Good, because "fight for $15" has been going on so long that the real number to regain parity with what minimum wage used to be is a lot higher than that by now.
Wait, doubling it -to- 15 dollars an hour? Holy shit, I knew it was bad, but that is insane. Ours is already starting to feel too low at 17.40 here in Canada, granted that is about the equivalent of around $12.50 USD. So it's lower than what she is proposing, maybe if she manages it, we'll be able to get ours up.
It varies by province and at the federal level in Canada, 17.40 is for BC specifically, Alberta and Saskatchewan are the lowest at 15, Nunavut is the highest at 19 and it's 17.30 for jobs under federal jurisdiction.
The last place I worked upped their minimum wage to $10 an hour. It certainly wasn't because of benevolence or federal shifts...they slowly realized that when you pay the absolute minimum, you only attract the minimum talent, and most of those positions had very high turnover rates that were costing the company more than it'd be to just raise the starting pay rates.
Unfortunately in my state where the minimum wage is higher than the federal, many service industry companies refuse to learn that lesson. Or they think 16 cents above minimum wage is enough to attract top tier talent.
I'll believe it when I see it. Seems every candidate has promised this for as long as I've been following American politics and no one actually manages it.
Because we've been arguing it should be at least 15 for 10 years, and inflation is a bitch and if federal minimum wage had tracked with inflation since it was implemented, it would be closer to 30 bucks an hour than to 15.
I think the common sentiment is that minimum wage should be rated annually tied to a major factor on how much spending power that money has like inflation or productivity.
Minimum wage started in 1938 at $0.25. if it kept up with inflation today that would be $5.59, which is far from enough to survive with even the most basic rent and groceries.
""" The dollar had an average inflation rate of 3.68% per year between 1938 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 2,136.18%."""
I'm seeing 21.50 from articles in 2020 tying min wage to productivity. Maybe that's the number basis? Or living wage? A living wage per state adjustment for one adult with one child seems to put lw around 30 in a lot of states, with the single adult needing 13-20.
The number needs to be set to a good value, but this is the most frustrating aspect of this whole song and dance, because there shouldn't even be a question about whether it should track inflation. Just setting another flat value so we can watch it atrophy away is maddening. The whole concept is directly related to the cost of goods, and the people needing this wage are the most impacted by price changes. And since it's supposed to be a floor, you know minimum wage employers aren't going to voluntarily raise wages to track inflation. They'd be paying even less if they were allowed.
Even if the businesses-first majority of politicians try to low-ball the target, there's no legitimate argument for not making it auto-update. Businesses just like to reap the extra exploitation between updates.
I doubt many people make anywhere close to minimum, but no excuse not to raise it!
5-years ago? Yep, we had tons of clients paying rock bottom, or close enough. I'm not in the payroll business anymore, but the jobs my wife was looking at as a preschool teacher were $12+, and that job always pays shit. Walmart and Target start at $15, or more.
All this is a small town where you would expect small wages. I was in Manhattan in 1992 and was astounded at the prices. Ask my native friend how people survived on minimum wage. He looked at me funny and laughed, "Dude. No one gets minimum wage. $10 is as low as it goes."
Good news on one of those shit paying clients! They were really hurting and the new CEO turned everything around in a couple of years. At that time, they started paying $12, paying benefits and paying for education.
Economies work from the bottom up and never the top down. The more money people have, the more money they can spend, and thus the more goods and services they can buy, and thus the more demand there is, and thus the more supply there will be.
I doubt many people make anywhere close to minimum, but no excuse not to raise it!
That's in fact one of the best reasons to raise it as it's a clear indicator it's failing to perform its purpose. We know there are exploitative employers who will pay as low as they possibly can and nothing has changed in our economy or country to suggest that the market now naturally provides a baseline living wage, so it rarely being in effect is a big flashing red sign that it's woefully out of date.