6 ms·
Wage stagnation is probably a bigger factor. Minimum wage, 1951: $0.75/hr Minimum wage, 1981: $3.25/hr Minimum wage, 2011: $7.25/hr
by trotsky 13y ago
Wage stagnation is probably a bigger factor.
Minimum wage, 1951: $0.75/hr
Minimum wage, 1981: $3.25/hr
Minimum wage, 2011: $7.25/hr
- zanny 13y agoWhile I don't agree with the status quo, if your labor isn't worth $15 an hour to someone (mainly because someone else is perfectly willing to do the work for less) then they don't have a moral obligation to pay you more, and minimum wage laws only artificially constrict the limits of what the value of unskilled labor is. I'd rather see a basic income guarantee (mainly for creative people like artists or FOSS developers) and the removal of minimum wage, so businesses can correct the true value of labor in various fields. It would help eliminate the rampant service industry that destroys souls because most people don't have the fortitude to deal with random strangers idiocy.
- psaintla 13y agoHow about an obligation to not shift your employee cost of living onto the government?
- viveutvivas 13y agoThis is the important aspect that most people don't think about when discussing this issue. A quick google search reveals 80% of Walmart employees are on government assistance.
- adventured 13y agoIt's not wage stagnation per se, it's the implosion of the real economy. Minimum wage can't keep up because our economy is a shadow of its former self. From 1950 to 1980, America had on average half the total global manufacturing base, courtesy of WW2 having blown up everybody else. If we matched minimum wage from 1951, or 1961, we'd need to be paying $40,000 to $50,000 per year. Anybody that has run a liquor store, or a fast food business, understands that's mathematically impossible.