STUDY: Seattle Minimum Wage Increase Hurts Low Wage Workers

Yes, low paid workers should work for billionaires for free. Just like in the days of feudalism.

Wow. It's almost like people use less of an input when the input becomes more expensive. Who would have thought?

Work 4 Free wrote:

Yes, low paid workers should work for billionaires for free. Just like in the days of feudalism.

A super-high minimum wage simply isn't a viable solution to the issues you raise. I agree with you that the problem exists, but if you actually care about it, you should be working toward a solution that works instead of pushing a policy that any high school economics student could poke holes in.

Work 4 Free wrote:

Yes, low paid workers should work for billionaires for free. Just like in the days of feudalism.

The Seattle increase in minimum raise brought us $125 per month closer to that.

They need to raise it from $15 to $20/hr in Seattle

Big jumps aren't going to have a smooth impact, one way or another.

How it is managed depends on the type of hourly job.

If you have a retail store that is open from 10 am to 9 pm, you have to have coverage.

You can't cut hours.

Maybe if you normally have 5 employees, you can go with 4 or have some start later or leave later.

But you need to provide adequate service to your customers at peak times.

Same with a restaurant.

You can manage hours by forcing longer breaks or only staffing peak times.

But they were likely already doing that at a lower minimum wage.

Managers already do what they can to cut labor costs in the form of hours.

The study may have coincided with more automation in some industries.

The higher wage will either give employees more money or more free time. Maybe they'd be more likely to pick up a second job.

Higher wages will hurt lower skilled workers lower quality workers because the higher wage could attract better workers for those jobs.

It doesn't pay to not be very useful or very likable.

X-Runner wrote:

Higher wages will hurt lower skilled workers lower quality workers because the higher wage could attract better workers for those jobs.

This is an important point that people often ignore.

I live in a college town. At $15/hour, suddenly thousands of bright, reliable, healthy young people are interested in McJobs. The current crop of fast food and service workers can't compete in that market. Even if the total number of people employed remains constant, the worst off would be harmed.

X-Runner wrote:

If you have a retail store that is open from 10 am to 9 pm, you have to have coverage.

You can't cut hours.

Maybe if you normally have 5 employees, you can go with 4 or have some start later or leave later.

But you need to provide adequate service to your customers at peak times.

Same with a restaurant.

You can manage hours by forcing longer breaks or only staffing peak times.

But they were likely already doing that at a lower minimum wage.

You forgot the option of "stores closing because they can't afford it" as a way that hours can be cut.

vcv wrote:

X-Runner wrote:

If you have a retail store that is open from 10 am to 9 pm, you have to have coverage.

You can't cut hours.

Maybe if you normally have 5 employees, you can go with 4 or have some start later or leave later.

But you need to provide adequate service to your customers at peak times.

Same with a restaurant.

You can manage hours by forcing longer breaks or only staffing peak times.

But they were likely already doing that at a lower minimum wage.

You forgot the option of "stores closing because they can't afford it" as a way that hours can be cut.

Perhaps, but I'm skeptical a healthy business with a good business model was done in by a minimum wage increase. Businesses that had to close were likely already on their way out.

Yes. Business closing because the costs are too high could be a result of this.

“No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country.”

-FDR

With all of that said, minimum wage type of jobs shouldn't be for full time workers.

They are meant for students and young people getting some spending money.

Not parents or for adults looking for full means to live off of.

But if you create a business that does rely on full time workers but you can't pay a living wage, then you have a bad business.

So it takes a away low skilled workers opportunities to make a living for themselves thus making them more dependent on government handouts and more reliable Democratic Party voters.

Sounds like the law is working as intended.

Or incentivizes low skilled workers to get some skills.

X-Runner wrote:

Yes. Business closing because the costs are too high could be a result of this.

“No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country.”

-FDR

With all of that said, minimum wage type of jobs shouldn't be for full time workers.

They are meant for students and young people getting some spending money.

Not parents or for adults looking for full means to live off of.

But if you create a business that does rely on full time workers but you can't pay a living wage, then you have a bad business.

What about businesses that rely on part-time workers, such as students and young people looking to get some spending money?

racket wrote:

vcv wrote:

You forgot the option of "stores closing because they can't afford it" as a way that hours can be cut.

Perhaps, but I'm skeptical a healthy business with a good business model was done in by a minimum wage increase. Businesses that had to close were likely already on their way out.

Or the businesses that had to close were on their way up until the $15 minimum wage made them less competitive and killed them before they could reach a profitable position. In this case the higher minimum wage destroyed jobs and wiped out the hard work and life savings of whoever started the business. But hey, we have to break some eggs to create our Utopian community right?

Liberals never have any compassion for the victims of their misguided policies. Probably because they can always depend on their votes after they've been wiped out and become dependent on welfare.

I work at the corporate level for a major pizza chain. We had to close several of our Seattle stores because the higher prices we had to charge due to the minimum wage killed their sales. Those people who used to work there fir $10.00/hr now make nothing.

Pizza boy wrote:

I work at the corporate level for a major pizza chain. We had to close several of our Seattle stores because the higher prices we had to charge due to the minimum wage killed their sales. Those people who used to work there fir $10.00/hr now make nothing.

According to FDR your business has no right to exist in this country.

vcv wrote:

What about businesses that rely on part-time workers, such as students and young people looking to get some spending money?

Well, that's a good business.

I don't think having a relatively low minimum wage for these types is bad.

It wouldn't be bad to set minimum wage to age groups except for the age discrimination that might follow.

What I do think is bad is having a business model that relies on cheap full time wages.

Minimum wage jobs should be part time.

A business that needs some help for a few hours a week here and there.

Most of the fault goes to the person that accepts full time low wage work and never built up their value.

Pizza boy wrote:

I work at the corporate level for a major pizza chain. We had to close several of our Seattle stores because the higher prices we had to charge due to the minimum wage killed their sales. Those people who used to work there fir $10.00/hr now make nothing.

People have a demand for cheap food.

Businesses have a demand for high margins.

That squeezes the workers.