Thread: Minimum wage, part 1: 1968 level equates to $16 today

Minimum wage, part 1: 1968 level equates to $16 today

• Guest Perspective | Albert G. Besser

• May 31, 2018 Updated 5 hrs ago

The governor’s veto of legislation raising the minimum raise to $15 — not tomorrow, but in 2024 — is dismaying.

In the first place, the present value of $15 in six years is anywhere from $11.85 (at 4 percent interest) to $13.32 (using 2 percent). In other words, by the time 2024 comes around, that $15 will be worth little more than the present $10.50 minimum wage. So, what’s the big deal!

Sadly, the U.S. has one of the lowest minimum wages in the free world.

Adjusted for inflation, the prevailing minimum wages in this country are level with what they were in 1956.

“Had 1968 minimum wages grown at the same rate as the cost of living, it would be $16 today,” according to a study by Siena College and Rivera, “Is a $15 Minimum Wage Good for Small Business?”

That is one reason Vermont is not alone in the drive to increase the minimum wage. As of Jan. 1, increases went into effect in Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, New York, Rhode Island and Washington.

Anyone Googling “$15 minimum wage” will find a variety of studies purporting to evaluate the effect of raising the minimum wage. Most concede that they are “preliminary” or “subject to change.”

Take for example the experience in Seattle, which mandated a $15 wage for businesses that provide no health benefits and employ over 500 people, as of Jan. 1. One study by the University of California, Berkeley reviewed the effect of Seattle’s increased minimum standards between 2009 and 2016 on full-service and fast-food restaurant employees. U. Cal. found significant wage increases, no evident decrease in employment, and concluded that the increased wage was a “success.”

On the other hand, the University of Washington, relying on different data, had a much more negative analysis. It found “thousands” of jobs lost and a reduction in hours worked by those who kept their jobs. Critics challenged the study because of what seemed to be numerous errors in the methodology and data used.

The bottom line is that there have been no significant business flights from Seattle because of minimum wage standards, and its local economy continues to thrive.

California increased the statewide minimum from $6.75 in 2006 to $10.50 in 2017 and $15 by 2020.

One team of economists at the University of California-Los Angeles estimated that the bump up to $10.50 by 2017 raised the earnings of restaurant employees by 20 percent but reduced employment by 10 percent. On the other hand, U.C. Berkeley compared cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose and Seattle, which raised the minimum wage, to economically similar nearby counties. “We find significantly positive effects on wages and small effects on employment, consistent with many previous studies.”

All these studies agree that they are not conclusive and admonish that “there is work to be done,” “it’s a work in progress” and subject to considerable revision.

As to Vermont, I have seen no empirical or even anecdotal evidence to support the doomsday predictions that $15 (in 2024) will drive Vermont businesses into extinction. The present $10.50 rate is higher than the neighboring New Hampshire $7.25, yet I know of no mass flight by Vermont enterprises to N.H. to take advantage of that rate, and I have not heard of any Vermont business whose failure has been laid at the minimum wage doorstep — only apocalyptic predictions.

Nor has there been any evidence that prices to the Vermont consumer have risen because of our minimum wage. Vermont businesses suffer more from the paucity of skilled employees.
There is much to be said in support of the legislation.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that better paid employees are far less likely to quit suddenly; they are happier and more productive, consequently reducing costly frequent turnover and the retraining of new workers.

More permanent employment lessens taxpayer outlays for various assistance programs.

A sustainable income leaves more money for consumer spending, a driving force for the economy.

Finally, don’t we have a moral responsibility to mandate a wage decent enough to maintain a barely minimal standard of living? It was this social conscience that generations ago inspired workers’ compensation, child labor and most recently Medicare legislation. Vermont paved the way for civil unions; we should be the leader here.

Increasing the minimum wage to $11-plus in today’s dollars is not the imaginary, horrible thing opponents prophesize.

https://www.stowetoday.com/news_and_...2b87446b8.html

United States of America/Minimum wage
​
7.25 USD per hour


California
11.00 USD


Florida
8.25 USD



Texas
7.25 USD

They need to adjust the minimum wage with inflation, annually, the same as they do with SS COLA.

The federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.

Jan. 1 , 2018

Congress hasn't voted to raise the minimum wage in more than a decade.
In Missouri, for example, the minimum wage will rise from $7.70 an hour to $7.85 an hour in 2018, a slight uptick said to account for inflation.
Here's where workers will see their pay rise in the new year, and how much they'll begin to make.
Alaska: $9.84 an hour
Albuquerque, New Mexico: $8.95 an hour
Arizona: $10.50 an hour
Bernalillo County, New Mexico: $8.85 an hour
California: $11 an hour for businesses with 26 or more employees; $10.50 an hour for businesses with 25 or fewer employees
Colorado: $10.20 an hour
Cupertino, California: $13.50 an hour
El Cerrito, California: $13.60 an hour
Flagstaff, Arizona: $11 an hour
Florida: $8.25 an hour
Hawaii: $10.10 an hour
Los Altos, California: $13.50 an hour
Maine: $10 an hour
Michigan: $9.25 an hour
Milpitas, California: $12 an hour
Minneapolis, Minnesota: $10 an hour for businesses with more than 100 employees
Minnesota: $9.65 an hour for businesses with annual gross revenue of $500,000 or more; $7.87 an hour for businesses with annual gross revenue of less than $500,000
Missouri: $7.85 an hour
Montana: $8.30 an hour
Mountain View, California: $15 an hour
New Jersey: $8.60 an hour
New York: $13 an hour for standard New York City businesses with 11 for more employees; $12 an hour for standard New York City businesses with 10 or fewer employees; $11 an hour for standard workers in Long Island and Westchester; $10.40 for standard workers in the rest of New York state; $13.50 for fast food workers in New York City; $11.75 for fast food workers in the rest of the state
Oakland, California: $13.23 an hour
Ohio: $8.30 an hour
Palo Alto, California: $13.50 an hour
Rhode Island: $10.10 an hour
Richmond, California: $13.41 an hour
San Jose, California: $13.50 an hour
San Mateo, California: $13.50 an hour for standard businesses; $12 an hour for nonprofits
Santa Clara, California: $13 an hour
SeaTac, Washington: $15.64 an hour for hospitality and transportation employees
Seattle, Washington: $15.45 an hour for businesses with 501 or more employees that don't offer medical benefits; $15 an hour for businesses with 501 or more employees that do offer medical benefits; $14 an hour for businesses with 500 or fewer employees that don't offer medical benefits; $11.50 an hour for businesses with 500 or fewer employees that do offer medical benefits
South Dakota: $8.85 an hour
Sunnyvale, California: $15 an hour
Tacoma, Washington: $12 an hour
Vermont: $10.50 an hour
Washington state: $11.50 an hour


CNNMoney (New York)First published December 29, 2017: 6:29 AM ET

http://money.cnn.com/2017/12/29/news...ses/index.html

North Carolina/Minimum wage


7.25 USD per hour



California
11.00 USD



Florida
8.25 USD



Virginia
7.25 USD

Disneyland Resort offers 36 percent increase in starting wages over three years