Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
many states have already raised the minumum wage to about that level.
The states need to be the ones deciding what the minimum wage level should be for THEIR state.
While $7.25 or even more makes sense in CA or NJ, it will flat out be the death of many small businesses in other states where the dollar has more value, especially rural towns of the south and the heartland. Can you imagine the Tru Valu owner in a town of 1500 in the middle of nowhere paying $7.25 for a teenage cashier to work afternoons til close? Probably not, but I know of one in the town I grew up in who prays that there is no increase or he will simply close, and I can promise you he is not alone.
Big government needs to step aside and let the states handle this one on their own.
Nobody seems to be mentioning that the amount they're proposing to raise the minimum wage to is significantly lower than what the minimum wage has been in the past. The minimum wage right now is lower currently (in real value) than it has been in decades, since the 50's. Letting it continue to deteriorate with no increase will eventually render it meaningless and ineffective, (just like the 10 cents an hour minimum wage from back in the 40s or whenever would be meaningless and ineffective now)... what would the labor market for low-wage workers look like without a minimum wage? First of all, you'd see a lot more people staying on welfare when entry-level employment became less attractive than staying "on the dole"... with welfare reform, you'd see a lot more people getting kicked off the welfare system without a decent job. While a good portion of minimum wage workers are middle-class kids and wives, a large portion of the working poor work in jobs that are influenced by the minimum wage. Not everyone can just "get a better job"... the supply of unskilled or low-skilled labor is almost always higher than the demand, so few of these jobs pay a decent wage. You can say "go back to school" but not everyone has that option. Single parents usually don't have that option. The point of having a minimum wage is to not allow people working a full-time job to live in abject poverty... why should they? These are people who want to work, people who are getting jobs rather than relying on Welfare, giving 40-60 hours a week to their employers, can you really say that they deserve to be paid less than what they can live off of?
Without a minimum wage the working poor would be placed at a competitive disadvantage to those college kids that everyone's talking about... people are willing to work for less when they're not depending on the income for their livelihood. Wages would be depressed (even for those jobs that currently pay somewhat above the minimum wage) and there'd be fewer Welfare recipients entering the work force.
There are two ways that can solve the minimum wage crisis. The first way is to Ban all legal and Illegal immigration. New immigrants are willing to work for less money than people born and raised here. This is because new immigrants increase the (supply) amount of humans available for work. Competition allows Employers to hire them for less. Forcing People to exit one job for another job looking for a better wage. But this movement only increases the supply of labor and thus reduces wages further in other job areas.
The next way to solve the minimum wage issue is to end job outsourcing to other countries by lowering taxes and the cost of living. Unfortunetly wages are no longer high enough finance the US Government. The taxes from these meager wages cannot pay to maintain the schools teachers, Police and Fireman pensions.. As long as wages are cheaper in the third world. Jobs will exit America. The only way to stop job outsourcing is to restructure the Governments infrastructure and reduce but not eliminate all taxes. First all civil service, Municipal and Public works employees must be fired. And their pensions eliminated.Then reduce all taxes. That is sales, property, Federal, state and Local taxes. After this is done. We should be able to lower the cost of living in the USA. And will be able to compete again Globally.
"The next way to solve the minimum wage issue is to end job outsourcing to other countries by lowering taxes and the cost of living. Unfortunetly wages are no longer high enough finance the US Government. The taxes from these meager wages cannot pay to maintain the schools teachers, Police and Fireman pensions.. As long as wages are cheaper in the third world. Jobs will exit America. The only way to stop job outsourcing is to restructure the Governments infrastructure and reduce but not eliminate all taxes. First all civil service, Municipal and Public works employees must be fired. And their pensions eliminated. Then reduce all taxes. That is sales, property, Federal, state and Local taxes. After this is done. We should be able to lower the cost of living in the USA. And will be able to compete again Globally."
Would the low-wage workers and their kids then not be worse off without the services that these taxes provide? Reducing Welfare, food stamps, and public housing, for example, would lead to a massive increase in the demand for low-wage employment and therefore depress wages. Firing public employees? How would we get police, fire, and school service then? Make it all private? It would be the low-wage workers and the poor who would suffer from such a situation.
I dont think the states should have to step up, its not a level playing field between the states then. Some states will be at a competitive disadvantage then. That way Washington is at a competitive disadvantage with Mississsippi because Mississippi doesnt care about enough the employees to raise the minimum wage.
After reading these posts I am sort of thinking that alot of small and medium sized companies based in the conservative southern states dont really care about their employees. The southern states which dont like minimum wage increases have always been cheap on compensation and benefits for their employees.
I guess the states like Oregon, Washington, Colorado and Ohio have more of a history of paying employers better wages then in the very conservative southern states where alot of the small and medium sized companies could care less about their employees.
If they can pay 7.25 in Oregon, Washington and several other states they should pay it in Misissippi and Alabama also. If they dont like it should be tough and they should go out of business.
I guess the states like Oregon, Washington, Colorado and Ohio have more of a history of paying employers better wages then in the very conservative southern states where alot of the small and medium sized companies could care less about their employees.
.
I am a preschool teacher.
I moved here from Colorado.
I am literally making HALF of what I used to make in Denver--and I am doing better than some of the other workers around here (my preschool is a federally funded Head Start).
(Also, in Denver, 40 hour a week workers get paid lunch, and two 15 minute breaks. None of than nonsense going on here. )
How many of you think you can raise a family on 7.25 an hour. What is the point of this conversation!!?? We are talking about high school kids with part time jobs!! If you are using a minimum wage job to raise a family you have made some wrong turns in your life for sure!!
How many of you think you can raise a family on 7.25 an hour. What is the point of this conversation!!?? We are talking about high school kids with part time jobs!! If you are using a minimum wage job to raise a family you have made some wrong turns in your life for sure!!
Well, there are a whole lot of 'em here in my neck of the woods, millie.
I happen to be married to a guy who makes a zillion more dollars per year than I do. But there are women working at that preschool making $7.50 an hour, and yes, they have kids. Their husbands make maybe 9 or 10 dollars an hour working at the chemical plant just down the road from the preschool.
The high school kids here make $6.67 an hour cashiering at the local Piggly Wiggly.
If they can pay 7.25 in Oregon, Washington and several other states they should pay it in Misissippi and Alabama also. If they dont like it should be tough and they should go out of business.
Have you seen what gas is per gallon on the west coast vs MS/AL/etc? Have you seen what rent is in California vs. TN? Have you seen electric bills in TN vs. Cali?
The difference is HUGE, and to force a small town AL employer to pay $7.25 because CA does is stupid.
Jump on any cost of living comparison calculators and you will quickly see what I mean.
Example:
A person living in San Francisco making $52k a year will need to make approximately $29k per year in Birmingham to maintain the same standard of living.
Tell me how a federal minimum wage that is the same for all states would make any sense based on regional cost of living fluctuations.
How many of you think you can raise a family on 7.25 an hour. What is the point of this conversation!!?? We are talking about high school kids with part time jobs!! If you are using a minimum wage job to raise a family you have made some wrong turns in your life for sure!!
Amen!! And then, why should someone else be held responsible for your wrong turns? Can anyone of the statists on here explain why these individuals shouldn't be held responsible for their own choices instead of forcing those, who have worked hard to provide these jobs, to provide for them? By making the employer responsible, the non-achievers are simply emboldened to continue the activities that have made them non-achievers.
Whatever happened to property rights? Shouldn't an individual or group of individuals be able to manage their company/corporation,which they have worked hard to grow and prosper and to provide these jobs with? What gives anyone here the right to tell them what they should do with their own property, which they've earned? Why not advocate that the State go to each house each week and decide what food each doesn't need and to give it to those who have less? Or maybe money. Maybe the State should monitor everyone's savings accounts and if it reaches a certain amount, transfer it to an account of someone earning below the poverty line.
I read this quote:
Quote:
Every employer out there would only pay minimum wage if they could get away with it. They have very little compassion for their employees.
And why should employers have anymore compassion than they already show by hiring an individual? The employee and employer enter into a contract stating that I will pay X amount of money for X amount of work. If this ever becomes unacceptable for either party, the contract can be terminated. If the employee is a good employee and is worth more pay, then he/she has the option to negotiate for more pay. If the employer is unwilling to accept the offer, he/she has the option of hiring someone else. In most cases, if the employee works hard and is helping make the company money, he/she will be justly compensated for the employer's fear of having to hire a substandard worker in his/her place. This is how the market works. If one works hard and takes advantage of the opportunities available, one can achieve whatever level of economic status one desires. If, instead, one works only to get by, one should be satisfied with only mediocre compensation.
Remember, private employment is not a SOCIAL program.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Raising the minimum wage
)
