Every now and again there\u2019s an article or a blog post or an opinion piece on the minimum wage that I intend to link to and comment on, but time gets away from me. In any case, I wanted to work out some of my thoughts on the minimum wage while I have some time. <\/p>\n
There is no simple answer for what the \u201cright\u201d minimum wage should be. The difficulty is that the minimum wage really would (if it were to be set from scratch) need to balance two competing goals: <\/p>\n
It should be sufficient for an individual to support him\/herself at a basic, but not substandard level, without the need for government subsidies (except, I\u2019d say, for healthcare\/health insurance). \u201cBasic\u201d means such things as no meals out, a basic studio or shared apartment, mass transit rather than car ownership, thrift store shopping, etc. It does not mean living 10-to-a-room in the way that some immigrants do in order to send as much cash back to their families. <\/p>\n
At the same time, only the least-skilled jobs should be paying minimum wage \u2014 jobs which require some kind of specialized training, whether it\u2019s general skills (secretarial skills, forklift driving) or skills specific to the employer and acquired on-the-job, should not be paying minimum wage. The various stories of people working at McDonald\u2019s or elsewhere for decades and never earning any more than minimum wage are a sign that the minimum wage is too high, in that respect. Unless these individuals, despite their years of experience, are not any more productive than a new hire (showing up late or unreliably, unable to work independently, etc.), this really shouldn\u2019t be happening. <\/p>\n
(I remember my first job \u2013 $3.35 an hour at the dry cleaners. Standard policy was a 50 cent raise after the first year, and again a year thereafter. Then the high school girls they always hired went away to college, so I have no idea what the longer-term day shift workers got, or when they ceased to get raises.) <\/p>\n
So what\u2019s the answer? I\u2019m inclined to think that the minimum wage is at a level where an individual could support himself at this basic level, at least in areas with lower cost of living \u2014 which is supported by some \u201cliving wage\u201d websites, if you assume a shared housing situation. (That is, a website which I can\u2019t find right now was showing \u201cliving wage\u201d minimums for a dual income couple that were at the minimum wage level.) Realistically, could you lower it much and still meet this criterion? Probably not \u2014 and I do think that, even though teenagers might benefit from a sub-minimum job which provides enough extra cash for spending money, there is a certain basic justice issue in this minimum standard. (*Though I have no problem with a \u201ctraining wage\u201d where an individual is receiving genuine instruction from the employer, or is for whatever reason, not able to work to a reasonably-productive standard.) <\/p>\n
Yet, there\u2019s clearly something wrong with the whole wage structure right now. What\u2019s the right answer for when the economy is just not in a reasonable equilibrium, when skilled people can\u2019t find skilled jobs, when there are too many people chasing moderately skilled jobs so as to keep wages low? I\u2019m not really sure. (*Other than ceasing to import unskilled labor.)<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Every now and again there\u2019s an article or a blog post or an opinion piece on the minimum wage that I intend to link to and comment on, but time gets away from me. In any case, I wanted to work out some of my thoughts on the minimum wage while I have some time. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n