Busting 5 Myths About the Minimum Wage
” When someone says “minimum wage,” what comes to mind?
Do you think of teenagers flipping burgers? Or a single parent trying to feed several kids?
While President Obama and other proponents of a higher minimum wage want you to visualize that single parent, the truth is that a burger-flipping teenager or college student with a part-time job paints a much more accurate picture of the minimum wage in America.
In his State of the Union address, President Obama called for an increase in the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 an hour. Today, Democrats in Congress are arguing that the President didn’t go far enough, proposing an increase to more than $10 an hour.”
Related articles
- Minimum Wage Benefits Suburban Teenagers, Not Single Parents (heritage.org)
- The Minimum Wage Probably Doesn’t Help (changeinadvance.com)
- Proposed Bill Would Raise Arkansas Minimum Wage by $2 an Hour (arkansasmatters.com)
- Romer: Increase the EITC, Not the Minimum Wage (nationalreview.com)
- Christina Romer: The Business of the Minimum Wage (economistsview.typepad.com)
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Let me see if I understand this correctly. If the minimum wage is raised to $10.00 per hour, does that mean the rest of America just took a salary reduction of $2.75 per hour, because they are now closer to the minimum wage by that amount of $2.75? If the minimum wage is increased from $7.25 to $9.00 per hour, at least the politicians earning $174,000.00 per year as Temporary Employees, only gave the rest of America a $1.75 per hour pay cut. Awfully grand of them.
Let me get this straight . In an economy where everyone (those lucky enough to be employed anyway) is taking a pay cut(politicians and bureaucrats excepted) or being forced to reduce their hours the geniuses in DC want to give 20% RAISES to the must unskilled and thus the least valuable employees in the land ?
Makes sense in a Washington kind of way I guess .
Exactly but with one little twist. The business owner/employer, just took a hit on their profit margin as labor just went upwards by 20% increase, thanks to the numbskulls in DC, but the business owner will probably not be able to raise prices/rates in a bad economy to recoup the added wage surge, and remain competitive in basically a ruined economic market. Where employees earn more hourly wage, they will now demand more money because they are not really making enough as they are now closer to the minimum wage level. If there is any union involved, next contract, somebody will be taking it in the neck. More than likely, it will be the person that signs the payroll checks unless, there are layoffs by 1/5th of the workforce employed to cover the loss, and everybody remaining must do more work to take up the slack. Here’s where more jobs go overseas.
Because we all know small business owners who are getting richer than Midas by not paying their workers what they’re worth.
Also, wouldn’t this increase knock a lot of single parents (assuming they’re actually working at minimum wage, which is doubtful) out of the work-support programs they currently rely on. Daycare assistance, for example, is income based. I’m not sure they’re going to thank the Democrats for the help.
I’ve been biting my tongue on this — but … if all you’re capable of getting is a minimum wage job, why are you having children? There are ways to prevent that, last I checked. Contraception is easily accessible and most public health centers give it free to people meeting the income limits … which would be anyone earning the current minimum wage.
The bulk of minimum wage jobs fall under the category of part-time/starter jobs and are disproportionately utilized by students and or retirees . Raising the minimum wage means less jobs . Small business owners will find a way to do more with less just as they have to do each time the idiots in DC pass some “feel good” piece of nonsense . 95% of the idiots passing laws have never run so much as a lemonade stand in their whole lives .
You’re right, but you left something out. On several occasions, when thing were bad, I went without drawing a penny for the week but all my employees signed the back of their paychecks. When things did go wrong involving losses, it was me who absorbed the loss completely.
People that talk about not being paid what they are worth, should leave. It’s a free enterprise market. They can start their own businesses, and deal with the headaches that are inherent to ownership.
Over the years, I have owned a few businesses, and I come from a business owning family that still owns the same business since 1916. In fact, people should go into business if they believe that it will be a bed of roses, and they will never be cut by the thorn’s barbs. My latest business venture did not get off the ground due to bureaucratic nightmares, and I lost $41K this past year. Some people will never understand.
As a self-employed small business owner for nearly three decades I completely understand and agree with you . My family ( brother,cousin) own a business that my great great grandfather started in 1902 . I know all about the risks , costs , worries and head-aches involved in being self-employed . The problem is that the self-righteous , pompous ass-holes ( pardon my French ) know nothing about economics or being held accountable for their decisions .
When the Founders created our means of governance they envisioned a ” citizen legislature ” . A governing body made up of people from all walks of life who took time off from their chosen careers , served for a period and then returned their own businesses , making way for someone else .
They pictured it as a civic duty , not a career choice . That’s why they made no mention of term limits . They never conceived of the need . The idea of career politicians is anathema to our Constitutional Republic .
Yeah, my friend Jon who owns a local business is hiring his teenager this summer. I suspect the kid will be working for less than minimum wage and he’ll be the hardest worker Jon has.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/mar/8/pelosi-demands-1010-hour-minimum-wage/
There’s something wrong with her head. Instead of raising the minimum wage, she should cut her own salary to minimum wage. She’s not worth more.
She’s not worth spit in my opinion .
I Second, that motion!