I’m all for raising the min wage but 15/hr is too much. I also don’t see why they would carve that out for just fast food workers. So folks that work retail, or work in food service at a nursing home should get paid less?
"Really? Name another country that has a $15/hr (or around it) minimum wage with consumer prices similar to the US. (I can save you some time, it doesn’t exist.) "
Your point is there are no other countries with a minimum wage of $15 per hour with consumer prices similar to the US. What about a country like Denmark with a minimum wage of $20.00 per hour? A McDonald’s fast food worker in Denmark earns TWICE as much as their brethren in New York City, has more benefits, and probably pays less for food, shelter, and clothing than the chump in New York City.
Australia is also above the $15 minimum wage threshold. I couldn’t find Sweden and Finland’s figures, and would think they would be reasonable figures.
The average fast food worker in New York City is taking home only $700 to $750 per month. In 2018, their pay will nearly double.
Tonyk, you forgot the part their cost will also double.
Bb, I do not know. But it was only one man. No labor involved. Maybe it costs more to rent the bobcat, but I think cost of the bobcat has not increased, at least I haven’t not heard a huge increase, but the company that rents out the bobcat also has labor imbedded in the rate they charged the bobcat. The guy that drives the truck there, his rate must be increased.
I normally just go there and pick up the stuff to save delivery charge but this time there are a few palates, there are no way they all can be fitted in my truck.
Purple, I disagree with the comment that they have to get into top schools, at least that was my interpretation of schools that provide financial aid, mean the the tippy top schools. CC is the most cost effective way to go to college for poor people, at least in California. And please don’t tell me that people can’t do that while study full time. Because I will pull my out my own example and so are tons of other people that I know that managed to do that when we were poor.
“Tonyk, you forgot the part their cost will also double.”
Do you think the fast food worker from Denmark or Australia will have double the living costs of the poor schmo living and working in New York City? Have you seen NYC prices for food, shelter, transportation, and clothing lately?
I’m starting to feel sorry for the McDonald’s worker in Denmark who can’t support himself despite earning nearly $1,300 more per month than his counterpart in Manhattan.
There are unintended consequences for raising the minimum wage that much.
Once you raise the minimum wage to any high amount, those who have salaries that are currently a few dollars above the current minimum (due to skill, title, or seniority) will have to ALSO get raises to put them a few dollars above the minimum…otherwise companies will have a morale problem. So, anyone who is currently making $9-16ish per hour, will then make $16 - $2X per hour.
…and then those who are currently making $16-$2X an hour will feel that THEY deserve a raise because suddenly who were below them (title/seniority) are earning what they’re earning.
And, the hits just keep on coming…
@DrGoogle, you implicitly keep thinking that CA is the whole US.
In some states, the CC’s aren’t so set up for students to seamlessly transfer to 4-year colleges but more for vocational training.
And there would still be the final 2 years to pay for.
Again, taking out loans is not equivalent to free.
@mom2collegekids Full-time McDonalds employees qualified for food stamps.
But I know that some believe it’s OK that Americans can work full time and still live below the poverty line.
There are all sorts of consequences of a $15/hour minimum wage, good and bad (and both “good” and “bad” are dependent on you point of view).
For instance, @silverlady, people cutting back hours would lead to more people hired and less unemployment . . . or the higher wage may simply lead to more automation.
Also, a higher minimum wage means less federal subsidies via the EIC.
@silverlady #46 -That website is … ummm… well, let’s just say it’s not exactly a credible source of factual information.
@PurpleTitan - A higher minimum wage also means fewer, and smaller, subsidies for people buying health insurance.
Purple, no I don’t think that. But that’s the only state from my point of view I can accurately discuss. I don’t claim to have a clue about other states. But California is a big state in terms of land, population, and economics importance.
Tony, when I started working the minim wage was $1.35 or something less than a dollar now. Cost of living was lower too. So I don’t know why Denmark is the country you keep referring to but I dont think it’s considered a top three economics power house in Europe. Last I looked it was Germany, UK, and France. Maybe I’m wrong.
“I’m all for raising the min wage but 15/hr is too much. I also don’t see why they would carve that out for just fast food workers. So folks that work retail, or work in food service at a nursing home should get paid less?”
$15 an hour by 2018 in NYC and by 2021 in the rest of the state. Since this only concerns New Yorkers, I think every one should stop complaining. I am a New Yorker and in favor of this.
Walmart/Target etc, already raised their min. wage across the country back in the beginning of the year.
The movement to be paid higher wages in the fast food industry has been pretty strong for the last few years in New York, especially NYC and the NYS legislature and Governor have responded to their concerns.
Most people who work fast food jobs in NYC are working full time and have families to support. In all of fast food the percentage of adults working in those jobs are considerably higher than percent of teenagers. The cost to the taxpayer in public assistance these workers receive isn’t chump change either. Why would taxpayers rather pay for the costs of government assistance for these people then have the corporations raise their worker’s wages? Seems stupid to me.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/27/fast-food-jobs-real_n_6028404.html
My intention was for you to find the source saying the cost of living isn’t the same (or to fail to find a source saying the cost of living is the same), but since it appears you’re refusing to do that, fine.
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings_by_country.jsp
In terms of cost of living, Australia is 5th highest, Denmark 6th highest, USA is 25th highest.
It’s true that New York can sustain a higher minimum wage than most of the country, but $15 is still too high. I’ve read a study before suggesting that the optimal minimum wage for economic growth is between 40 and 45% of the median wage, which for New York State (can’t find a source for NYC alone) would be between $8.40 and $9.45, using 2013 data. Given for this is 2021 aiming higher than this makes sense, but I doubt wages are going to raise 60-80% between 2013 and 2021. Something like $11 would have made much more sense.
Also the fact that this only applies to some rigorously defined fast food category of businesses is absolutely stupid.
I’m all for raising rate in NYC but not for the whole state nor even other states who will follow suit.
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Also the fact that this only applies to some rigorously defined fast food category of businesses is absolutely stupid.
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Agree. Congress should be addressing this, and for all industries. But the chance of that happening is exactly zero, so it’s having to be done on a patchwork basis.
I’m very much against federal minimum wage increase and I’ll illustrate why in just two numbers.
Mississippi median wage: $13.76/hr
Connecticut median wage: $20.67/hr
"My intention was for you to find the source saying the cost of living isn’t the same (or to fail to find a source saying the cost of living is the same), but since it appears you’re refusing to do that, fine.
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings_by_country.jsp
In terms of cost of living, Australia is 5th highest, Denmark 6th highest, USA is 25th highest."
But we are comparing the cost of living for New York City fast food workers to Denmark fast food workers. If you read the notes in this website it states “These indices are relative to New York City. Which means that for New York City, each index should be 100(%). If another city has, for example, rent index of 120, it means rents in average in that city are 20% more expensive than in New York City. If a city has a rent index of 70, that means in the average in that city rents are 30% less expensive than in New York City.”
So let’s compare Denmark to NYC in CPI, Rent, CPI + Rent, Groceries, Restaurant Index, Local Purchasing Power:
Denmark ff worker avg annual salary $29,120
NYC ff worker avg annual salary $12,740
Denmark CPI 89
NYC CPI 100
Denmark Rent 27
NYC Rent 100
Denmark CPI + Rent 57
NYC CPI + Rent 100
Denmark Groceries 72
NYC Groceries 100
Denmark Restaurant Index 113
NYC Restaurant Index 100
Denmark Local Purchasing Power 165 (applies to avg wage and means to me they can purchase MORE than NYC)
NYC Local Purchasing Power 100
This shows how expensive it is to live in NYC especially for someone earning more than $16,000 less than their counterparts in Europe.