MDM, the problem is we pay either way, as the article cited makes clear, if we don't pay people enough to live on or have health insurance, they're on the public dole to some degree. If we agree we don't want to be Kolkata with people starving in the streets (we do, don't we?) the unskilled populace needs to be supported somehow. Better they work and be part of the economy.

The thing that about this issue that's hard for everyone to get their head around is that what was a teenagers part time work 30 years ago is now a career for some people due to lack of better opportunities. There are people who have worked serving fast food for a decade or more. That didn't use to happen.

You will never force a business to pay people more than they are worth. Either the jobs will be automated or the business simply will not function.

It costs way more than $7.25 an hour to hire someone. A few years back when I had a payroll, it cost me over $21 per hour to hire someone at $13 once you added in all the taxes, fees, mandatory insurance, payroll management costs, etc. If you want to improve wages for those on the lower wage scales, support policies that encourage economic growth and restrict the costs adders that I described previously.


BTW: There are already prototypes for automated fast food joints. The only thing that is stopping the implementation of such is that it is still less expensive to hire humans to do the work.

Wage cost increases is already replacing people in jobs that was once though to be impossible to do so.

The formally labor intensive slaughterhouse:



http://youtu.be/MZIv6WtSF9I

All you are going to accomplish is to deny jobs to those with limited experience, intelligence, and / or skills if you keep mandating an increase in labor costs.

Unfortunately, the right answer is a combination of national wage as a floor, but locally higher places like here to compensate for the high cost of living. Fact is, minimum wage jobs are almost always service jobs that can't be outsourced, and though it will cost the patrons of these establishments, the money will stay in the community.

I can't imagine the cost of a Big Mac Meal would go up more than $0.50 by raising the staff somewhere closer to a livable wage. I'd love to see the cost breakdown of labor, infrastructure and materials in the fast food game.

Came across this interesting study while surfing Google News.
The $7 Billion Problem of Low Wages

The article does seem to hold some truth in that when you drive by these fast food and stores with min wage workers, they seem more over 20+ folks on the payroll rather than the teens. Thus if these are folks with financial and survival obligations it would seem that the minimum wage needs to reflect a livable wage.

If anyone had read the recommended McDonald's budget tool it would seem that the on those "salaries" surviving in JC would just be a dream. Having said that the question is to raise or not to raise the min wage?

Another good read can be found in the swiss publishing - Weighing up the consequences of a minimum wage.

Again the question is to raise or not to raise the minimum wage? Perhaps it depends on the greater question in a free market driven capitalistic culture does "whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them" have any place?

Thoughts, comments, ??