Minimum Wage Stuck in the 1950s

[dreamdancer 0]

if you pay peanuts you get...

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Are you better off than you were 40 years ago? Not if you're a minimum-wage worker.

It would take $9.92 today to match the buying power of the minimum wage at its peak in 1968, the year Martin Luther King died fighting for living wages for sanitation workers.

In today's dollars, the 1968 hourly minimum wage adds up to $20,634 a year working full time. The new federal minimum wage of $7.25 comes to just $15,080. That's $ 5,554 in lost wages.

"It is criminal to have people working on a full-time basis ... getting part-time income," King told workers in Memphis, Tenn., days before his murder. King said, "We are tired of working our hands off and laboring every day and not even making a wage adequate with daily basic necessities of life."

Imagine what King would say today.

The minimum wage is stuck in the 1950s. With the raise, the minimum wage is higher than 1950's inflation-adjusted $6.71, but lower than the 1956 minimum wage of $7.93 in today's dollars.

The long-term fall in worker buying power is one reason we are in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

The federal minimum wage was not enacted during good times, but during the extraordinarily hard times of the Great Depression. When the minimum wage became law in 1938, one out of five workers was unemployed and job creation was crucial.

President Franklin Roosevelt called the minimum wage "an essential part of economic recovery." Roosevelt said, millions of workers "receive pay so low that they have little buying power. Aside from the undoubted fact that they thereby suffer great human hardship, they are unable to buy adequate food and shelter, to maintain health or to buy their share of manufactured goods."

Roosevelt said, "The increase of national purchasing power (is) an underlying necessity of the day." And so it is today.

Camille Caramor, owner of a Louisiana Christmas tree farm and paralegal service, says, "A minimum wage increase could be the most important factor in powering our economy out of the recession."

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/24-13

stay away from moving propellers - they bite
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[millertime24 8]

That takes too long to read.
(Im really too busy making an Aluminum Foil Beanie Deflector right now)

Muff #5048

[futuredivot 0]

And who absorbs the extra cost of goods and services when the MW goes up? Come on, surely you see that there's more to the equation. TANSTAAFL

You are only as strong as the prey you devour

[quade 4]

The important thing to remember if you ever have to work for minimum wage is that your boss would actually pay you less if he could, but it's against the law . . . just like slavery.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[TomAiello 26]

Forcing people to work for you without compensation is illegal?
(perhaps I can stop paying my protection money after all)

-- Tom Aiello

Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[justinb138 0]

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The important thing to remember if you ever have to work for minimum wage is that your boss would actually pay you less if he could, but it's against the law . . . just like slavery.

Except you're leaving out that fact that if they could pay them less, the employee would always be free to find work from someone willing to pay more for it.

This isn't an issue with people who are capable of providing a service that's worth minimum wage. Those that aren't are now unemployed.

[ryoder 1,590]

I think the minimum wage should be raised to $100,000 per year.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[justinb138 0]

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I think the minimum wage should be raised to $100,000 per year.

Well, if a higher minimum wage is better, then everyone would be ok right?



If you look at someone working minimum wage that has a few kids and add in EITC, they'd actually be making lose to $10 - $11/hr.

EITC is something I never really understood.

[jcd11235 0]

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The important thing to remember if you ever have to work for minimum wage is that your boss would actually pay you less if he could, but it's against the law . . . just like slavery.

Technically, even slavery provides the equivalent of a living wage.

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[jcd11235 0]

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Except you're leaving out that fact fantasy that if they could pay them less, the employee would always be free to find work from someone willing to pay more for it.

It would be nice if it were fact, but in the real world, no such luck.

Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

[justinb138 0]

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Except you're leaving out that fact fantasy that if they could pay them less, the employee would always be free to find work from someone willing to pay more for it.

It would be nice if it were fact, but in the real world, no such luck.

So in which state are people not allowed to change jobs if they're not happy with their wages?

[jcd11235 0]

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Except you're leaving out that fact fantasy that if they could pay them less, the employee would always be free to find work from someone willing to pay more for it.

It would be nice if it were fact, but in the real world, no such luck.

So in which state are people not allowed to change jobs if they're not happy with their wages?

It's not a matter of being allowed to change jobs. It's a matter of being able to afford to take the time to look for alternate employment and/or the better paying jobs actually being available. For many people it just isn't a realistic option.

Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

[mnealtx 0]

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I think the minimum wage should be raised to $100,000 per year.

Well, if a higher minimum wage is better, then everyone would be ok right?



If you look at someone working minimum wage that has a few kids and add in EITC, they'd actually be making lose to $10 - $11/hr.

EITC is something I never really understood.

They also never mention that the many minimum wage workers are kids and people taking second jobs.

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According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2005, only about 2.5 percent of all hourly-paid workers earned $5.15 or less. More than a quarter of these workers are between the ages of 16 and 19. About 60 percent are part-time workers. Only 1.5 percent of hourly-paid workers over the age of 25 made minimum wage.

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[quade 4]

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According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2005, only about 2.5 percent of all hourly-paid workers earned $5.15 or less. More than a quarter of these workers are between the ages of 16 and 19. About 60 percent are part-time workers. Only 1.5 percent of hourly-paid workers over the age of 25 made minimum wage.

Awesome! So you then agree it would not be a burden on business to give them a raise. Cool. I agree with you.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[mnealtx 0]

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According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2005, only about 2.5 percent of all hourly-paid workers earned $5.15 or less. More than a quarter of these workers are between the ages of 16 and 19. About 60 percent are part-time workers. Only 1.5 percent of hourly-paid workers over the age of 25 made minimum wage.

Awesome! So you then agree it would not be a burden on society to give them a raise. Cool. I agree with you.

Wrong. Mandatory minimum wage laws increase costs and result in more inflation and unemployment.

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[jcd11235 0]

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I think the minimum wage should be raised to $100,000 per year.

Well, if a higher minimum wage is better, then everyone would be ok right?



If you look at someone working minimum wage that has a few kids and add in EITC, they'd actually be making lose to $10 - $11/hr.

EITC is something I never really understood.

They also never mention that the many minimum wage workers are kids and people taking second jobs.

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According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2005, only about 2.5 percent of all hourly-paid workers earned $5.15 or less. More than a quarter of these workers are between the ages of 16 and 19. About 60 percent are part-time workers. Only 1.5 percent of hourly-paid workers over the age of 25 made minimum wage.

I find it rather sad that so many people feel sorry for the richest 1.5% because they have to pay so much in taxes, but many of those same people are often unable to feel sorry for the poorest 1.5%.

Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

[justinb138 0]

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It's not a matter of being allowed to change jobs. It's a matter of being able to afford to take the time to look for alternate employment

So who says you have to quit one job before finding another?

I've never quit a job without having another.

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and/or the better paying jobs actually being available. For many people it just isn't a realistic option.

Jobs will be available if you don't kill the market for unskilled labor by instituting a minimum wage, The better-paying part of it generally relies on the ability of the worker to provide a service that's worth the higher wage.

Also please don't confuse "unwilling" with it "not being an option".

Raising minimum wage doesn't really increase anyone's wages - it just creates a situation where people whose skills aren't worth minimum wage can't get a job.

Think about it - if it's going to cost an employer more to hire someone that they'll bring in for them, they can either hire them anyway and go broke or just not hire them. Given that businesses have to stay profitable to exist, what do you think they'll do?

[justinb138 0]

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I find it rather sad that so many people feel sorry for the richest 1.5% because they have to pay so much in taxes, but many of those same people are often unable to feel sorry for the poorest 1.5%.

I feel sorry for people that work their asses off to succeed only to have the government take half of their earnings, and then vilify and blame them for society's problems while completely ignoring the positive effects that their hard work had on the same society.

I could give a shit about the person that thinks they're entitled to the earnings gained by the hard work of the above mentioned people.

[jcd11235 0]

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So who says you have to quit one job before finding another?

No one did. That doesn't mean that it is feasible to look for alternate employment at any time day or night.

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I've never quit a job without having another.

Congratulations. That only indicates that you've never experienced being unemployed since you started working. For many people, that isn't the case.

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The better-paying part of it generally relies on the ability of the worker to provide a service that's worth the higher wage.

That implies that pay varies with ability, which is often not the case.

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Also please don't confuse "unwilling" with it "not being an option".

I haven't.

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Think about it - if it's going to cost an employer more to hire someone that they'll bring in for them, they can either hire them anyway and go broke or just not hire them. Given that businesses have to stay profitable to exist, what do you think they'll do?

Ahhh … it's refreshing to see the same old tired arguments that have historically not be accurate predictions of the repercussions of raising minimum wage. Besides, as the OP pointed out, it isn't about raising minimum wage, it is about maintaining minimum wage in real dollars. Your argument doesn't generally apply to the latter.

Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

[quade 4]

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I could give a shit about the person that thinks they're entitled to the earnings gained by the hard work of the above mentioned people.

I find it hilarious that so many millionaires think they earned their money entirely by themselves.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[justinb138 0]

Do you have a point or are you just whining?

[jcd11235 0]

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I could give a shit about the person that thinks they're entitled to the earnings gained by the hard work of the above mentioned people.

I find it hilarious that so many millionaires think they earned their money entirely by themselves.

Excellent point.

Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

[quade 4]

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Do you have a point or are you just whining?

My point? Yeah, this country GIVES people the opportunity to become as wealthy as is just about imaginable. It does that in a LOT of ways that aren't entirely obvious. For instance, infrastructure. If you make widgets and want to sell them to anyone other than the people that work in your factory, you're going to be using government infrastructure to do it. Building that infrastructure costs money. Keeping the next generation of employees educated enough to continue to make widgets costs money. Keeping the world safe enough so that your shipment of widgets can get from point A to point B costs money. Sending the fire department to put out the fire at your factory costs money.

In short, your widget factory doesn't exist without thousands upon thousands of other people supporting YOU getting rich.

Stop being such a fucking tight wad, shut the fuck up and pay for it. You'll still be richer than the other 95% can ever hope to be.





(Not you personally . . . I don't know if you own a widget company or not.)

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[DrewEckhardt 0]

1. The problem here is that when things (housing in over-hyped markets, unskilled labor) cost more than they're worth people find market alternatives (rent, checkout machines which each eliminate 3 clerks).

Artificially inflating labor prices just encourages automation, moving jobs over-seas, and position consolidation all of which eliminate jobs.

2. While it might be nice to work just 40 hours a week, financial pressure from things like low cost labor overseas means that isn't a reality for many of us.

[chasteh 0]

Given that businesses have to stay profitable to exist,


Well, of course, unless your talking about the short run.