Can You Live On $5.15/hr.?
Imagine only earning $5.15 per hour in today’s world. How many hours would you have to work to fill your tank with gas. It is very unlikely you would even have a car. Imagine life without a car in today’s world. I’d hate to ride a SMART bus, but too many people do in today’s world.
The minimum wage has not increased in over eight years (right W?) This year, Michigan Voters will have the opportunity to increase the minimum wage to $6.85 per hour. Imagine trying to live on $6.85 per hour. You’d still be riding a bus, but at least you could get some more food and clothing. Hopefully, you would have shelter. Imaging having a job an being homeless at the same time.
Raising the minimum wage is the right thing to do. America used to call this economic justice.
It is also in our own economic interest. It has been demonstrated that raising the minimum wage immediately improves the economy where these workers live. These minimum wage Americans spend money as fast as they get it. They have so many unmet needs. Due to the inceased minimum wage, grocers and neighborhood stores will sell more products. They will make more money, expand, and hire then more people. These new hires will spend more money. Economists call this the multiplier effect. Surprise, raising the minimum wage makes great economic sense!
Isn’t ironic that most politicians who support massive tax cuts for the super-rich have a problem with raising the minimum wage? Most also want to eliminate welfare. The welfare system needs to change, but it needs to change to benefit the poorest of the poor. Everyone, including welfare recipients, wants to see meaningful welfare reform.
One of the best ways to get people off welfare is to offer minimum wage jobs that pay better than welfare! Too many people make more money on welfare than on minimum wage jobs. This is not right! We need a minimum wage that pays better than welfare.
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The minimum wage has not increased in over eight years (right W?) This year, Michigan Voters will have the opportunity to increase the minimum wage to $6.85 per hour. Imagine trying to live on $6.85 per hour. You’d still be riding a bus, but at least you could get some more food and clothing. Hopefully, you would have shelter. Imaging having a job an being homeless at the same time.
Raising the minimum wage is the right thing to do. America used to call this economic justice.
It is also in our own economic interest. It has been demonstrated that raising the minimum wage immediately improves the economy where these workers live. These minimum wage Americans spend money as fast as they get it. They have so many unmet needs. Due to the inceased minimum wage, grocers and neighborhood stores will sell more products. They will make more money, expand, and hire then more people. These new hires will spend more money. Economists call this the multiplier effect. Surprise, raising the minimum wage makes great economic sense!
Isn’t ironic that most politicians who support massive tax cuts for the super-rich have a problem with raising the minimum wage? Most also want to eliminate welfare. The welfare system needs to change, but it needs to change to benefit the poorest of the poor. Everyone, including welfare recipients, wants to see meaningful welfare reform.
One of the best ways to get people off welfare is to offer minimum wage jobs that pay better than welfare! Too many people make more money on welfare than on minimum wage jobs. This is not right! We need a minimum wage that pays better than welfare.
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ask questions
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posted by REB 84 at
1/19/2006 11:39:00 PM
15 Comments:
I sure couldn't live comfortably on 5.15 per hr.
By the way guys, great blog!
I see one of you comments on conyersblog also. I guess I've been banned from commenting there as my password and name no longer work. I would have thought they'd at least tell me why. I was wondering if you have any ideas about the reason. I tried to email the link there(contact us), but the email failed saying their inbox was full.
Anyway keep up the good work!
bill_o_carolina
By
WildBill, at 1:56 AM, January 20, 2006
Wild Bill,
The same thing happened to me under REB 84. They told me it was a technical problem, and could not figure out how to fix it. Try re-typing your log-in and password. If this doesn't work try submitting a new identity like Wild Bill 06.
Nice hearing from you.
By
REB 84, at 7:10 AM, January 20, 2006
REB,
No one can live on 5.15 an hour. Its impossible. We should be asking, why are these people only worth $5.15 an hour to a company? I think the min. wage is designed for enry level workers without a house or family. But unfortunately we are seeing adults that didn't recieve or want a proper education when it was offered and are paying the price for it in their adult years. I have a small business and employ 1 person at min. wage (usually a high school student) and one person @$7.50 an hour and 1 person @$10.00 per hour if the min wage is raised by $1.85 bringing my lowest paid worker within .50 of the middle wage earner than he should be able to get $1.85 raise as well in order to keep the same margin between them. After all he was making $2.50 an hour more than him before the hike. Now my top guy is going to want to keep the same distance between him and the guy below him, so another $1.85 raise for him. That means that I have just incurred an increase of $5.55 an hour just so everyone can keep pace with the guy who got a raise from the govt. How does the govt know that a 16 year old kid sweeping floors for me deserves a raise. Lets be honest the govt doesn't know beans about my business. They know that you can't live on $6.85 an hour any more than $5.15. If we're going to raise the rate like you want and it will improve the economy, than give the guy $10.00 an hour, or better yet give him $15.00 and we will really be humming. My point is if the govt raises the guys wages who makes the pizza than the pizza has to become more expensive, and what have we gained. Raising the min. wage is a feel good measure that doesn't help small business' who create most jobs. We need education to make people mor valuable to industry, but thats another subject.
CHEERS!
Whaler
By
Whaler, at 3:09 PM, January 21, 2006
Whaler,
It sounds like your business is set up something like the old apprentice model. Someone has to learn a skill before the get a raise. Is it possible that policy makers can make an exception for this type of business?
REB 84
By
REB 84, at 11:47 PM, January 21, 2006
REB,
Its not really an apprentice program, but it does reguire different skills or tasks that have to be taught, so the person who knows the skill will teach it to the person who doesn't. Once they can perform other tasks and skills I give them a raise. So it really is up to them to earn a raise, and I think that is how it should work. I do understand that there are people out there for reasons of their own who are struggling,But raising the minimum wage is just a feel good measure that doesn't really lift any boats. So we really ,really need to start overhauling our education system and start educating our youth so they have the brain skills necessary to be valuable to companies or entrepenuers themselves. To many kids are stuck in schools that fail kids consistently year after year and we keep throwing more money at the problem and its never enough,and nothing changes.Why is it that we are educating our kids the same way we did a hundred years ago? Besides charter schools what has changed? Not much. Isee the school system as the next auto industry, unwilling to change and still turning out bad products that business' don't want and won't change until they are near extinction. Private schools are full and more and more families are home schooling, if these two groups could get the funding to follow them it would be over for the gov't schools. I don't know what ?itnow thinks of vouchers but I think it would be the best thing to happen to education in a long time.
CHEERS!
Whaler
By
whaler, at 9:42 AM, January 22, 2006
Whaler you bring up some very interesting point as always. QuestionItNow has dedicated www.QuestionItNow.educationb to these topics.
Personally, I don't think vouchers are the answer, but people need to start paying attention to their local school boards. See www.CitizensforLivoniasFuture.com for a current example of a school board run amuck.
By
REB 84, at 4:44 PM, January 22, 2006
everywhere vouchers are used... the test scores go up in ALL schools public and private...hmmmmmm
Remember this Reb...our schools are run by the same people who brought you FEMA, the FDA and the motor vehicle administration...Yeah that's who I want teaching my kids!
By
Cal Trask, at 4:55 PM, January 22, 2006
Are the schools the problem, or is it lack of oversight? I have recently learned that local school boards here in Michigan are only accountable to themselves, with the possible exception of the state board of education. When there are no checks and balances, there is bound to be croynism and incompetence. This also holds true with your other examples.
By
REB 84, at 6:17 PM, January 22, 2006
REB,
The local school boards don't have to COMPETE!They have a monopoly on the school system whether you like it or not. Why do people want to hold on to the notion of gov't run schools?They are doing the bidding of their unions and special interests .This is the fundemental change that we need to make. Education. If vouchers aren't the answer than what? This system is outdated and antiquated. We need to move on. Lets see if the gov't can compete with the private sector when it comes to education. If not let them get out of the way!
CHEERS!
Whaler
By
Whaler, at 8:56 PM, January 22, 2006
Whaler and Cal,
At first glance, vouchers look like a good idea. But, the devil is in the details. We began talking about the minimum wage and how a significant percentage of min. wage workers are the sole breadwinners of their families. Most likely these parents had parents who did not value or understand education, or went to school in an impoverished district. How can we teach these minimum wage workers how to research schools of choice and vouchers in order to select schools that will help their children break out of the cycle of poverty?
Will vouchers only make the plight of the poorest of the poor worse, since their impoverished districts will have even less funding?
The whole private sector schools idea concerns me. What kind of quality control and oversight is proposed for new schools that will be popping up under vouchers? What impact will voucher driven education have on property values?
There are significant barriers to entry in setting up new brick and mortar schools, hiring teachers, administrators, etc. Most likely only very wealthy individuals, church groups, and/or political organizations will have the means and motivation to establish new schools. Will partisan politics and religious dogma dominate these new schools? If so, will this lead to increased polarization and the balkanization of American society?
By
REB 84, at 8:48 AM, January 23, 2006
Whaler, Tony Trupiano here...and I'd quickly like to bring this topic back to minimum wage:
Fundamentally you could not be more wrong on your comments about wage vs. price. vs. job creation. There have been many stuides that prove that raising the minimum wage in the states that have tired of waiting for the Federal Government to do this, have seen an inrease in their economies and have seen job creation. The minimum wage has not seen an increase in almost 10 years. As more and more Middle Class, middle income families have been outsourced and been forced into minimum wage jobs, this "high school" wage you mention is just an unrealistic look at what is dynamically happening in our communities and in this state.
Whaler, please do some homework in the future on this or any issue. I appreciate your opinions, but they happen to be just that. No facts. It's wrong to throw out opinions as fact. You did that here, and there is NO evidence to support what you have written, in fact the opposite is true.
I'll write more later as time allows, but Michigan deserves a raise. No one will get rich off this and the money will be spent locally, helping the over economy here in Michigan.
By
Anonymous, at 9:28 AM, January 23, 2006
Tony and Whaler,
Both of you have valid points. Tony's contention is correct in that the raising of minimum wages INCREASES small business growth. (see link from the EPI http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/webfeatures_viewpoints_raising_minimum_wage_2004) But Whaler's point that education is the answer is also valid. Even $10-$15 an hour is not a living wage. SO raising the minimum to $7, $8, or even $9 an hour is a drop in the bucket compaired to what is needed to raise a family. EDUCATION is the key to moving beyond Wal-Mart and McDonalds and into the boardrooms of small businesses in our local communities. I think we all agree that MORE jobs at higher pay is the real answer and the only way you get that is with better, usefull education and higher wages.
Reb,
We have a small school at our church and are self regulated...here's how:
Maryland has state standardized testing that you must pass to graduate.
If our kids aren't passing...parents have the right to remove thier children and move them to a different school.
So our regulation is in the quality of product. If you look at the research, private schools have better test scores than do public schools catagorically (see link: http://www.publicschoolreview.com/private-public-schools.php)
By
Cal Trask, at 11:04 AM, January 23, 2006
Tony,
Whaler here,
I'm sorry if you think I need some study, to know what is going on in my life and what will happen with my business. I don't need research to tell me that if my min wage worker gets a raise, that I will see an increase across the board. I do use the minimum wage as a entry level wage. I understand that some people are struggling and are forced into minimum wage jobs but I simply said that the minimum wage wes DESIGNED for entry level workers. What it has become is debateable. The research I do is real life! I live it every day. I create jobs. I set pricing. not all policy can be set by studies.These policies affect REAL people. Again if the minimum does infact lift economies why isn't it being done everywhere? So you can say that I couldn't be more wrong all you want but that doesn't make it so. And I don't need a study to prove it.
CHEERS!
Whaler
By
Whaler, at 5:58 PM, January 24, 2006
Whaler,
The studies I heard Tony and others site stated that approx. 40% of minimum wage workers are the sole bread-winners of their families.
Most likely, these workers live in impoverished neighborhoods, with inadequate schooling and little opportunity to improve their life-styles. In these cases, the multiplier effect has been demonstrated to deliver an overall positive effect on the entire neighborhood, since the additional income is spent almost as soon as it is earned.
I wonder what percentage of minimum wage jobs are structured such as your company has (entry level) and how many affect most employees in a company?
By
REB 84, at 9:42 PM, January 24, 2006
when you have a minimum wage of 5.15 it creates more problems than just trying to make it paycheck to paycheck .most likely there are kids involved .the innocent bystanders.my blog "america is heading where" is asking another question that is a direct problem of the 5.15 minimum wage and what that wage really has to offer.i just know that there has to be a line drawn soon,because there are too many people that are just spinning their wheels just trying to survive for themselves and the children that were innocently brought into our mess
By
jazzer, at 2:19 AM, February 01, 2006
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