Raising the minimum wage in MA (Milton: insurance, how much, employment)

[relocate37]

Originally Posted by jayrandom

Very little of Corporate America is making record profits and only a few companies are awash in cash.

Untrue. The fraction of national income going to capital is pretty much at record highs.

[relocate37]

Originally Posted by Dm84

Correct. However if the minimum wage is increased Burger King will simply pass along the cost to their customers.

Not at all clear. Depends on the elasticities of supply and demand.

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by relocate37

Untrue. The fraction of national income going to capital is pretty much at record highs.

I guess I was wrong.

U.S. GDP Expanded 2.6% In Fourth Quarter - WSJ.com

[timberline742]

People are still not looking at real dollars. The real issue is that every year people earning minimum wage are having their pay cut. That isn't right.

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by timberline742

I think it is exploitative and unfair to cut peoples salaries in real dollar turns while increasing profits, yes. If that makes me anti capitalist in your views, I'm fine with that. I don't have a problem with making a profit in general.

I think you are also understating and minimizing how well corporate america, in general, is doing. Cash reserves have almost doubled over the past 7-8 years and the profit margin is near the highest it has been in 50 or so years. I have no problem with this in general, just don't cut the pay of the least fortunate among us in the process.

I'd say one of the hallmarks of capitalism is that labor is exchanged for wages without the entitlement to a share of the profits, so the idea that certain levels of profit require certain levels of remuneration for workers runs counter to that.

And no, I didn't know how well corporate America was doing.

[Rakin]

Originally Posted by timberline742

People are still not looking at real dollars. The real issue is that every year people earning minimum wage are having their pay cut. That isn't right.

Every year those workers should be learning new skills, finding better jobs and making more money.

No one stays at MW. If you do you are a poor worker.

[mdovell]

The other thing to consider is if someone is on mw and is angry are they angry at the rate OR that it is mw?

Raising the mw is not going to lift people out of poverty. Why not? Because we've lifted the standards of poverty simply due to the amount that a dollar buys us.

How is poverty being defined specifically vs the past? My parents grew up without cable tv and the internet. My grandmother grew up without tv and air conditioning and a interstate highway etc.

Let's be honest here out of all forms of work if you are on mw then you AND your employer knows it is mw.
So if you get offered a better job don't you think they'd understand why you are leaving?

How can any employer honestly expect someone to stay at a job that pays so low....they can't.

What is it saying that we should have to mandate more for these jobs even though they aren't paying that to begin with? How many of these jobs require a resume or application?

Who makes minimum wage? | Pew Research Center

[miu]

Originally Posted by timberline742

People are still not looking at real dollars. The real issue is that every year people earning minimum wage are having their pay cut. That isn't right.

Those minimum wage jobs are only supposed to be for those entering the job market and not meant to be lifetime career work. The minimum wage pay is fine for a student or young adult or senior. And the cycle can be broken. I know several Chinese immigrant families where each member worked two minimum wage jobs and the entire family pooled their money together to save to buy real estate or start their own small business. They lived very frugally while they did this and the end result was owning their own apartment building or restaurant. Success can come from poor beginnings.

[lrfox]

I don't think the argument about the length of time someone should hold a minimum wage job is even relevant to the argument for increasing minimum wage.

At the very least, it needs to be adjusted (raised) to account for inflation. Whether someone is trying to make a career out of their minimum wage job or break into the workforce is a mute point; $8/hour is worth less today than it was a few years ago. Incremental increases every few years should be the norm.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by lrfox

I don't think the argument about the length of time someone should hold a minimum wage job is even relevant to the argument for increasing minimum wage.

At the very least, it needs to be adjusted (raised) to account for inflation. Whether someone is trying to make a career out of their minimum wage job or break into the workforce is a mute point; $8/hour is worth less today than it was a few years ago. Incremental increases every few years should be the norm.

I dislike them being called increases. They really aren't. They're COLAs to maintain the current wage in real dollars. When I get a 3% COLA at work or something, that IS NOT a raise.