Minimum wage jumps 75 cents to $8 an hour in West Virginia (Charleston: 2015, apartment)
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It's part of a two-step process in the Mountain State to boost the mininum wage from where it has been, $7.25 an hour, since 2008. The Charleston Daily Mail reported the next step up will be Jan. 1, 2016, when the minimum wage will rise another 75 cents to $8.75 an hour.
$8.00 doesn't sound too crazy to me. $8.75 still seems okay (there are currently 22 states above fed min wage btw). I mean the businesses may react to it in different ways, but we really can't complain too much when there are places like Seattle that have their min wage set at $15 (not a state, I know). If I'm not mistaken, if we were to keep the same standards of living from the 1960, then the min wage should be $10.90.
I'm not actually saying we should or should not be raising min wage, but I am saying that there is an unbalance present. One possible solution is to raise the min wage, even though it does create its own set of problems, I know.
The price of everything goes up anyway it has nothing to do with minimum wage. Factoring in inflation, minimum wage is less than it was in 1960. Corporate profits and the top 1 percent income are through the roof. Giving low wage workers a much deserved raise helps the economy since they spend all of that extra money and it's put back into the system. They don't hoard it in an offshore bank account. The US has one of the lowest minimum wages out of the first world countries.
Quote:
Originally Posted by snorpus
Was there some magical 10% increase in the productivity on Jan 1?
I guess they're forecasting a 9.5% increase for next January, too.
Studies have shown that worker productivity is high across the country and wages never went up to match it.
$8.00 doesn't sound too crazy to me. $8.75 still seems okay (there are currently 22 states above fed min wage btw). I mean the businesses may react to it in different ways, but we really can't complain too much when there are places like Seattle that have their min wage set at $15 (not a state, I know). If I'm not mistaken, if we were to keep the same standards of living from the 1960, then the min wage should be $10.90.
I'm not actually saying we should or should not be raising min wage, but I am saying that there is an unbalance present. One possible solution is to raise the min wage, even though it does create its own set of problems, I know.
So it's clear that you might have an opinion on this matter. If you read it then you would know that I said quite a bit. I didn't mention the fact that in no state can someone working 40 hours a week and making minimum wage afford the rent of a 2 bedroom apartment.
My point before was basically what I just said. People can't make ends meet and something needs to be done to fix it. Raising minimum wage is one solution. I don't see anyone else coming up with anything else at the moment.
So it's clear that you might have an opinion on this matter. If you read it then you would know that I said quite a bit. I didn't mention the fact that in no state can someone working 40 hours a week and making minimum wage afford the rent of a 2 bedroom apartment.
My point before was basically what I just said. People can't make ends meet and something needs to be done to fix it. Raising minimum wage is one solution. I don't see anyone else coming up with anything else at the moment.
There are many other solutions but in general the mods won't allow for discussion of them here. (again, my thought on this are not one sided or simplistic)
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