THE PAY IS TOO DAMN LOW

[ljm2002]

50. No it was not deflection...

...you made an absurd statement about why not just let it be unlimited. Now you complain because I called that out, and then responded to your remark "I suppose you would support that too" by telling you what I do support, which goes way beyond minimum wage.

We live in an economy where not everyone can even get work. Where middle class jobs continue to disappear. Where the bulk of new jobs added during the recovery are low-paying and many are part-time (which translates to lower overall salary and no benefits).

But back to minimum wage. Historically, minimum wage is at a very low rate. There is plenty of evidence to suggest it should be made higher. I think the minimum wage should be at least doubled as it is at a very low rate right now and cannot support even a minimal lifestyle. Here is some information on the historical rates from the Center for Economic Policy and Research:

http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/min-wage1-2012-03.pdf

It is coming up on three years since the last increase in the federal minimum wage to $7.25 per hour in July 2009. By all of the most commonly used benchmarks –
inflation, average wages, and productivity – the minimum wage is now far below its historical level. By all of these benchmarks, the value of the minimum wage peaked in 1968. If the minimum wage in that year had been indexed to the official Consumer Price Index (CPIU), the minimum wage in 2012 (using the Congressional Budget Office’s estimates for inflation in 2012) would be at $10.52. Even if we applied the current methodology (CPIURS) for calculating inflation – which generally shows a lower rate of inflation than the older measure – to the whole period since 1968, the 2012 value of the minimum wage would be $9.22.

Using wages as a benchmark, in 1968 the federal minimum stood at 53 percent of the average production worker earnings. During much of the 1960s, the minimum wage was close to 50 percent of the same wage benchmark. If the minimum wage were at 50 percent of the production worker wage in 2012 (again, using CBO projections to produce a full year 2012 estimate), the federal minimum would be $10.01 per hour.

Here's a study from the University of Vermont dispelling the myth that a minimum wage increase means fewer jobs:

http://www.uvm.edu/~vlrs/doc/min_wage.htm

Card and Krueger compared unemployment and wages in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In that comparison they focused on the fast food industry (the leading employers of low wage earners and an industry that enforces the minimum wage). The Comparison of New Jersey and Pennsylvania indicated, "employment actually expanded in New Jersey relative to Pennsylvania, where the minimum wage was constant" (Card and Krueger 1995, p. 66). In additional studies that they conducted using data from other states Card and Krueger actually found a positive correlation between a higher minimum wage and employment. Table 2 presents the findings of each of the studies they ran.

...

In addition to those findings, Card and Krueger found:

A large "spike" in wage distribution at the minimum wage level. This "spike" indicates a large percentage of the work force is minimum wage earners.
A "ripple effect" that consists of wage increases of non-minimum wage earners from those employers who fix wages above the minimum wage.
An absence of evidence that employers reduce benefits to compensate for the higher wage.
A low utilization of teens in the work force.

...

Card and Krueger have received some criticism for their study from a number of conservative think tanks that published their commentaries in opinion-editorial fashion rather than in peer-reviewed journals. Critics claim that the Princeton Study looked specifically at minimum wage issues in the fast food industry, which leaves out a significant population of the minimum wage work force. They also claim that the Card and Krueger data is inconsistent with the actual payroll records of the Burger King franchises; Card and Kreuger chose to rely on the Bureau of Labor Statistics for their data. Richard Berman of the Employment Policies Institute also disagreed with the methodology of the Card and Kruger study. He argues that the analysis should have focused on the number of hours worked instead of the number of employees (Berman 1998). Despite the claims of these critics, there has been no peer-reviewed research to date that contradicts the findings of Card and Kreuger or supports the claim that an increase in the minimum wage increases unemployment.

From a simple fairness perspective, I would have to say that as we see corporations making record profits and fatter fat cats than we've ever seen before in history -- given that, it seems only fair to let full time workers make a living wage. I would actually prefer a policy of a living wage rather than a minimum wage. In any case, I disagree with your premise that raising the minimum wage will hurt workers. On the contrary, it will help all of us.

BTW, welcome to DU.