, my bro-in-law is one. but there are other options. Hey if you want me to fix the entire problem then vote me in. You will, I’ll admit,have a problem with some of my more right leaning tendencies. But after I conquer a few countries there will be plenty of jobs. Canada first.
June 14th, 2005 at 6:57 pmThere are jobs out there that require training. But alot of folks can’t afford the training. You are not so naive as to think that raising the minimum will cure all the ills.
Check out globalrichlist.com
June 14th, 2005 at 7:01 pmyou will find that are much wealthier than you think
I wouldn’t vote for you if you paid me a million bucks Brett.
June 14th, 2005 at 7:21 pmThat doesn’t matter though, does it?…You can always call on good ol Diebold…
Oh now you are just saying that. If I actually paid you one millionnnnn dollars you would vote for me because i ended your worries about your wages
June 14th, 2005 at 7:29 pmSorry Brett, but I think I’d take your million and then hit you up for paying off voters. Don’t get too high on yourself. Crushed ego, faulty confidence and a good reality check upside the head can do wonders to the pompous.
June 14th, 2005 at 7:38 pmThis from above is misleading:
72%: Percentage of adult workers who would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage
Based on the source it links to it should read:
72%: Percentage of those workers who would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage who are adults.
June 14th, 2005 at 7:43 pmThose are meanspirited and hurtful comments Skid. Hah, I think I have converted you.
June 14th, 2005 at 7:46 pmMean? How so?
June 14th, 2005 at 7:53 pmIt would take a lobotomy to convert me anyway.
June 14th, 2005 at 7:55 pmIts good to see that you realize you character flaws can be fixed (lobotomy)
June 14th, 2005 at 7:57 pmkidding
Here’s an idea. Why don’t we just link minimum wage to Congressional salaries? Any time Congress votes to raise their salaries, the federal minimum wage has to be raised the same percentage.
June 14th, 2005 at 7:58 pmFixed as in “price fixing” or attached to/bolted on?
June 14th, 2005 at 8:02 pmAmen Datashade!
June 14th, 2005 at 8:03 pmI love it when someone can’t argue the facts and falls back on smarmy witticisms there Pot. Original. Really.
Comment by brett â€â€
What? Did I miss an argument, or some facts? It’s so easy to do with you Bushco apologists.
Glad you liked my humble efforts at snark. To call that an ad hominem attack directed at you would be a slight directed at sentient beings everywhere.
June 14th, 2005 at 10:05 pmI wonder if brett realizes that our vaunted Dept. of Labor actually argues that fast food burger assembly is actually a manufactering job. He’s right to mistrust stats. I have know idea what he thinks demographics will tell him, except he’s hoping for some justification for his racist views.
June 14th, 2005 at 10:10 pmAnd your globalrichlist is junk science and propaganda. Unfortunately the Arno Peters projection maps site is down. You are rigid dogmatist and ideologue. There is no reasoning with you. I don’t bother. Time wasted is time wasted.
June 14th, 2005 at 10:20 pmThese people are insane. perhaps the Witch will pop by to tell us if the syntactic variance is worth mentioning or affects the meaning, i.e., misleading. I can see no value in mentioning it.
This from above is misleading:
72%: Percentage of adult workers who would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage
Based on the source it links to it should read:
72%: Percentage of those workers who would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage who are adults.
June 14th, 2005 at 10:26 pmPot meet Kettle, the distinction’s subtle but important. The way the original was phrased, 72% of the people who are on minimum wage are adults, and would benefit. The restructured phrasing says 72% of adult workers are on minimum wage. That’s an important distinction.
June 14th, 2005 at 11:38 pmBrett, where on earth did you take Econ 101?
Supply-side economics doesn’t work. Never has, never will. Top-loading the economy (giving the most money to those who have it already) has never resulted in a stable economy.
Why? Because the only goods and services the rich purchase are high-ticket items, not the day-to-day living items that the middle and working class purchase - i.e., the items and services that most US companies make and sell.
Continuing to top-load is a recipe for disaster. We are rapidly coming on a time where the only businesses making money are high-ticket items and very low retailers. Middle-class retailers like Sears and JC Penney have been failing for the last two decades because the middle class is disappearing.
If you don’t have customers who can afford your stuff, your business fails. The reason Wal-Mart has grown so huge in the last 20 years is because people can’t afford to shop anywhere else. And since most of Wal-Mart’s goods are manufactured overseas, and they pay their own employees so poorly, US workers aren’t seeing any of that revenue.
The list above explains part of why this is, but not all of it. The money being taken away from the working and middle class has to go somewhere, and where is it going? CEO salaries.
The gap between CEO salaries and the minimum wage is 10 times what it was in 1980. If the minimum wage had kept pace with that rise, it would be over $15/hour.
Treating workers well is GOOD for the economy. When workers are healthy, educated and confident, they are more productive and efficient, AND they are better consumers, thereby driving the rest of the economy.
These greedy CEO’s shipping jobs overseas and cutting workforce to save money don’t realize that they’re shooting themselves in the foot. The one area where real savings can be realized - executive pay - isn’t even being looked at because they are so blinded by their own selfish greed.
Businesses which invest in their workforce are far more successful overall than ones which keep trying to stop the bleeding by laying people off, and then giving fat bonuses to the CEOs who do so.
When the American consumer base dries up, and demand along with it, and more and more businesses fail, maybe people like Brett will pay attention.
But somehow, I doubt it.
June 15th, 2005 at 2:14 amBrett pays too much attention to how his groceries are bagged. His head is in the sand, or in the bag, as it were.
June 15th, 2005 at 2:52 amshorter version of all of brett’s post combined: businesses do whatever they damn well please and everyone will just have to deal. It’s not like we’re a nation of laws or anything.
June 15th, 2005 at 3:57 amData shade,
Read the version at the link. Different wording same meaning. The way it’s presented in this post, ok… but considering what the right does, hardly anything I would care about. I say lying cheating and stealing, playing dirty, to save democracy is noble. Doing it to kill the constitution and democracy should be punishable by death. It’s no different than treason in my book.
June 15th, 2005 at 6:53 amAdults make up the largest share of workers who would benefit from a minimum wage increase: 72% of workers whose wages would be raised by a minimum wage increase to $7.25 by June 2007 are adults (age 20 or older).
Please tell me why? I just don’t see it. It’s not like fixing intelligence to make an illegal war legal.
June 15th, 2005 at 6:56 amI think that using the auto industry as an example of higher wages = higher prices = eventual losses/cutbacks is off the mark. In 1981 the auto industry begged for - and got -mandatory import restrictions from Japan. At that point Japanese cars grew much more expensive (profitable) - that’s what prompted these expensive “spinoff” brands - Acura (Honda), Infiniti (Nissan), Lexus (Toyota), etc. So the US auto industry was handed a lovely price gap to use as a hedge against foreign competition - without having to cut the wages of employees. This advantage was discarded when the US companies simply raised prices to keep up. Look it up. Compare the AVERAGE auto price of 1980 vs 1990. Well over %100 increase. This was NOT due to thoise ‘greedy’ blue collar workers!
June 15th, 2005 at 11:56 amTo be fair, 90% of economists believe that raising the minimum wage would decrease employment for unskilled workers, and could therefore actually do more harm than good.
However, if the minimum wage is low enough there is empirical evidence + theoretical reasons to think that raising it could actually *reduce* unemployment, as well as improve the life of those at work. For more information I recommend “Myth and Measurement - the new economics of the minimum wage” by David Card and Alan Krueger. It’s written in a non technical language that non economists can understand.
According to these revisionist models, the main effect of raising the minimum wage would be to transfer money from employers and customers to the low waged, with little or no impact on output.
June 16th, 2005 at 7:49 amTo add on my previous comment, you can probably raise the federal minimal somewhat without raising unemployment much, but not by a lot.
Returning to 1970s levels of poverty simply by raising the minimum wage is a dream. The real reason why poverty expanded in America in recent years is not the decline in the minimum wage, but the fact that America produces too many people who are only semi-literate with no useful skills for the labor market.
The main investment should therefore be in education in poor areas, for both children and adults. A big issue here is that education is largely locally funded in the US, so poor places cannot afford good schools.
June 16th, 2005 at 8:04 amTo be fair, 90% of economists believe that raising the minimum wage would decrease employment for unskilled workers, and could therefore actually do more harm than good.
Many of these workers are already off the books, so some more will be. I think we need to see wage cap for these ass clowns who run companies (criminal enterprises). Then we can afford to pay folks enough money to live and stimulate the economy. That’s how you stimulate an economy, get people to spend money. giving it to tight ass rich bastards who stick it where the sun don’t shine for a rainy day don’t stimulate squat. Like my english?
June 16th, 2005 at 11:32 amBrett, remind me how it’s good for the economy for CEOs to be making 300 times more than the average worker in their company?
June 16th, 2005 at 12:33 pmAuntie America, as an economist I couldn’t agree with you more that giving the poor tax cuts would have been fat better for economic recovery, as well as for equity. But in the long term the most important thing is to give poor people skills to pull themselves out of poverty, and the biggest problem with fat cat salaries is that together with no more estate tax they create a class system with some people who can afford some of the world’s best schools, and other people who can only afford the kind of school that would shame many developing countries.
June 16th, 2005 at 5:32 pmI think a real solution is that the highest paid worker in a company (usually the CEO) cannot be paid more than X times the lowest paid person at the company, where X is somewhere between 25 and 100 (we can debate which value is best).
The point being, that the highest paid employee usually makes an obscene amount more than the lowest one. Cutting the single highest paid employee’s pay by 1% could probably give the lowest paid 1% a 10% increase in pay, easily. And if you peg the values this way, if the CEO wants to get a raise, he has to pull up the bottom to get it.
June 16th, 2005 at 7:11 pmI have seen the results of Jarvis - Gann, or Prop. 13 in CA. That is what turned one of the better public school systems in the country into shit.
June 16th, 2005 at 11:57 pmI am one of the millions of Americans affected by low minimum wage. I cannot even go to work because the cost of daycare would take my entire paycheck. Something should be done for people in our country. Instead if fighting others battles and helping poverty in other lands we have things here that shoud be taken care of.
July 11th, 2005 at 10:41 pmÆðÃû È¡Ãû
July 16th, 2005 at 9:32 pmhttp://www.pufan.com
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October 17th, 2005 at 4:43 ami think that brett needs to see reality, many people are poor because of minimum wage and they need the money to survive, but how could they if they dont have enough money? You probably say that because you suck up to your boss to get paid more, newsflash people do have dignity and dont go around sucking up to get paid more money. look at reality minimum wage would be the best for everyone, but Congess doesn’t want to Why? cuz they can say no, but who says no when they want a rise in they wage?
November 23rd, 2005 at 7:43 pmJust stumbled upon this debate on minimum wage..
We could easily raise minumum wage, with certain other laws in place, even temporarily, and still help the economy.
1- No increase on the price of ANYTHING over 10% for a two year period, with certain exemptions included, without due process.
2- No noncontracted raise in wages to people currently making 6 figure salarys, above 10% without due process.
3- Temporarily outlaw overtime.
Then when minimum wage gets put in place, people have more money to spend, businesses get their money back, and the economy is back in shape.
December 3rd, 2005 at 2:03 pmI am so fed up with the Government and Corp bullshit and all the incredibly weak minded people who buy into their slight of hand tactics. If our Government and Corporation really cared about the children they so often use in their speeches and propaganda then they would stop this insanity. But they don’t and you are just plain stupid and incredibly naive to think they do.
People all over this country are slipping deeper into impoverished societies. Our children will suffer such that we could not fathom. Taxes continue to rise. The cost of Housing is literally off the map. And how in the hell do you think a child born today will be able to make it in 20+ years. I’ll tell you. The family unit will virtually erode to nothing. It will require that a couple co-op housing expenses with others. It will require no less than 3+ full time workers per household to manage merely basic cost.
Don’t take my word for it look around. If you really love your children, you would stop and fight back. This land is our land… NO IT IS NOT!!!!
December 8th, 2005 at 9:39 pmMinimum wage is the shackle that keeps the masses in line. Pay them less than it takes to survive with dignity and you have an unlimited work force to slave for the well-to-do. Ever notice how the stock market goes UP when the unemployment figures rise? Corporate types get all giddy when they know that the supply of workers outweighs the number of jobs,,, so they can pay what they like. More seniors are realizing that they didn’t save enough money to retire and that Wal-Mart is the only employer who doesn’t practice age discrimination. With the increasing folly of businesses killing pensions and turning their now depleted slush fund pension plans over to the PBGC, the middle-class taxpayer is going to be picking up the tab and sinking down into the poverty-class in the process.
I would like to start a grassroots movement to set things right, or at least present some balance in this insanity: Tie the minimum wage to Congressional pay raises! If Congressional millionaires think they are worth an 8% raise, the minimum wage has to go up by the same percentage! Handcuff these useless servants of the people to the people they keep around for slave labor.
There’s a line in the movie “Kingdom of Heaven” that speaks to this: “Does making a man a knight make him a better fighter? YES!” Does paying a person a decent wage make him a better citizen? Damn straight it does!
For all you corporate and government types, think of all the increased consuming that a minimum wage worker does when they have more to buy. Materialism and capitalism go hand in hand. Consumer spending is the highest percentage of GDP.
February 26th, 2006 at 10:44 am[…] Americans aren’t bad people and we mean no disrespect. When prompted, 86 percent of Americans favor a hike to the minimum wage. Both progressive secular activists and the Religious Left are working for an increase. But there’s not enough political pressure. […]
April 6th, 2006 at 12:58 amYou say raising the minimum wage will help with an increase in the incomes of adults but what about the poor and teenagers who may lose their jobs because emloyers are cutting back on jobs. A higher minimum wage will burn a hole in employers pockets and cause them to make major cuts to keep their businesses from crumbling.
April 16th, 2006 at 5:05 pmYou say raising the minimum wage will help with an increase in the incomes of adults but what about the poor and teenagers who may lose their jobs because emloyers are cutting back on jobs. A higher minimum wage will burn a hole in employers pockets and cause them to make major cuts to keep their businesses from crumbling.
April 16th, 2006 at 5:05 pmSo two things happen when you get a hike in the minimum wage: First, people pay more because businesses pass the expense off to the consumer. In effect, the cost of living goes up. Now, is that beneficial to anyone who is actually making minimum wage? No.
and why stop at $2.50 per hour??? why no $10 an hour, no wait noone can really live on $10 an hour, heck lets raise it to $25 per hour. That way everyone would earn a “livin wage”….
June 5th, 2006 at 7:04 amdat minimum wager need to be done raised so i cern buy more dem grits fo d’ famoly. i gotsta eat
July 30th, 2006 at 8:23 pmThis article makes a case for minimum wage with numbers, but doesnt use logic and common sense. Almost everyone starting on minimum wage will be making more than minimum wage within the year. Also, you raise minimum wage, then the employer has to pay more.
Scenerio: Fast food place houses 20 employess, all at minimum wage. Minimum wage goes up by a dollar, employer has to pay more to employees, meaning his profits are going to be down. He has two option (chances are, he’ll choose both): raise prices, which affect you an I, or stop hiring/start firing, which affects you and I and the employees.
Of course, I didnt even get into the reason the fast food company’s prices would be forced to rise anyways, since some delivery men or warehouse workers wages increased causes them to charge more for their services to the fast food company. (for those who ask that theses workers probably arent on minimum wage, you mught be right, but they are probably union, and union worker’s wages are based off the minimum wage, so that fast food company will see the effects in multiple, negative ways)
And the person that’s making more money now to mininum wage? Well, he has to spend it on the higher prices now, so he really didnt make that much increase in pay.
November 7th, 2006 at 10:33 amCan someone clear this one up for me, this one seems flatout false.
“72%: Percentage of adult workers who would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage”
This page they cite says this “An estimated 14.9 million workers (11% of the workforce) would receive an increase in their hourly wage rate”
I can’t find anywhere on the page where any numbers they cite work out to 72%
December 19th, 2006 at 4:45 amIt is a known fact that the money that the government pays in interest on the national debt is about equal to that which actually goes towards government services.
It is contradictive to say that raising the minimum wage will hurt the economy, with Congress continuing to raise their wages while spending less time doing their job and getting more benefits.
The reason, to me, seems to be that the fat cats that control the economy. They are only interested in what goes into their pockets and are no longer a government of the people, by the people and for the people. They now seem to be a government of their own interests, by their associates interests, and for their financial gain.
If business cuts workers hours with a raise of the minimum wage to cut back on benefits, why does Congress work less hours, get paid more with an increase in benefits to boot?
George
January 3rd, 2007 at 8:18 amwhy do some large companies not pay their employees minimum wage.
January 3rd, 2007 at 8:51 amThe Government has no right telling an employer what to pay an employee. This article is ridiculous and is full of BS.
February 15th, 2007 at 12:10 am80% of minimum wage earners are not making the minimun 12 months later. They have recieved a raise or fond new work.
Only 1 in 5 min wage earners live below the poverty line. Don’t believe it? Check it out at the dept. of labor site.
Half of min wage earners work part time only.
The author of this article needs all the clues he or she can get.
[…] http://thinkprogress.org/index.php?p=1092Suggestion: we link Congressional salaries to the Federal minimum wage. Whenever the House or Senate votes to increase their salaries, the minimum wage has to increase the same percentage. 1 […]
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