Double Whopper, Fries and a Livable Wage
Driving up the Prices at the Drive Thru? -- Picture courtesy Wikipedia
by blogSpotter
There has recently been a lot of debate about the minimum wage, since Democrats seek to raise it in their first '100 hours'. Currently $5.15/hour, the minimum wage hasn't been raised since 1997. This topic is always good for a rumble between liberals and conservatives -- it gets to our core values. One of the conservatives in the mix is George Will -- he thinks the minimum should be $0. As conservatives go, I actually like George Will. Except for his Libertarian fiscal tendencies, he has a lot of common sense. With regard to minimum wage, the common sense runs out -- Will makes two debatable points in a recent opinion piece:
- Most of the working poor earn more than minimum wage.
- Only one in five workers getting minimum wage live in a household living below the poverty line.
George, George, George. You clearly haven't read "We're Right and They're Wrong" by James Carville. If you read his book, you'd know that employment statistics are misleading and in this case, they leave out major areas of concern. The unemployment statistics leave out workers who are underemployed, discouraged, imprisoned and or job-searching but not collecting unemployment insurance. Working full time at $5.15/hour, you'd earn $893/month putting you more than $5,000 below the poverty line. Many people on welfare become part of the ‘discouraged’ underclass because collecting welfare is an easier path to financial survival.
A low-level bill of rights for full-time employees might include these things:
- Livable wage
- Health benefits
- Training and opportunity for advancement
- Reasonable measures toward a safe work environment (especially relevant to convenience store clerks and fast food employees who can be robbed)
What of part time or temporary employment? There might be less stringency for a maid, baby sitter or lawn service, and where the employer is a private citizen. There are gray areas: “I’ll pay you $10 if you make an ‘A’”. “I’ll pay you $5 not to sing that song”. I’ll leave it to the employment lawyers to establish what qualifies as a job or a contract for employment.
More relevant questions would be: of unemployed able-bodied adults between 16 and 66 years old, how many might be contributing to our economy if they had a livable wage? The United States suffers a loss of productivity due to the depressed minimum wage. Some small businesses will say, “I can’t afford to pay the minimum.” What if these same businesses couldn’t afford to observe OSHA standards or buy the right equipment? Well then, they shouldn’t be in the business. And the business of America should be empowering its workers with jobs that build self-esteem and pay livable wages.
© 2007 blogSpotter
Labels: Politics
posted by blogspotter @ 2:50 PM
5 Comments:
You leave out an important part of the dynamic - illegal immigration. The underground market caused by undocumented workers employed at depressed wages undercuts the arguments you are making in favor of the minimum wage. Companies who can't afford the minimum wage hire illegal immigrants at wages below $5.15, and the presence of the underground work force depresses what the market would usually demand for "entry-level" jobs.
The argument that we need undocumented workers because "Americans are too lazy" is a red herring - American aren't lazy; they just can't afford to work for $3 or $4 an hr. As you point out, they can't even afford to work at $5.15 an hr, so they just go on welfare. It seems to me that the underground economy will have to be absorbed into the light of day before a "living wage" will be realizable.
The immigration bill the Senate passed last year would be a good start.
just let me know when these things get enacted so i can get ready for the impending inflationary period.
not that i've used any imported labor, but the going rate recently has been $8/hr, so the manual labor pools won't/can't work for $5.15 per hour either.
1) keep illegal immigration to a minimum. I don't want border crossers shot on sight, but they should at least think that might happen. Candians, too, eh?
2) raise the minimum wage, would have to figure out what "livable" is
3) able bodied people should be working. period. i don't care if we have to make up jobs a la the "New Deal", working people have more self respect and pride and incentive to improve themselves. This may be the difficult part, i don't trust any level of government, federal, state or local, to be able to do this with creating a bureaucratic mess. Get a known, creative CEO type (Herb?) to head this up.
4) remove the incentives to stay on welfare (thanks Dems ... had to get that one in). one example: a graduated payment that peaks at minimum wage. the less you make, the less welfare you get. the people who get the most help make minimum wage and the payments taper off as your pay increases. yes there may be claims of phantom ailments but the percentage of "check collectors" should go down.
okay that's my $0.02 ... or $0.05 after the inflation strikes ;-)
"not that i've used any imported labor, but the going rate recently has been $8/hr, so the manual labor pools won't/can't work for $5.15 per hour either."
You're paying a premium!
And, yes, I would fully expect inflationary pressures if the underground economy was brought to light. Companies could no longer pay migrant workers these ridicuously depressed wages and exploit them any longer, wages and prices that are deflated now would rise to were they should've been for the past ten years, and the market will equalize things without the help of the government, including a living wage, whatever that is.
The government's only job is to keep the country safe and provide an equitable environment in which competition can thrive. It's when the government meddles in affairs it has no business in when things start to get out of balance.
Excellent points. I'd like to cite you on my Workforce Development blog.
It's actually worse than you point out. The government employment data is "skewed" and this misrepresentation leads to bad public policy and other bad decisions based upon the data that is made available to decision-makers.
Our government "prints up jobs out of thin air" the same way the Federal Reserve prints up money. To manufacture jobs, The Bureau of Labor Statistics uses their very own Net Birth/Death computer model, that creates jobs that don't really exist.
Sad, but if we educate people to this reality, perhaps we can make a difference...
Feel free to quote me. This topic always gets a lot of comments, because it touches on so many sensitive issues (like immigration).
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