Does the government consider $15 minimum wage consequences ?

[tatteredsoul]

The citizens are short-changing themselves.

The inflation between 1980s and now alone means the minimum wage should be between $18.50 - $21.00.

The buying power of something costing $7 in the 80s costs $20 today.

 

[Kersh]

The citizens are short-changing themselves.

The inflation between 1980s and now alone means the minimum wage should be between $18.50 - $21.00.

The buying power of something costing $7 in the 80s costs $20 today.

I don't understand your math. The minimum wage in the 1980s was $3.35. Adjusted for inflation, that is about $8 today. Minimum wage, depending on what state you live in, is typically in this range.

 

[Kersh]

I am not a big fan of the minimum wage. But, if we are to have one, I think it would make more sense to have it set locally, rather than nationally. A living wage in New York City is vastly different than a living wage in rural Kentucky. Where I live, it would be difficult but not impossible to provide for oneself and a small family on a full time minimum wage job. In other parts of the country, I realize that this is not the case. In NYC, $15 may not be off the mark. Where I live, $15 would be extravagant and would cause many small and medium sized businesses to go under. Keep in mind that, if we pay unskilled workers $15 per hour, the market will push the wage of minimally skilled workers into the $20+ range and so on. This would mean that someone like me would either have to dramatically raise prices or would be paying my employees drastically more than I pay myself. I wouldn't necessarily have a problem with the latter, but I suspect that most business owners would.