I suppose everyone has an opinion on the minimum wage issue. Some want to essentially double it, some want to abolish it, some hope that it will stay the same.
The argument to raise it is that the minimum wage has stagnated for several years while prices have risen and those in minimum wage jobs are in effect getting poorer. American taxpayers have to pay to support these people in the form of food stamps and other forms of public assistance. In essence those of us that pay taxes are subsidizing businesses that rely on minimum wage employees.
The argument to keep it at the current rate is that any increase in the minimum wage will lead to job losses as employers will not be able to maintain the same staffing level at increased pay rates. Either that will happen or consumer prices will have to rise to offset the pay raises. Or a combination of the two will happen. In any case, pay raises will have to be paid for one way or the other.
The argument to lower or totally get rid of the minimum wage is that without a minimum wage law that employers would be able to hire more employees and create more jobs.
A few communities have increased the minimum wage on their own initiative and time will tell what will happen to the job market in those communities.
While I do support a rise in the minimum wage laws to keep up with the costs of living I have to ask how much of a rise is enough and how exactly is it to be paid for?
Those of us that enjoy the services and commodities of life provided to us by minimum wage workers have to realize that all of these benefits come to us due to the hard work and efforts of these people who don’t have as good a life as others. They deserve to have a decent life for all their labor.
Those that make minimum wage have to realize that these pay raises don’t come out of thin air. They have to be paid for either in the form of fewer jobs or more likely in the form of higher prices for everyone.
The balance will have to be found by the market in the form of prices that the public is willing to pay for everyday items. Are you willing to pay $10 for a hamburger at a fast food chain? $4 for an apple at the supermarket? $12 for a cup of coffee at some coffee chain? I’m not saying that prices will go that high if we do raise the minimum wage but merely pointing out that these raises do resonate throughout the economy in various items and services that we have grown accustomed to having.
So what’s the answer?
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