$20 minimum wage proposed in MA (2015, living, costs)

[matrix5k]

https://www.wwlp.com/news/massachuse...-minimum-wage/

I think this is great but it won't happen for a while. Inflation is crazy high.

[massnative71]

Get ready for $10 coffees...

[matrix5k]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Get ready for $10 coffees...

It's almost there already. I think a latte at Starbucks is $8 and change.

[GeoffD]

Denmark has a $20+ minimum wage. A Big Mac there costs roughly the same as here. Labor cost in fast food is 20% to 30%. Going from $15 to $20 would barely budge the needle.

Personally, I wouldn’t hire someone who wasn’t worth at least $20/hour. They’d be useless.

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

Denmark has a $20+ minimum wage. A Big Mac there costs roughly the same as here. Labor cost in fast food is 20% to 30%. Going from $15 to $20 would barely budge the needle.

Personally, I wouldn’t hire someone who wasn’t worth at least $20/hour. They’d be useless.

?? No one should be getting paid $20 an hour for making a coffee or putting some pastries in a bag.

[redplum33]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

Denmark has a $20+ minimum wage. A Big Mac there costs roughly the same as here. Labor cost in fast food is 20% to 30%. Going from $15 to $20 would barely budge the needle.

Personally, I wouldn’t hire someone who wasn’t worth at least $20/hour. They’d be useless.

It's a good thing you're not running a business.

Going from $15 to $20 means you're either significantly raising prices or you're firing 1 out of every 4 employees and trying to get by understaffed. The latter would likely eventually put you out of business. A 33% increase cannot just be eaten by the business.

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/STTMINWGMA

^ Take a look at this. 2015 was $9, and 2023 is $15. Then think about the price of consumer goods in 2015 as compared to 2023.

[redplum33]

Another thing you're failing to recognize, Geoff, is that if you're running a business all of your costs are going way up with this stark increase in minimum wage. It's not just what you pay your employees. It takes a lot of minimum wage workers along the way to get the products in your hands - which absolutely will cost more now.

[massnative71]

Small business are struggling enough as it is. I'm willing to bet that this Jason Lewis guy never ran a business of his own or ever really had to work for a living. Typical woke ding dong.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

Denmark has a $20+ minimum wage. A Big Mac there costs roughly the same as here. Labor cost in fast food is 20% to 30%. Going from $15 to $20 would barely budge the needle.

Personally, I wouldn’t hire someone who wasn’t worth at least $20/hour. They’d be useless.

This isn't Denmark.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by matrix5k

It's almost there already. I think a latte at Starbucks is $8 and change.

I believe a medium at DD is around $3 and change. But yeah if you're super bougie and need a Starbucks latte every day, you're gonna be hit even harder.