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Minimum wage

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by luckyducky, Feb 23, 2009.

Page 2 of 6
  1. Armchair_QB

    Armchair_QB Well-Known Member

    That's not entirely accurate. Employers will cut staff is salary cuts into profits. This will result in some folks losing their jobs, or seeing their hours reduced.

    On one hand, raising the minimum wage makes sense from a cost of living standpoint - even though the wage doesn't come close to keeping up with the COL.

    On the other hand, minimum wage jobs aren't meant to be "breadwinner" jobs.
     
    Armchair_QB, Feb 23, 2009
    #13
  2. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Minimum wage threads on here are always entertaining.

    1) You can't support a family on $8 an hour.

    2) It doesn't change the fact that government-mandated minimum wages are price floors, and they create unemployment. The very people everyone thinks they are helping with the price floor end up worse off because of it. Employers hire fewer people, because demand for labor is sensitive to cost. And the lowest-skilled adults are the ones left unemployed, because with a bigger pool of people to pick from, younger, more talented workers, who are also generally more OK with working for less, get the jobs.

    Ducky's story is the actual evidence of what minimum wage does to the labor market. If I am not mistaken, this is not new or specific to the recession, because Washington state has been hammered by high unemployment relative to the rest of the country for years because it sets its floor higher than other places.
     
    The Big Ragu, Feb 23, 2009
    #14
  3. Fudgie the Whale

    Fudgie the Whale Guest

    Ragu,

    But isn't that the exact same argument trotted out every time the minimum wage is raised? If I went back and cut-and-paste articles about minimum wage increases over the past 20 years, I could find almost similar word-for-word responses.

    Raise it to $5! It'll crash the economy. $6! Crash the economy. Etc.
     
    Fudgie the Whale, Feb 23, 2009
    #15
  4. spnited

    spnited Active Member

    New Jersey's minimum wage is $7.25/hr. or $290 per week.
    If I were laid off tomorrow, I can collect nearly twice that (actually more than twice what the post-tax net would be) in unemployment for at least 26 weeks with the possibility of getting another 13 week extension.
    So why would I take a minimum wage job?
     
    spnited, Feb 23, 2009
    #16
  5. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    It's as simple a cause and effect thing as there is. I didn't say anything about crashing the economy. It does choke off some economic activity--mostly hitting small businesses that are hurt by it--and it undoubtedly creates unemployment (please pull actual unemployment figures for Washington state, since it instituted its higher price floor, if it helps convince you of the reality). But an $8 minimum wage isn't going to completely destroy the economy, because the equilibrium between supply and demand for MOST jobs is higher than $8. This doesn't effect most people. It's only low-wage, unskilled, older workers who are effected and the reality is that while designed to help them, it actually leaves them worse off.
     
    The Big Ragu, Feb 23, 2009
    #17
  6. Fenian_Bastard

    Fenian_Bastard Guest

    Minimum wage causes unemployment.

    I knew it was coming.
     
    Fenian_Bastard, Feb 23, 2009
    #18
  7. mike311gd

    mike311gd Active Member

    I miss working in food service.
     
    mike311gd, Feb 23, 2009
    #19
  8. Beaker

    Beaker Active Member

    I shudder to think what some companies might pay without it.
     
    Beaker, Feb 23, 2009
    #20
  9. imjustagirl

    imjustagirl Active Member

    Deleted my first post, because my math skills suck.

    But I now have TMBG in my head, so thanks ducky!
     
    imjustagirl, Feb 23, 2009
    #21
  10. RossLT

    RossLT Guest

    When I was quite a bit younger my mom lost the job she had to support my brother and myself. She signed up for unemployment and after getting two weeks of unemployment she got offered a job that was for less than she was getting on unemployment and they told her she had to take it. Granted this was 25 years ago, but I would bet you can't keep turning down jobs when you are on unemployment.
     
    RossLT, Feb 23, 2009
    #22
  11. forever_town

    forever_town Well-Known Member

    The way I understand unemployment law, you can't turn down a job without just cause to do so or you get your benefits denied. I'd think getting paid less at a job than what you'd get for unemployment might qualify as just cause, especially if you can prove that the "costs" of accepting the job make accepting it not worth it.
     
    forever_town, Feb 23, 2009
    #23
  12. crimsonace

    crimsonace Well-Known Member

    Very few minimum wage jobs are worked by adults supporting families (unless they're adults who struggle to keep a job for whatever reason).

    Most are worked by teenagers who are getting their feet wet in the work force and trying to pay for their cars, pot, beer and their girlfriends.

    My students LOVE the idea of minimum wage increases until they realize that some of them might lose their jobs because of it.
     
    crimsonace, Feb 23, 2009
    #24
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