The Minimum Wage Game

[Bombur]

Families living off the minimum wage just isn't the issue that liberal like to make it out to be. If you are married with children and trying to pay a mortgage on the minimum wage, you've made some dreadfully bad mistakes in life. Even teenagers starting out at minimum wage get a bump in pay after a probation period.

Who makes minimum wage? | Pew Research Center

Perhaps surprisingly, not very many people earn minimum wage, and they make up a smaller share of the workforce than they used to. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, last year 1.566 million hourly workers earned the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour; nearly two million more earned less than that because they fell under one of several exemptions (tipped employees, full-time students, certain disabled workers and others), for a total of 3.55 million hourly workers at or below the federal minimum.

That group represents 4.7% of the nation’s 75.3 million hourly-paid workers and 2.8% of all workers. In 1979, when the BLS began regularly studying minimum-wage workers, they represented 13.4% of hourly workers and 7.9% of all wage and salary workers. (Bear in mind that the 3.55 million figure doesn’t include salaried workers. But BLS says relatively few salaried workers are paid at what would translate into below-minimum hourly rates. Also, 19 states besides the District have minimum wages higher than the federal standard; people who’d be minimum-wage workers in those states aren’t included in the 3.55 million total.)

People at or below the federal minimum are:

■Disproportionately young: 50.6% are ages 16 to 24; 24% are teenagers (ages 16 to 19).
■Mostly (78%) white; fully half are white women.
■Largely part-time workers (64% of the total).

They work in industries that you might expect: Just over half (51%) work in the leisure and hospitality industry, about 16% in retail, 9% in education and health services, and the rest scattered among different sectors. Broken down occupationally, the picture is similar: Nearly 44% are in food-preparation and serving-related occupations; 15% are in sales and related occupations, and the rest are scattered.

An increase in the min wage would impact a lot more people than those making the min now.

Opinion and conjecture do not make it so.

What about basic arithmetic?

 

[rightwinger]

Besides, if a $10 minimum wage is a Good Thing, then why not $15 or $20?

If $8/hour is a better minimum wage than 10, why not 6, or 4, or 2, or zero?

Wouldn't we all better off if everyone worked for no money?

If you have a guy sweeping your floors for $7.50 and the minimum wage goes down to $3.75 are you going to hire two guys to sweep your floors or just keep the extra money?

 

[TakeAStepBack]

If you have a guy sweeping the floor for $7.50 an hour and the minimum wage goes to $50 an hour, will the product or service costs change to reflect the new mandated pay scales?

Why not $50 an hour? Some LOLberal must have the answer to this.

 

[Ame®icano]

Besides, if a $10 minimum wage is a Good Thing, then why not $15 or $20?

If $8/hour is a better minimum wage than 10, why not 6, or 4, or 2, or zero?

Wouldn't we all better off if everyone worked for no money?

If you have a guy sweeping your floors for $7.50 and the minimum wage goes down to $3.75 are you going to hire two guys to sweep your floors or just keep the extra money?

I would offer you a job for MW and depending on how you do it, decide are you worth keeping. Would you take a job?

 

[dblack]

If you have a guy sweeping the floor for $7.50 an hour and the minimum wage goes to $50 an hour, will the product or service costs change to reflect the new mandated pay scales?

Why not $50 an hour? Some LOLberal must have the answer to this.

Because that would call their bluff and do serious damage. If they just stick with relatively meaningless increases, the damage done is minimal and can be brushed aside. Of course it also produces relatively meaningless benefit for workers, but that's not the point - the point is the demagoguery and posturing.

 

[kwc57]

An increase in the min wage would impact a lot more people than those making the min now.

Opinion and conjecture do not make it so.

What about basic arithmetic?

It's great for first graders. I'm sure you get a gold star and a juice box.

 

[kwc57]

Besides, if a $10 minimum wage is a Good Thing, then why not $15 or $20?

If $8/hour is a better minimum wage than 10, why not 6, or 4, or 2, or zero?

Wouldn't we all better off if everyone worked for no money?

If you have a guy sweeping your floors for $7.50 and the minimum wage goes down to $3.75 are you going to hire two guys to sweep your floors or just keep the extra money?

Who owns the business?

 

[Bombur]

Opinion and conjecture do not make it so.

What about basic arithmetic?

It's great for first graders. I'm sure you get a gold star and a juice box.

Smart move changing the subject.

 

[kwc57]

If you have a guy sweeping the floor for $7.50 an hour and the minimum wage goes to $50 an hour, will the product or service costs change to reflect the new mandated pay scales?

Why not $50 an hour? Some LOLberal must have the answer to this.

Because that would call their bluff and do serious damage. If they just stick with relatively meaningless increases, the damage done is minimal and can be brushed aside. Of course it also produces relatively meaningless benefit for workers, but that's not the point - the point is the demagoguery and posturing.

Even though the increase is meaningless, they do get to claim they did something for them and get their vote with the promise of more to come.

 

[rightwinger]

If $8/hour is a better minimum wage than 10, why not 6, or 4, or 2, or zero?

Wouldn't we all better off if everyone worked for no money?

If you have a guy sweeping your floors for $7.50 and the minimum wage goes down to $3.75 are you going to hire two guys to sweep your floors or just keep the extra money?

I would offer you a job for MW and depending on how you do it, decide are you worth keeping. Would you take a job?

Interesting proposition

How bout we do this? You work for me for free for three months. If I like you, I will hire you at $100K per year

 

[SwimExpert]

I think I'm just going to do away with hourly positions altogether. Put a few people on salary, then make them pick up the slack for all the bitch work on top of their other duties, on top of picking up the slack for the other people I had to down size. Fortunately, being on salary, it won't hurt me any if they have to put in 100 hrs a week to get it all done. I'm still paying them the same amount either way.

 

[Ame®icano]

If you have a guy sweeping your floors for $7.50 and the minimum wage goes down to $3.75 are you going to hire two guys to sweep your floors or just keep the extra money?

I would offer you a job for MW and depending on how you do it, decide are you worth keeping. Would you take a job?

Interesting proposition

How bout we do this? You work for me for free for three months. If I like you, I will hire you at $100K per year

That's actually good proposal and I would think about it if I don't have a job.

 

[hazlnut]

Besides, if a $10 minimum wage is a Good Thing, then why not $15 or $20?

If $8/hour is a better minimum wage than 10, why not 6, or 4, or 2, or zero?

Wouldn't we all better off if everyone worked for no money?

That's what the Conservatives believed back in 1860.

(they were called the Democrats back then)

 

[hazlnut]

If you have a guy sweeping the floor for $7.50 an hour and the minimum wage goes to $50 an hour, will the product or service costs change to reflect the new mandated pay scales?

Why not $50 an hour? Some LOLberal must have the answer to this.

It's that what they're proposing, a $50.00/hr minimum wage???

Because if it's not, if it's a reasonable wage designed bring people right up to the poverty line instead of far below it, then your post is pretty stupid.

Why would you make such a stupid post?


Why?

 

[dblack]

If you have a guy sweeping the floor for $7.50 an hour and the minimum wage goes to $50 an hour, will the product or service costs change to reflect the new mandated pay scales?

Why not $50 an hour? Some LOLberal must have the answer to this.

It's that what they're proposing, a $50.00/hr minimum wage???

Because if it's not, if it's a reasonable wage designed bring people right up to the poverty line instead of far below it, then your post is pretty stupid.

Why would you make such a stupid post?


Why?

Dodgeball much?

 

[TakeAStepBack]

If you have a guy sweeping the floor for $7.50 an hour and the minimum wage goes to $50 an hour, will the product or service costs change to reflect the new mandated pay scales?

Why not $50 an hour? Some LOLberal must have the answer to this.

It's that what they're proposing, a $50.00/hr minimum wage???

Because if it's not, if it's a reasonable wage designed bring people right up to the poverty line instead of far below it, then your post is pretty stupid.

Why would you make such a stupid post?


Why?

Proper English, please?

 

[CrazedScotsman]

I don't know why employers wouldn't want the Minimum Wage to go up. It would be more beneficial to the employer than to the employee.

For instance, if the Minimum Wage was to go from $7.25 to say $15.00 an hour, employers would save money by bringing all their employees up to the minimum wage. All those people making between $7.25 and $15.00 an hour would get the the shaft since the employer could employ everyone at minimum wage, raise their prices and rack in the money. All the while all those people who's hourly went up would see their standard of living go down because now they only make Minimum Wage.

Come to think of it, it seems that Democrats want to put even more people into poverty. Why are you keeping the poor down Democrats?

 

[Wyatt earp]

If you have a guy sweeping your floors for $7.50 and the minimum wage goes down to $3.75 are you going to hire two guys to sweep your floors or just keep the extra money?

I would offer you a job for MW and depending on how you do it, decide are you worth keeping. Would you take a job?

Interesting proposition

How bout we do this? You work for me for free for three months. If I like you, I will hire you at $100K per year

I would take you up on that offer. Whats the job?

 

[Katzndogz]

Raise the wages of the guy who sweeps the floor getting $7.50 an hour to $15.00 an hour and it makes sense to fire him and get a robot floor sweeper.

 

[Wyatt earp]

I don't know why employers wouldn't want the Minimum Wage to go up. It would be more beneficial to the employer than to the employee.

For instance, if the Minimum Wage was to go from $7.25 to say $15.00 an hour, employers would save money by bringing all their employees up to the minimum wage. All those people making between $7.25 and $15.00 an hour would get the the shaft since the employer could employ everyone at minimum wage, raise their prices and rack in the money. All the while all those people who's hourly went up would see their standard of living go down because now they only make Minimum Wage.

Come to think of it, it seems that Democrats want to put even more people into poverty. Why are you keeping the poor down Democrats?

I would sure hate to be the poor smuck who started at minimum wage, busted his butt for 3 year's and moved up to $15 bucks an hour and now making minimum wage again hey but that is the democrat way... trickle up poor