This is a tangent to another thread, but I think it deserves its own discussion.
When the lowest legal wage goes up by, say, 107% - from $7.25 to $15.00 - there are huge ramifications at the bottom end of the earnings totem pole. The higher the local wages are (e.g., NYC, Chicago, Boston), the less impact the increase will have, but this thread is not about the purely economic arguments for and against a "high" minimum wage, it is about the racial component.
Consider, if you will, the employment demographics at companies like Starbucks, Costco, and Whole Foods. These are companies that voluntarily pay a relatively good wage to everyone. They generally don't hire high school and college kids looking for part time work. They don't hire high school dropouts, or ex-cons. They don't hire people with learning disabilities. Because at their "high" wage levels, they can hire "better" people, no problem. They do hire some Black people, but not in proportion to their percentage of the local population.
Consider, what does a "high" minimum wage mean to a demographic that has the highest percentage of HS dropouts? The demographic that has the highest percentage of people who are "graduates" of (or still in) the criminal justice system? The demographic that has the highest percentage of people with learning disabilities? Not to mention, a demographic that generally NEEDS those part time jobs for students?
It will be devastating to that demographic.
I personally believe that EVEN DEMOCRATS realize that a national $15/hr minimum wage would be an economic disaster, and they understand how it will disproportionately affect POC's, so they will increase the MW but it will probably be very watered down. The $15 number won't go into effect for many years, and it may have regional variations for low and high-cost-of-living areas.
For those who pine for the $15/hr minimum wage, thinking that it will make a dramatic change in their quality of life, I submit that this the classic case of, "Be careful what you ask for; you just might get it."
When the lowest legal wage goes up by, say, 107% - from $7.25 to $15.00 - there are huge ramifications at the bottom end of the earnings totem pole. The higher the local wages are (e.g., NYC, Chicago, Boston), the less impact the increase will have, but this thread is not about the purely economic arguments for and against a "high" minimum wage, it is about the racial component.
Consider, if you will, the employment demographics at companies like Starbucks, Costco, and Whole Foods. These are companies that voluntarily pay a relatively good wage to everyone. They generally don't hire high school and college kids looking for part time work. They don't hire high school dropouts, or ex-cons. They don't hire people with learning disabilities. Because at their "high" wage levels, they can hire "better" people, no problem. They do hire some Black people, but not in proportion to their percentage of the local population.
Consider, what does a "high" minimum wage mean to a demographic that has the highest percentage of HS dropouts? The demographic that has the highest percentage of people who are "graduates" of (or still in) the criminal justice system? The demographic that has the highest percentage of people with learning disabilities? Not to mention, a demographic that generally NEEDS those part time jobs for students?
It will be devastating to that demographic.
I personally believe that EVEN DEMOCRATS realize that a national $15/hr minimum wage would be an economic disaster, and they understand how it will disproportionately affect POC's, so they will increase the MW but it will probably be very watered down. The $15 number won't go into effect for many years, and it may have regional variations for low and high-cost-of-living areas.
For those who pine for the $15/hr minimum wage, thinking that it will make a dramatic change in their quality of life, I submit that this the classic case of, "Be careful what you ask for; you just might get it."