If We Totally Got Rid of the Minimum Wage, Where Do You Think The Bottom Wage Would Finally Wind Up?

[JimBowie1958]

I am wondering because I hear so many conservatives claim that the minimum paid wage as determined by the market place would never go to zero.

I ask these guys if they ever heard of SLAVERY?

I have as yet not heard an answer to my question.

So if we got rid of a legal requirement for a minimum wage,what would be the lowest full time hourly wage found in the USA after five years?

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

Slaves didn't have a choice, moron. They were property

 

[ScienceRocks]

Like Bernie sanders said look at vietnam and said that the American people shouldn't have to compete against it.

That is where the baseline would be. Some people would have goats in their yards to survive as most people would be dirt poor.

 

[JimBowie1958]

Slaves didn't have a choice, moron. They were property

Historically, yes some slaves did. The Janissaries, Mamelukes, and most slaves could buy their freedom after they saved their price paid for them if their master was willing. Some sold themselves into slavery, dude.

Your lack of knowledge regarding history of slavery does not make me the moron, dude.

 

[JimBowie1958]

Like Bernie sanders said look at vietnam and said that the American people shouldn't have to compete against it.

That is where the baseline would be. Some people would have goats in their yards to survive as most people would be dirt poor.

I think that the US, through the Democratic system, should set its own baseline reflecting the cost of living and retiring here in the USA.

 

[JoeMoma]

By definition of "no minimum wage" there would be no minimum which would be interpreted a possible zero per hour. Practically, there would be little change in wages in that the current minimum wage for most low skill jobs is not significantly higher than what the market would support.

 

[EverCurious]

If Alaska is to be any judge of things, then the market does alright at wage determinations. We've had a minimum wage of $7.50/h or something up here for ages and ages, but almost no one pays min-wage. If I had to guess, I'd say average min wage up here is like $9-9.50/h. The two boys who stayed up here after graduating HS (aka skipped college like little dorks) immediately started jobs paying $25/h+, buddy of mine came up here from Cali to work as a geologist (fell through cause of oil cut-backs, politics, etc.) but he just picked up a job he has no experience in that's pays $30/h. I think the only person I know who got a job paying less than $10/h is my son, who just turned 16; he had done a temp x-mas stocking job with Fred Meyer's.

Alaska pretty much always needs workers so places up here to need to pay well or their employees will quit for better paying jobs.

EDIT: yea, don't become a librarian or a movie theater usher ($9/h) and you're making over $10/h up here it looks like - Wages for Anchorage/Mat-Su Area (MSA)

Oh and I was a hair off, plus it looks like they just raised min wage to $9.75/h in November. It was $7.75/h from 2010-2014 ~ The Alaska Minimum Wage (Sorry bout that, no one cared about raising the min wage up here, I don't think it even made the news lol)

 

[JimBowie1958]

By definition of "no minimum wage" there would be no minimum which would be interpreted a possible zero per hour. Practically, there would be little change in wages in that the current minimum wage for most low skill jobs is not significantly higher than what the market would support.

So you think the bottom wage would be set by the market at around $7 an hour?

 

[JimBowie1958]

If Alaska is to be any judge of things, then the market does alright at wage determinations. We've had a minimum wage of $7.50/h or something up here for ages and ages, but almost no one pays min-wage. If I had to guess, I'd say average min wage up here is like $9-9.50/h. The two boys who stayed up here after graduating HS (aka skipped college like little dorks) immediately started jobs paying $25/h+, buddy of mine came up here from Cali to work as a geologist (fell through cause of oil cut-backs, politics, etc.) but he just picked up a job he has no experience in that's pays $30/h. I think the only person I know who got a job paying less than $10/h is my son, who just turned 16; he had done a temp x-mas stocking job with Fred Meyer's.

Alaska pretty much always needs workers so places up here to need to pay well or their employees will quit for better paying jobs.

EDIT: yea, don't become a librarian or a movie theater usher ($9/h) and you're making over $10/h up here it looks like - Wages for Anchorage/Mat-Su Area (MSA)

So did you check the $9 box?

 

[EverCurious]

Well I didn't vote because your poll has a flaw; every state is different based on their situation. Plus you didn't say who was going to be president in 2017, if it's Trump we're going to have higher pay, if it's Sander's we'll all be broke so it won't matter.

 

[JimBowie1958]

Well I didn't vote because your poll has a flaw; every state is different based on their situation. Plus you didn't say who was going to be president in 2017, if it's Trump we're going to have higher pay, if it's Sander's we'll all be broke so it won't matter.

True, but I thought that would get into the weeds too much.

Nine choices was probably pushing it as it is.

 

[EverCurious]

Well I personally think that sans min-wage pay would be quite regional, like Alaska has always had higher pay than the lower 48, but (perhaps contrary to what one might think) positions outside the city pay probably .25% higher than in the city, etc. So I think not only would average state wages vary, but between cities as well. It's like someone would have to flip out a crap ton of money for me to work in like Nome (no way I'd work in like Chicago or Baltimore) etc. So I think sans min-wage there'd actually be a huge variation in hourly pay - just like there is for various fields.

 

[JimBowie1958]

Well I personally think that sans min-wage pay would be quite regional, like Alaska has always had higher pay than the lower 48, but (perhaps contrary to what one might think) positions outside the city pay probably .25% higher than in the city, etc. So I think not only would average state wages vary, but between cities as well. It's like someone would have to flip out a crap ton of money for me to work in like Nome (no way I'd work in like Chicago or Baltimore) etc. So I think sans min-wage there'd actually be a huge variation in hourly pay - just like there is for various fields.

I agree, but there would be a lowest wage among all those states and all those industries, and that is what I am trying to get an impression of what people think that would likely be around here.

I think the lowest paying full time jobs would likely be found in a place like Mississippi where ditch diggers would get maybe $4 an hour.

 

[EverCurious]

mmm I'd actually guess that the opposite would happen with a ditch digger job; no one would want to do it and there are tons of other no-skill jobs so the pay for it would go up rather than down. idk maybe I'm seeing it wrong because I've been up here my whole life, shitty jobs up here tend to make more money than "comfortable" jobs in the overall scheme of things, like fish squeezers, (and yes that's a legit job up here), are seasonal so they tend to pay pretty decently; like $20/h as I recall it. A lot of folks in the bush work at the fish processing plants for 3 months and make enough to pay for the whole year.

 

[JimBowie1958]

mmm I'd actually guess that the opposite would happen with a ditch digger job; no one would want to do it and there are tons of other no-skill jobs so the pay for it would go up rather than down. idk maybe I'm seeing it wrong because I've been up here my whole life, shitty jobs up here tend to make more money than "comfortable" jobs in the overall scheme of things, like fish squeezers, (and yes that's a legit job up here), are seasonal so they tend to pay pretty decently; like $20/h as I recall it. A lot of folks in the bush work at the fish processing plants for 3 months and make enough to pay for the whole year.

I agree with all you said especially the underlined. In a growing healthy economy you normally see wages go up and the consumer market grow.

But what we have had these past nearly 30 years has been huge job growth with no wage scale growth across the country because we have a glut of guest workers and black market labor killing that growth.

 

[Wyatt earp]

I am wondering because I hear so many conservatives claim that the minimum paid wage as determined by the market place would never go to zero.

I ask these guys if they ever heard of SLAVERY?

I have as yet not heard an answer to my question.

So if we got rid of a legal requirement for a minimum wage,what would be the lowest full time hourly wage found in the USA after five years?

I see you don't have a clue about economics.

 

[WildBillKelsoe]

I am wondering because I hear so many conservatives claim that the minimum paid wage as determined by the market place would never go to zero.

I ask these guys if they ever heard of SLAVERY?

I have as yet not heard an answer to my question.

So if we got rid of a legal requirement for a minimum wage,what would be the lowest full time hourly wage found in the USA after five years?

It would end up wherever the market decided it would be.

With the mandatory minimum wage and massive welfare state, the government has guaranteed that the prevailing wage will never increase, without a government mandate.

 

[Disgruntled_American]

So if we got rid of a legal requirement for a minimum wage,what would be the lowest full time hourly wage found in the USA after five years?

Depends on the job and location really. Obviously it wouldn't be $0 as that won't put ANY food on your table or a roof over your head. I do think in some areas it would be quite low and devastating while others it would remain close to the same. There would be a farther gap though and I think we would see a lot more people requesting to go on government assistance if the min wages were repealed.

 

[martybegan]

By definition of "no minimum wage" there would be no minimum which would be interpreted a possible zero per hour. Practically, there would be little change in wages in that the current minimum wage for most low skill jobs is not significantly higher than what the market would support.

Where you would probably see lower wages is with teenagers working in their part time jobs.

 

[2aguy]

By definition of "no minimum wage" there would be no minimum which would be interpreted a possible zero per hour. Practically, there would be little change in wages in that the current minimum wage for most low skill jobs is not significantly higher than what the market would support.

So you think the bottom wage would be set by the market at around $7 an hour?

I think McDonald pays more than 7 to start.........because there is competition for those employees. And if we can get a handle on illegal immigration which drives wages down, that wage will go up...