Could raising the minimum wage prevent thousands of suicides?

[blackribbon]

Mind quoting the actual point you're trying to make?

The federal minimum wage was introduced in 1938 at the rate of $0.25 per hour (equivalent to $4.54 in 2019).
The minimum wage had its highest purchasing power in 1968, when it was $1.60 per hour (equivalent to $11.76 in 2019).

 

[Nithavela]

All artificially raising the minimum wage would cause a person to have less money because everything will just self-adjust up. And since taxes are not adjusted, the higher income will cause a person to be taxed at a higher income level.

Learning more skills and getting a raise without changing the price of entry level positions (minimum) will allow you to have more real money to spend, even with more taxes.

You didn't answer my question.

 

[St_Worm2]

When the minimum wage was introduced, it was far higher (adjusted to the cost of living) than it is today.

Just FYI.

I worked for minimum wage from 1966 to about 1974. I was paid $1.60 per hour before taxes, social security, etc. We just recently increased the minimum wage around here again, which brings it up to $9.00 per hour now, I believe.

edit: Of course, up until the late 1970's, we paid anywhere from $0.17 to $0.25 for a gallon of gasoline around here, just like my father-in-law said he did back in the 1920's when he started to drive.

--David

 

[Nithavela]

The federal minimum wage was introduced in 1938 at the rate of $0.25 per hour (equivalent to $4.54 in 2019).
The minimum wage had its highest purchasing power in 1968, when it was $1.60 per hour (equivalent to $11.76 in 2019).

Thank you. Got that one wrong.. somehow I remember it being more in the 20 dollars of todays money range. Don't know how I got this misconception.

Would you agree to a minimum wage increase to somewhere around the 10-12 dollar range?

 

[timewerx]

The poor don't pay income taxes. The working poor may even get paid through Earned Income Credits instead of being taxed.

Registration taxes on old cars is less than new cars. In my state, the poor get reimbursed for some of their rental costs so they don't pay the same in property taxes (I make too much so don't get this rental credit).

The only thing the poor get taxed at the same rate as everyone else is on sales tax. However, many necessities such as groceries are tax exempt. (Prepared food is taxed).

However, if we raise the minimum wage, the minimum wage earners may no longer make incomes that qualify them for the benefits of being poor ... so overall, they end of spending more.

That's good. I they thould include these benefits to those earning a bit more as well.

Increasing the tax % on the higher income brackets would also do more than that. May allow the government to subsidize more of cost of education and healthcare.

 

[blackribbon]

Thank you.

Would you agree to a minimum wage increase to somewhere around the 10-12 dollar range?

No. I don't think people should gain skills and work their way out of minimum wage jobs. My daughter's first job at 16 was greater than minimum wage because she had a marketable unique skill. My son started at minimum wage in high school but was allowed to earn incentives so made above minimum wage in effect since he was willing to put in the extra effort.

The answer is to earn above minimum wage. Minimum wage jobs are supposed to be entry level jobs. Not lifetime jobs. However, artificially raising the minimum wage means more jobs become minimum wage jobs and it gets harder to work your way up.

 

[timewerx]

The rich will most certainly find ways to cheat their taxes or pass off their loss of income off onto the poor by cutting jobs.

Plus, it's the rich that own the government. Why would they impose more taxes on themselves when they could place more taxes on the very people whose labor they make their living off of?

No law, policy, or bill will change anything at all unless the hearts and minds of the rich are changed. And Jesus did say that we will ALWAYS have the poor. So, I think it's safe to say that the hearts and minds of the rich will never be changed.

Ironically, in the Bible, investing upon the poor will gain you imperishable wealth.

Investing upon the rich on the other hand will gain you nothing - and this is what most people are doing mainly by wasting money on expensive hobbies, expensive goods, "needs" that aren't really a need, etc.

 

[jimmyjimmy]

Just for curiosity how do you figure people make living when automation takes over ?

The same way they have since the automobile "took over".

 

[jimmyjimmy]

The rich will most certainly find ways to cheat their taxes or pass off their loss of income off onto the poor by cutting jobs.

Plus, it's the rich that own the government. Why would they impose more taxes on themselves when they could place more taxes on the very people whose labor they make their living off of?

No law, policy, or bill will change anything at all unless the hearts and minds of the rich are changed. And Jesus did say that we will ALWAYS have the poor. So, I think it's safe to say that the hearts and minds of the rich will never be changed.

The "rich" pay the vast majority of the taxes in the US, so if they've rigged the system they certainly did a very poor job of it.

Believe it or Not The Richest Americans Pay Most of the Federal Bills

 

[blackribbon]

That's good. I they thould include these benefits to those earning a bit more as well.

Increasing the tax % on the higher income brackets would also do more than that. May allow the government to subsidize more of cost of education and healthcare.

They are already higher percentages on the higher brackets.

And why can't I chose how whom I want to support instead of trusting the government to giving it away? Taxes here already offer low cost options for post high school education in the form of community colleges and state colleges. And the truly poor get Medicaid insurance for next to no cost or free. Often they get better coverage than those who have to buy private insurance. In the meantime, I can't afford insurance as a middle class wage earner and yet get taxed to pay for "poor people" to have coverage.

 

[Nithavela]

No. I don't think people should gain skills and work their way out of minimum wage jobs. My daughter's first job at 16 was greater than minimum wage because she had a marketable unique skill. My son started at minimum wage in high school but was allowed to earn incentives so made above minimum wage in effect since he was willing to put in the extra effort.

The answer is to earn above minimum wage. Minimum wage jobs are supposed to be entry level jobs. Not lifetime jobs. However, artificially raising the minimum wage means more jobs become minimum wage jobs and it gets harder to work your way up.

Maybe you're a bit more optimistic than I am. I think you imagine a world where everyone, even those not gifted with talents or opportunities, manages to raise one or two steps above minimum wage and even the jobs traditionally held by todays minimum wage earners are paid well because of higher demand.

Me? I think that if everyone rises a step above minimum wage, that step then becomes the new level where employers pay minimum wage. As soon as the supply for a certain level increases, the demand decreases and the wages accordingly decrease. Working your way out of minimum wage becomes a race against everyone else trying to climb out of the same crab bucket. Everyone has their eyes on those sweet management positions they imagine themselves in, but the fact of the matter is, not everyone can own their own company.

 

[Jonathan Walkerin]

The same way they have since the automobile "took over".

You are bit behind the times if you think automobile is the thing to worry about....

Technological unemployment - Wikipedia

 

[jimmyjimmy]

Could raising the minimum wage prevent thousands of suicides?

Why be content with saving only thousands of lives?

This could save even more lives:

Hand every guy a million bucks and a super-model.

 

[blackribbon]

Maybe you're a bit more optimistic than I am. I think you imagine a world where everyone, even those not gifted with talents or opportunities, manages to raise one or two steps above minimum wage and even the jobs traditionally held by todays minimum wage earners are paid well because of higher demand.

Me? I think that if everyone rises a step above minimum wage, that step then becomes the new level where employers pay minimum wage. As soon as the supply for a certain level increases, the demand decreases and the wages accordingly decrease. Working your way out of minimum wage becomes a race against everyone else trying to climb out of the same crab bucket. Everyone has their eyes on those sweet management positions they imagine themselves in, but the fact of the matter is, not everyone can own their own company.

As one moves up, there is a new employee ready to take the minimum wage job. There are a lot of steps between entry level and management. And no, not everyone wants a management job (I sure don't and have never desired one). Again, it isn't that hard to move up from entry level. It is about gaining skills and experience.

Most jobs are not minimum wage jobs. No one in my house works a minimum wage job. Only my job requires a degree. My son got a raise just because he stayed at his low pay job (above minimum wage) a year.

If your job doesn't offer an advancement from a minimum wage job, after you show you can do it and stay put at a single job for over a year...look for a better job now that you have experience.

 

[Kalevalatar]

Be-all "minimum wage" is the wrong horse to bet. Minimum wage somewhere is not the minimum wage somewhere else and even less so in a large country with steep and ever-growing income inequality. Therefore, I prefer local agreements and collective bargaining, along with solid public investments in the well-being of people and society.

Actually, it's not just me. We all do:

Brussels’ plans for EU minimum wage meet Nordic skepticism

And not because the Nordic countries want to see higher suicide figures.

 

[paul1149]

Among other things, raising the minimum wage is an incentive for businesses to automate and eliminate human jobs. Fewer jobs can lead to higher suicide rates. Beware of politicized analyses of these subjects.

 

[TLK Valentine]

Could raising the minimum wage prevent thousands of suicides?

Probably, but even so, that's little to no incentive for the government -- let alone the businesses -- to raise it.

 

[Ken-1122]

Here has been my experience with raising the minimum wage.
When I was a teenager I got my first job at McDonalds making minimum wage. I got small raises here and there and after about 18 months I was making around 10% above minimum wage. Things was better because I was able to afford more than I did when I was making minimum wage. Then the minimum wage increased 10% to the rate I spent 18 months earning. When the minimum wage increased, the only people who got the raise were the people making less than the new minimum wage; those like myself received no raise at all. After the minimum wage increased, the prices at McDonalds and all the other business increased their prices thus products became 10% more expensive so my money didn't go as far as it went before the minimum wage increase.. It seemed the only thing increasing the minimum wage accomplished was raising prices and putting more people on minimum wage, in the long run it didn't help those making minimum wage one bit.

 

[Sparagmos]

House Passes Bill to Raise Minimum Wage to $15, a Victory for Liberals

By 2026. Over 6 years.

 

[Sparagmos]

Here has been my experience with raising the minimum wage.
When I was a teenager I got my first job at McDonalds making minimum wage. I got small raises here and there and after about 18 months I was making around 10% above minimum wage. Things was better because I was able to afford more than I did when I was making minimum wage. Then the minimum wage increased 10% to the rate I spent 18 months earning. When the minimum wage increased, the only people who got the raise were the people making less than the new minimum wage; those like myself received no raise at all. After the minimum wage increased, the prices at McDonalds and all the other business increased their prices thus products became 10% more expensive so my money didn't go as far as it went before the minimum wage increase.. It seemed the only thing increasing the minimum wage accomplished was raising prices and putting more people on minimum wage, in the long run it didn't help those making minimum wage one bit.

Please give a citation for McDonald’s raising prices 10% when min wage went up 10%. And I don’t think you’ve done the math - a 10% wage increase does not require a 10% price increase to cover.

What state was this in, and what year was it?