How is a $15 federal minimum wage connected to Covid relief?

You understand that at the current minimum wage, those recipients qualify for federal and state aid to make up the difference, so your literally paying for it now.

I honestly don’t understand the fight against a living wage. If your an employer and cant pay your employees a living wage, you should not be in business.

 

This has never came to pass?
Visit areas with high minimum wage. Compare local prices and rental rates to areas where the minimum wage is lower.
I remember 10 years ago visiting a friend who was renting her room in Brooklyn for $1,500 per month. Her room was tiny and the apartment didn’t even have a real living room. For that money you could have rented a nice single family house in Minneapolis inner suburbs.

You raise the minimum wage to $15/hour and you will see that in 3-4 years they will all have exact same living conditions like they do today, except that they’ll be earning more at the same job and spending more in the same grocery stores and at the same apartments they rent. Raising minimum wage won’t elevate your position on the society’s food chain as everyone stays exactly where they were.

 

You make another excellent, relevant point when you say, "And all the wages above the MW increase would/should go up, or the people who earned their raises will be penalized."

A friend of mine whose family owns a business employing ~150 people, most of whom are in the low-income range, said EXACTLY THE SAME THING, almost verbatim! He's the general manager, and some of the people working one of his operations have been in their jobs over 15 years.

Now, if all of a sudden, the minimum wage is jacked-up to $15, it means that new-hires at his company will be coming on board making about the same as those who have lots of 'seniority' and have built up a lot of 'sweat-equity'. That's just flat WRONG. The damned government needs to stay the hell OUT of deciding who-makes-what....

 

"The government should be able to reduce spending to compensate."
Just not very likely. What the government departments don't spend they lose in the next fiscal year. This fiscal policy does not promote saving. It encourages spending.

 

And you think thats because of the minimum wage??
More proof of why the right ALWAYS tanks the economy, they simply do not understand it.

 

Wages are a driving factor in the economy.

If you believe that wages aren't a driving factor, stop accepting your personal wages. Let us know how your personal economy does. Now take that information, and apply it by 330M.

 

I understand all that. But I think it is a very bad way to run a government.

 

I agree and so is not having a zero balance amendment. The taxpayers have no say in how much the House spends or for what.

 

minimum wage would be commensurate with welfare.

 

And yet even more proof the right doesn't understand the economy.

 

Why not $100 an hour? $1000?

 

Your statement provides nothing of value. No information, no debate, just denial.
Why waste the bandwidth?

 

"A family earning between $32,048 and $53,413 was considered lower-middle class."
https://money.usnews.com/money/pers...-i-fall-in-the-american-economic-class-system

And that is for a family. Two earners working full time @ 15/hr is $62,400 which is well above the lower middle class threshold.

I have no problem with a minimum wage, but it should be as local as possible. 15/hr is to much in rural areas, and nowhere near enough in high cost of living areas.

 

My like is for posting reasonable information, with a link supporting it, and I do agree with the basic statement.

One thing though, is that the majority of the demographic who earn FMW aren't usually supporting a family, and most are under the age of 25. And, the mobility of those earning FMW is great. MW is a starting block, and not intended to be a 'living wage'.

Characteristics of minimum wage workers, 2019 : BLS Reports: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Also as you stated, it's not a 'one-size-fits-all situation. Different regions have different costs of living, wage competition, and IMO, the government shouldn't be attempting to force employers into supporting people's life styles. That isn't the point of working or the existence of employers.

 

What does greed have to do with it? This post is nothing but a shallow appeal to emotion.
Are businesses "greedy" if they only pay market rate for shipping?

 

Personally, I would have no minimum wage at all and let markets set wages.

 

This is NOT true. Certainly not in all cases. Was your deceitful post intentional?

 

if a corporation making billions doesn't want to pay their employees a min wage, they are greedy imo

 

If the job doesn't require skill, then the job pool is usually quite large. Once a person has skills, their value goes up. Once of the reasons a new, unskilled person usually makes less than a skilled worker who has multiple years under their belt.

Why does a business exist? Usually, to make a profit. If they offer a job at X rate, and another company offers the same job at x*2, who do you think the people would work for? What does the first company have to do to entice people to work for them? Raise their starting wages or offer more lucrative bennies.

It is pretty much self correcting.

 

yes, if the job pool is large, some corps will try to underpay people, that is why we have a min wage

 

Define 'underpay'.

If many people have the same skillset, then the value of that skillset is lower. Minimum wage is exactly that, the minimum that can be paid. It's up to the individual to improve their skillset, so they can earn more money.

 

We tried that already. It didn't end well.

 

Doesn't "want", WTF are you even talking about? Employers pay for labor at market rate just like every other expense. Artificial distortions in the market are generally harmful.

 

if a corp pays people less than a living wage, the tax payers have to supplement it via welfare

 

$15 an hour? Why not? The US dollar will be worthless if the government keeps on with its fiscal policies. Folks should live it up while they can.