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The minimum wage is back in the American headlines again, thanks to (1) fast food workers staging a protest asking for their minimum wage to be doubled, and (2) Fox News creatures saying incredibly stupid things about it.
I’ll let John Oliver cover the latter, since I can’t possibly improve on it.
As for raising the minimum wage, as usual, the argument basically comes down to a disconnect between idealism and reality.
The conservative ideology tends to assume that America is this place where everyone has a fair shot at becoming the 1% as long as they work hard enough and long enough, and that a key way to ensure that they DO work hard enough and long enough is to give them incentives – such as, say, poor working conditions and not paying them enough to survive on.
The reality is that many minimum wage workers are not teenagers earning beer money but grown-ups with families to support, and more and more employers keep their workers part-time to avoid having to give them same benefits as full-time workers, and most new jobs being created right now are part-time. Combine that with the fact that minimum wage doesn’t go nearly as far as it used to, and it’s hard to justify keeping the current minimum wage where it is.
The other problem is that the “incentive” argument is basically an excuse to dismiss the people stuck in dead-end low pay jobs as losers or lazy people. In other words, “If yr poor, it’s yr own fault. Fuck you, lazybones.” The disconnect there is the assumption that everyone who gets work at McDonald’s and works hard enough will eventually get to take over the store (just like Neil Cavuto, kids!). The truth is that most minimum-wage workers will never achieve that, no matter how hard they work. Not everyone can win. That is how capitalism works.
And the losers don't fade away like extras in a movie. They're still in yr society, and you still have to deal with them, one way or the other. And studies have shown it’s better to have more people who can afford the basic cost of living – even at minimum wage – than people who can't.
Also, this notion that doubling the minimum wage would make McDonald’s too cushy a job is the kind of thing you’d expect to hear from people who either have never had to survive on minimum wage, or did so back when minimum wage went a lot further than it does today, or suck at math.
According to my random math, someone making $15/hour and working 30 hours a week would be pulling in $1,800 a month, or $21,000 a year. That’s before whatever city, state and federal taxes he/she would have to deduct. And that’s assuming they do get 30 hours on the clock. On the bright side, that puts you above the poverty line, provided yr supporting a family of three or less. On the other hand, you’d have to be delusional or a Fox News commentator to call that “cushy”.
As for the other main argument – it hurts businesses, causes more unemployment and raises prices – well, that’s probably true to an extent. Look at all the CEOs freaking out over Obamacare which will raise pizza prices a whole 13 cents per pie! Similarly, doubling the minimum wage would boost the cost of a Big Mac 68 cents. Isn’t it worth denying people healthcare and a living wage and cutting their hours just so the rest of us can save a few dimes when we go out for pizza and burgers?
So yeah, it’s hard to be sympathetic to that line. That said, I am aware that while a huge chain like McDonald’s – which makes $5 billion in sheer profit alone – can afford to give hourly workers a decent raise, it won’t necessarily be as easy for small businesses with much thinner margins. So I do think that should be taken into account.
Which is why I suspect one outcome of the “double our wage” protest will be to make Obama’s proposed $9.00./hr raise look reasonable by comparison. It certainly looks more reasonable than most conservative arguments against it at this stage.
On the other hand, according to at least one study, if the object is to help poor people get by, it would be more cost-effective overall to give them a higher Earned Income Tax Credit than a higher minimum wage.
And for what it’s worth, the vast majority of America is in favor of raising it to $10.10. Which, incidentally, would work out to a little over $14,500 a year on a 30 hour work week.
Luxury!
Paycheck by paycheck,
This is dF
I’ll let John Oliver cover the latter, since I can’t possibly improve on it.
As for raising the minimum wage, as usual, the argument basically comes down to a disconnect between idealism and reality.
The conservative ideology tends to assume that America is this place where everyone has a fair shot at becoming the 1% as long as they work hard enough and long enough, and that a key way to ensure that they DO work hard enough and long enough is to give them incentives – such as, say, poor working conditions and not paying them enough to survive on.
The reality is that many minimum wage workers are not teenagers earning beer money but grown-ups with families to support, and more and more employers keep their workers part-time to avoid having to give them same benefits as full-time workers, and most new jobs being created right now are part-time. Combine that with the fact that minimum wage doesn’t go nearly as far as it used to, and it’s hard to justify keeping the current minimum wage where it is.
The other problem is that the “incentive” argument is basically an excuse to dismiss the people stuck in dead-end low pay jobs as losers or lazy people. In other words, “If yr poor, it’s yr own fault. Fuck you, lazybones.” The disconnect there is the assumption that everyone who gets work at McDonald’s and works hard enough will eventually get to take over the store (just like Neil Cavuto, kids!). The truth is that most minimum-wage workers will never achieve that, no matter how hard they work. Not everyone can win. That is how capitalism works.
And the losers don't fade away like extras in a movie. They're still in yr society, and you still have to deal with them, one way or the other. And studies have shown it’s better to have more people who can afford the basic cost of living – even at minimum wage – than people who can't.
Also, this notion that doubling the minimum wage would make McDonald’s too cushy a job is the kind of thing you’d expect to hear from people who either have never had to survive on minimum wage, or did so back when minimum wage went a lot further than it does today, or suck at math.
According to my random math, someone making $15/hour and working 30 hours a week would be pulling in $1,800 a month, or $21,000 a year. That’s before whatever city, state and federal taxes he/she would have to deduct. And that’s assuming they do get 30 hours on the clock. On the bright side, that puts you above the poverty line, provided yr supporting a family of three or less. On the other hand, you’d have to be delusional or a Fox News commentator to call that “cushy”.
As for the other main argument – it hurts businesses, causes more unemployment and raises prices – well, that’s probably true to an extent. Look at all the CEOs freaking out over Obamacare which will raise pizza prices a whole 13 cents per pie! Similarly, doubling the minimum wage would boost the cost of a Big Mac 68 cents. Isn’t it worth denying people healthcare and a living wage and cutting their hours just so the rest of us can save a few dimes when we go out for pizza and burgers?
So yeah, it’s hard to be sympathetic to that line. That said, I am aware that while a huge chain like McDonald’s – which makes $5 billion in sheer profit alone – can afford to give hourly workers a decent raise, it won’t necessarily be as easy for small businesses with much thinner margins. So I do think that should be taken into account.
Which is why I suspect one outcome of the “double our wage” protest will be to make Obama’s proposed $9.00./hr raise look reasonable by comparison. It certainly looks more reasonable than most conservative arguments against it at this stage.
On the other hand, according to at least one study, if the object is to help poor people get by, it would be more cost-effective overall to give them a higher Earned Income Tax Credit than a higher minimum wage.
And for what it’s worth, the vast majority of America is in favor of raising it to $10.10. Which, incidentally, would work out to a little over $14,500 a year on a 30 hour work week.
Luxury!
Paycheck by paycheck,
This is dF
