The price of burgers in California

            There is a push to raise the California State Minimum Wage again.  Right now, the state minimum wage is $6.75, and the proposed new minimum is $7.75, nearly a 15% increase.

            I have a serious exception to this.  If the minimum wage is raised, it’s like a pay cut for everyone else that makes more.  The price of products and services that are dependant on minimum wage labor will rise because the cost to make or provide them will rise.  Of course, the rest of us aren’t getting a 15% raise, so we just have to shell out more money for what we buy already.

            The justification of the increase is because some study came out saying you just can’t live on $6.75 an hour here in California.  Well, yes you can, but I’m sure it’s not a comfortable living.  But that’s not the point.  The vast majority of minimum wage earners are working part-time, and relying on their hourly wage only in part for their living expense, or not at all.  Those people, if they need more money, can (and do) take on more hours, another, or a different job.  How many of the people working at the McDonalds do you think are paying rent?  Very few I’m sure.  The vast majority of minimum wage earners are working so they can buy bigger speakers for their car, and maybe rent a limo for prom, not to pay rent or buy food.  I know there are such individuals that don’t fall into that majority.  Not only does my proposal help them, but I can’t help but think if you are an individual working to support yourself in California and are making minimum wage, you have a responsibility to yourself to take advantage on one of the MANY programs around to get training for a better job.  For every bleeding heart story you have about someone who is barely struggling by on their minimum wage job, I have two of people who got out of it.

We already differentiate full time and part time employees for an employer with regard to workers compensation insurance, benefits, why can’t we do so with wage?  I see no reason that part-time workers are entitled to a 15% raise by government mandate.  If you are working part-time, it’s obvious to me you aren’t supporting yourself by just your hourly income.  (Don’t argue with me servers, you work for tips and you know it.  The extra $20.00 a week you’d get from this is nothing compared to the increase in tips you’d get from a job at a better restaurant.  Compare that with the hundreds it’ll cost the owner of a little diner.)  So, lets raise the minimum wage for FULL TIME workers, and let those who have part-time jobs be.  Will this encourage employers to hire less full time employees and convert jobs to part-time?  You’d think so, if you weren’t an employer yourself.  There are already SO many reasons for an employer to have only part-time employees, that they try their best to do so in the first place.

Moves like this hinder advancements for small businesses, which eventually, hurts us all.

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Comments

[Vanity Ruins]

Soapbox!! SOAPBOX!! ;) Hee hee...

Seriously though... you need to run for some kind of office. Ideas like this seem like such a good idea to me until you clue me in on things I never would have thought about. I guess your mind really works better in these circles than most.

Yeah... don't let that go to your head. ;)

[Kevin]

Just to toss around a few numbers to consider:

In 2005, $6.75 from 2002 is worth:
$7.33 using the Consumer Price Index
$7.27 using the GDP deflator
$7.23 using the unskilled wage
$7.81 using the nominal GDP per capita
$8.05 using the relative share of GDP

So $7.75 is probably about the average rate (adjusted for inflation) for the next few years to keep the same relative pay.

[Rob]

So by raising the mimimum wage 15%, I as a small cafe owner would have to increase my prices by nearly 27% to make up for this. As long as my suppliers do not raise their prices. Which as I have witnessed in the past is not an option for them either. You see when you raise minimum wage everything else goes up in cost for me too. Worker Comp is not a set price, it is a percentage (in my case 12%) of an employees gross wage. By raising the minumum wage $1.00 you have now made my cost just for wage and W/C go to $1.12 not including all the other taxes and such that are based on a % of pay. We live in a fair market system, supply and demand. We should have NO minimum wage. Allow the workers to work where they want for a price they are acceptable of, not mandated to work for.

[Dan Gonzales]

I disagree with your article. Some of "those people" who earn minimum wage are students. Some college students have to work part time to support their education. while it is true thatsome employers pay for insurance and benefits, some of them do not offer it to part time employees. Some times employers scam their employes by charging them for benefits that they never recieve. In conclusion, instead of thinking of minimum wage workers as a whole group, try to think of them as individuals.

p.s Try not to make logic errors.

[Micah Rousey]

Wouldn't it be a mistake to make a policy that affects a GROUP of people while thinking about INDIVIDUALS?

Geez Dan, you'd make a great politician.

By the way, THIS individual worked full time while going to college.

As for employers scamming their employees, well, thats against the law. This is an argument of policy.

Where was MY error in logic?