Minimum Wage

Minimum wage is the bottom rung of the success ladder...

The only reason to raise it is if you plan on staying at the bottom.

Well, somebody has to do those jobs. Detaching yourself personally from it, think about, somebody has to do the cleaning jobs etc otherwise we'd struggle to function.

Where's the harm in giving them a more comfortable life at the expense of senior management and CEOs who won't miss a few thousand that could change the life of those at the bottom?


Come off it, anybody whose been in the real world knows that success and earnings don't always correlate with effort, intelligence or ambition.

Raising the minimum wage will just push up prices of products everywhere, thus raising living costs, and we'll be back at square one again

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL.

'Hey there kids, if you don't wanna be poor all you have to do is work hard!' And other utter bullshit brought to you by the bourgeoisie.

Myth: Raising the minimum wage will only benefit teens.

Not true: The typical minimum wage worker is not a high school student earning weekend pocket money. In fact, 89 percent of those who would benefit from a federal minimum wage increase to $12 per hour are age 20 or older, and 56 percent are women.

Myth: Increasing the minimum wage will cause people to lose their jobs.

Not true: In a letter to President Obama and congressional leaders urging a minimum wage increase, more than 600 economists, including 7 Nobel Prize winners wrote, "In recent years there have been important developments in the academic literature on the effect of increases in the minimum wage on employment, with the weight of evidence now showing that increases in the minimum wage have had little or no negative effect on the employment of minimum-wage workers, even during times of weakness in the labor market. Research suggests that a minimum-wage increase could have a small stimulative effect on the economy as low-wage workers spend their additional earnings, raising demand and job growth, and providing some help on the jobs front."

Myth: Small business owners can't afford to pay their workers more, and therefore don't support an increase in the minimum wage.

Not true: A July 2015 survey found that 3 out of 5 small business owners with employees support a gradual increase in the minimum wage to $12. The survey reports that small business owners say an increase "would immediately put more money in the pocket of low-wage workers who will then spend the money on things like housing, food, and gas. This boost in demand for goods and services will help stimulate the economy and help create opportunities."

Myth: Raising the federal tipped minimum wage ($2.13 per hour since 1991) would hurt restaurants.

Not true: In California, employers are required to pay servers the full minimum wage of $9 per hour  before tips. Even with a 2014 increase in the minimum wage, the National Restaurant Association projects California restaurant sales will outpace all but only a handful of states in 2015.

Myth: Raising the federal tipped minimum wage ($2.13 per hour since 1991) would lead to restaurant job losses.

Not true: As of May 2015, employers in San Francisco must pay tipped workers the full minimum wage of $12.25 per hour  before tips. Yet, the San Francisco leisure and hospitality industry, which includes full-service restaurants, has experienced positive job growth this year, including following the most recent minimum wage increase.

Myth: Raising the federal minimum wage won't benefit workers in states where the hourly minimum rate is already higher than the federal minimum.

Not true: While 29 states and the District of Columbia currently have a minimum wage higher than the federal minimum, increasing the federal minimum wage will boost the earnings for nearly 38 million low-wage workers nationwide. That includes workers in those states already earning above the current federal minimum. Raising the federal minimum wage is an important part of strengthening the economy. A raise for minimum wage earners will put more money in more families' pockets, which will be spent on goods and services, stimulating economic growth locally and nationally.

Myth: Younger workers don't have to be paid the minimum wage.

Not true: While there are some exceptions, employers are generally required to pay at least the federal minimum wage. Exceptions allowed include a minimum wage of $4.25 per hour for young workers under the age of 20, but only during their first 90 consecutive calendar days of employment with an employer, and as long as their work does not displace other workers. After 90 consecutive days of employment or the employee reaches 20 years of age, whichever comes first, the employee must receive the current federal minimum wage or the state minimum wage, whichever is higher. There are programs requiring federal certification that allow for payment of less than the full federal minimum wage, but those programs are not limited to the employment of young workers.

Myth: Restaurant servers don't need to be paid the minimum wage since they receive tips.

Not true: An employer can pay a tipped employee as little as $2.13 per hour in direct wages, but only if that amount plus tips equal at least the federal minimum wage and the worker retains all tips and customarily and regularly receives more than $30 a month in tips. Often, an employee's tips combined with the employer's direct wages of at least $2.13 an hour do not equal the federal minimum hourly wage. When that occurs, the employer must make up the difference. Some states have minimum wage laws specific to tipped employees. When an employee is subject to both the federal and state wage laws, he or she is entitled to the provisions of each law which provides the greater benefits.

Myth: Increasing the minimum wage is bad for businesses.

Not true: Academic research has shown that higher wages sharply reduce employee turnover which can reduce employment and training costs.

Myth: Increasing the minimum wage is bad for the economy.

Not true: Since 1938, the federal minimum wage has been increased 22 times. For more than 75 years, real GDP per capita has steadily increased, even when the minimum wage has been raised.

Myth: The federal minimum wage goes up automatically as prices increase.

Not true: While some states have enacted rules in recent years triggering automatic increases in their minimum wages to help them keep up with inflation, the federal minimum wage does not operate in the same manner. An increase in the federal minimum wage requires approval by Congress and the president. However, in his call to gradually increase the current federal minimum, President Obama has also called for it to adjust automatically with inflation. Eliminating the requirement of formal congressional action would likely reduce the amount of time between increases, and better help low-income families keep up with rising prices.

Myth: The federal minimum wage is higher today than it was when President Reagan took office.

Not true: While the federal minimum wage was only $3.35 per hour in 1981 and is currently $7.25 per hour in real dollars, when adjusted for inflation, the current federal minimum wage would need to be more than $8 per hour to equal its buying power of the early 1980s and more nearly $11 per hour to equal its buying power of the late 1960s. That's why President Obama is urging Congress to increase the federal minimum wage and give low-wage workers a much-needed boost.

Myth: Increasing the minimum wage lacks public support.

Not true: Raising the federal minimum wage is an issue with broad popular support. Polls conducted since February 2013 when President Obama first called on Congress to increase the minimum wage have consistently shown that an overwhelming majority of Americans support an increase.

Myth: Increasing the minimum wage will result in job losses for newly hired and unskilled workers in what some call a Âlast-one-hired-equals-first-one-fired scenario.

Not true: Minimum wage increases have little to no negative effect on employment as shown in independent studies from economists across the country. Academic research also has shown that higher wages sharply reduce employee turnover which can reduce employment and training costs.

Myth: The minimum wage stays the same if Congress doesn't change it.

Not true: Congress sets the minimum wage, but it doesn't keep pace with inflation. Because the cost of living is always rising, the value of a new minimum wage begins to fall from the moment it is set.

There are many positives concerning raising the minimum wage. I would recommend people look up the facts instead of listening to those hurting you, and being so closed minded. You just sound ignorant.

or it will put more money in the hands of people that will spend it and doing so will boost the economy, create jobs, etc ...

I was at the National Restaurant Show yesterday and if you look at the robotic devices that are coming into the restaurant industry -- its cheaper to buy a $35,000 robotic arm than it is to hire an employee whos inefficient making $15 an hour bagging French fries -- its nonsense and its very destructive and its inflationary and its going to cause a job loss across this country like youre not going to believe, said former McDonalds (MCD) USA CEO Ed Rensi during an interview on the FOX Business Networks Mornings with Maria.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/2016/05/24/fmr-mcdonalds-usa-ceo-35k-robots-cheaper-than-hiring-at-15-per-hour.html

It's a tricky one for sure, I started at minimum wage as an apprentice but soon got well past that as I finished my books. It actually teaches very valuable money budgeting skills. In a time where heavy drinking and partying were prevalent, there were certainly some dicey times of being unable to pay rent and buy proper food. In saying that, being stuck on that wage forever would be bloody terrible.

Very close to me, walking distance, there is a job I want that I'd like very badly because it seems cool / fun. I've applied a few times but I just haven't gotten a call back. Since it's so close and it'd save me so much money on gas over I'd be willing to work for under minimum wage since it's a legitimate interesting job and could lead to experience down the line.

If I could offer my services for 5 or 7 bucks an hour and undercut all the other applicants, I would do it and I should be able to get the job, but I can't even offer than because of minimum wage laws.

I say let the free market work and pay you what your worth, and what your willing to work for.

"Adidas, the German maker of sportswear and equipment, has announced it will start marketing its first series of shoes manufactured by robots in Germany from 2017.

Adidas is facing rising production costs in Asia where it employs around one million workers. Arch-rival Nike is also developing its robot-operated factory."

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/25/adidas-to-sell-robot-made-shoes-from-2017

This scenario works best with bargaining units representing the workforce.

It works out the worst (in the States, at least) when all of the bargaining power is up top.

Source: https://www.dol.gov/minwage/mythbuster.htm?TB_iframe=true

Please quote your sources, and place credit where it's due.

I find it rather funny how this government page is put together. It offers little in the way of evidence. The few links it offers are to sites that really offer nothing but circumstantial correlations... example: National Restaurant Association projects California restaurant sales will outpace all but only a handful of states in 2015. Great, but so what? How does that help the restaurant owners in Butte Montana?

Where is the peer-reviewed, double-blind, national economic study that supports these claims that a one size fits all national wage would be good for the nation? I am not talking about some politically motivated, agenda driven, governmental web-page... I am talking about proof.

It sounds great to claim that raising the minimum wage will help the nation, and I could support it if I knew for certain that it would, but until I see some evidence that even more jobs won't be lost doing it, I will just have to go with my gut, and common sense that shows me that if you raise wages, and businesses can't afford to pay them, then those businesses will either fire people or go out of business.

Myth: Minimum wage increases have little to no negative effect on employment as shown in independent studies from economists across the country. Academic research also has shown that higher wages sharply reduce employee turnover which can reduce employment and training costs.

Fact: "Its cheaper to buy a $35,000 robotic arm than it is to hire an employee who's inefficient making $15 an hour bagging French fries -- it's nonsense and it's very destructive and it's inflationary and it's going to cause a job loss across this country like you're not going to believe, said former McDonalds USA CEO Ed Rensi

Rensi also said that we should do away with the federal minimum wage and leave it up to the states.

I think we ought to have a multi-faceted wage program in this country. If youre a high school kid, you ought to have a student wage. If youre an entry level worker you ought to have a separate wage. The states ought to manage this because they know more [about] whats going on the ground than anybody in Washington D.C., he said.

I know, and I agree with the multi-faceted wage program.

Most of you are missing the point of the minimum wage legislation which was brought in to prevent employers exploiting desperate workers who would work (for example) a 12 hour shift picking fruit for £30 rather than have no work at all and therefore starve.

Since it was brought in, however, employers have begun to abuse it. There have always been 'real' minimum wage jobs, for example a job which requires no experience, no skill, just a person to turn up and complete basic tasks, such as a road sweeper, fruit picker, produce packer etc. Employers, however, have expanded the elements of the workforce they will pay a minimum wage to include numerous semi-skilled and even skilled jobs. In a job market where there are far too many people unemployed employers can get away with this.

It is a shame as it has done away with the element of starting in an unskilled job and then working hard to rise yourself above it to increase your earning potential as the jobs on the next two or three rungs of the employment ladder often pay exactly the same minimum wage.

bullshit. No one likes being at the bottom. It take a lot of money to get ahead. Networking and money. If you don't have both of those, you stay at the bottom to fend for yourself. No one likes being poor. they're stuck there.

Your plan only really works if each person in each catagory is equally as valuable as each other person. If a person is doing nothing but punching a time clock, why should he get the same pay as a person who is highly industrious? My argument is based on the value a person brings to the marketplace. I bring value to my employer. Because of this, my hourly wage was increased last week from $7.25/hr to $9.00/hr and I received a promotion. I literally started at the bottom, or "on the bottom rung" of the wage ladder. I made up my mind that I would make myself more valuable, and I did. I then proved my value every day for 10 months. Numerous coworkers are not so ambitious as myself. They do the minimum and complain constantly because they don't make enough. In turn, I constantly remind them that if they make themselves more valuable, the company will gladly pay them accordingly. The same is generally true anywhere. If a person makes their company a billion bucks, their company will gladly pay them wages in the millions.

I started at the bottom, and am slowly working my way up. I would say I have gone up one rung. If I had no ambition and were lazy, then I would argue that minimum wage needs to be raised, because that would be the only way I could ever get a raise in my wages. This is dumb thinking. Poor thinking leads to poverty. I know people who spend their tax refund on crap that doesn't make them money, doesn't get them out of debt, doesn't improve their quality of life, etc. That's not me. I'm done being in poverty, and if I can do it, anyone can. The only thing standing between any person and financial freedom is self-discipline, NOT MINIMUM WAGE LAWS.

90% of the money is in the hands of 10% of the people because of their habits. If you took all the money from the 10% and gave it to the 90%, it would soon be right back in the hands of the 10% because poor people are poor due to bad habits, not a lack of money.

"poor people are poor due to bad habits, not a lack of money."

Quite possibly the most retarded comment ever posted in a Torn forum