According to Megan Henney for FOXBusiness, “President Biden’s push to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour as part of a broader coronavirus relief package could be a ‘death knell’ for businesses still reeling from the pandemic, according to a new study published this week.”
A “death knell?”
That seems overly dramatic to me.
“The report, authored by researchers at the University of Kentucky, Indiana University and Washington University in St. Louis, found that hiking the minimum wage hurts new entrants into the labor market, based on data from six states that increased their minimum rate.”
It also “hurts” when you’re a worker and you can’t pay your bills.
Just sayin’.
Can we all agree that someone can get a “report” to basically support whatever narrative the want to push?
“When the minimum wage increased, businesses — particularly those making tradeable goods, such as the manufacturing sector — reduced the number of new workers they were hiring, the study found.”
Just for the record, the federal minimum wage was last increased July 24, 2009, when it rose from $6.55 to $7.25 per hour.
Whoa! Be still my heart!
So, the minimum wage has been stuck on $7.25 an hour for over ten years!
So much for even a cost of living increase.
‘“While the overall number of low-wage workers declines following a minimum wage increase, incumbent workers are no less likely to remain employed,’ the report said.”
“Given that the U.S. unemployment rate is still hovering at 6.7%, Radhakrishnan Gopalan, one of the study’s authors and a finance professor at Washington University in St. Louis, argued now is not the time to hike the minimum wage.”
Like I said, there is never a good time to raise the minimum wage for all of the people not forced to work for the minimm wage.
“Roughly 800,000 Americans have been filing for unemployment benefits each week over the past five months — nearly four times the pre-crisis level — and there are about 9.8 million more out of work Americans now than compared to February, before the crisis began.”
Yes…, thanks to the oppressive and draconian lock-downs, mostly dictated by clueless blue state governors.
‘“Small businesses are especially hurting from the pandemic,’ Gopalan said. ‘The restaurant sector, which employs a significant number of minimum wage workers, and the retail sector are struggling. Raising the minimum wage now would spell a death knell for many small restaurants.’”
Again, the so-called “death knell” has already been caused by these “non-science” based lockdowns.
Believe me, big and small businesses will all deal having to pay their emplyees a decent wage.
They’ll deal with it.
They all manage to deal with tax increases.
They all manage to deal with additional regulations and regulation changes.
They all manage to deal with cost increases in other areas.
They all seem to be able to manage to deal with everything else except paying their employees a livable wage!
“A recent analysis published by the Congressional Budget Office [CBO], a nonpartisan agency [There is no such thing by the way.], found that as many as 3.7 million workers could lose their jobs as a result of the minimum wage increase. At the same time, the CBO projects that some 17 million workers would receive a pay boost.”
“Could” and “would” definitely come from two different perspectives.
One perspective is what is possible to happen, and the other perspective deals with what will happen.
I do think it is reasonable to believe there will be a loss of some slave labor jobs, however, when these businesses are forced to act more fairly towards their workers.
‘“For most low-wage workers, earnings and family income would increase, which would lift some families out of poverty,’ the report said. ‘But other low-wage workers would become jobless, and their family income would fall—in some cases, below the poverty threshold.’”
The truth is MANY families would be lifted out of poverty, while others would just remain there.
“And although raising the minimum wage could boost spending among low-income Americans, Gopalan argued the Biden administration should wait until 2022 to implement an increase to allow the economy and unemployment rate to recover from the economic shock of the pandemic.”
‘“Having said that, the multiple stimulus packages have put a lot of money in people’s hands, so one is talking about demand in the economy possibly outstripping supply once the pandemic is brought under control,’ he said. ‘Some are already cautioning about the economy overheating.’”
Wow!
Well, we’ll definitely have to be on look-out for the “economy overheating!”
That sounds like an economic windfall…, for everyone except those making $7.25 an hour, of course!
Maybe a raising of the minimum wage will be exactly what the economy needs to cool it down a bit!
“The pandemic has already devastated small businesses, which employ roughly 59 million Americans, or about 47.5% of the nation’s entire workforce. One estimate from Yelp found that between April and September of last year, 160,000 businesses closed — or about 800 per day.”
Like I said earlier…, the pandemic didn’t devastate anything economically…, oppressive and draconian lock-downs, mostly dictated by clueless blue state governors, did.
“Biden is seeking to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 per hour, where it’s remained for the past decade, to $15 per hour and to end the tipped minimum wage and sub-minimum wage for people with disabilities.”
Don’t even get me started on the tipped minimum wage and sub-minimum wage for people with disabilities.
Let’s just say the “tipped minimum wage” should just be “the” minimum wage. Tips should be tips, and not considered part of a person’s wage.
And the minimum wage for people with disabilities is completely illegal in my opinion.
Have any of these geniuses ever heard of the The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, or ADA, which is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability?
It seems like they haven’t.
“Separately, a group of Democratic lawmakers reintroduced legislation on Tuesday to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025.”
By 2025?!
‘“Let’s be clear: The $7.25 an hour federal minimum wage is a starvation wage,’ Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the incoming chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said during a call with reporters. ‘No person in America can make it on $8, $10 or $12 an hour.’”
Well, I can now say I agreed with Senator Sanders at least once.
Anyway…, okay…, here we go.
MrEricksonRules is going to apply some reasonable common sense here.
My minimum wage proposal would be as follows:
$8.00 per hour minimum wage for all 16-17 year-olds (True “entry level” high school aged employees.).
$10.00 per hour minimum wage for all 18-22 year-olds (True “entry level” college aged employees.).
$15.00 per hour minimum wage for all 23 year-olds and over (for people who are actually trying to make a living.).
Let’s remember that at $15.00 an hour these people are still not getting rich, but at least they can live.
At $15.00 an hour an individual will make $600 gross and $460 net a week, or net $1,840 a month, which is $22,080 a year.
If you take into consideration rent, a car, gas, utilities, a phone, and food, these people are still only just getting by, but at least they can get by.
If we don’t supply a living wage for these older workers, what alternatives do they have?
They can go on an entitlement program and live off of government assistance.
What is the better option?
I would much rather pay a little more for goods and services than just support these people entirely.
I would much rather support people who are willing to work for a living than those who don’t or those who can’t support themselves.
Why is it their burden to insure everyone else a cheaper burger or a cheaper anything?
I feel it is a sin for all of us to take advantage of the “working poor” in our country, just so the rest of us can afford a little more.
Not to mention all of the companies and businesses, big and small, who take advantage of them, while affording multi-million dollar salaries to CEOs and other executives, sizeable profits to shareholders, and very comfortable lives to other business owners.
If you’d like to comment on my proposal, or try and defend the current $7.25 an hour minimum wage, I’d love to hear from you. I may even do a follow-up blog incorporating the comments I receive.
If you’re not already “following” me and you liked my blog(s) today, please choose to “follow” me, which will keep you up to date on all of my latest posts, and/or leave me a comment. I value your feedback and I’d love to hear from you!
Thank you, MrEricksonRules.
Mr. Erickson Rules! 
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