EDEB8 - Ultimate Online Debating
About Us   Debate    Judge   Forum

U.S. Minimum Wage

< Return to subforum
Page: 123Most Recent
Bi0Hazard
By Bi0Hazard | Apr 28 2016 8:58 AM
There is debate here in the U.S. on whether the federal minimum wage should be raised. It is currently at $7.25(U.S. Dollars), which is 10.42 New Zealand dollars or 4.96 British Pounds. The liberal democrats say that this is too low and should be raised to 15 U.S. Dollars(21.55 New Zealand dollars or 10.27 British Pounds). What do you think? Should the Federal minimum wage be raised or stay the same or even be lowered or abolished? What is the minimum wage in your countries?
Bifurcations
By Bifurcations | Apr 28 2016 12:20 PM
Bi0Hazard: so the minimum wage for the UK the now is £7.20 for 25s and overs, £6.70 for 21-24, £5.30 for 18-20 and £3.87 for under 18s.

I definitely think that under £5 pounds is an impossible amount to live on for an adult and given that if you are working a minimum wage job you don't normally have loads of savings or extra family money that you can dip into. Also given that any attempt to expand welfare in the US is met with the answer of a nanny state taking over an people should be working to earn a living, you have to then make it possible to earn a living while working. So yes it should be raised. Should it be doubled? I don't know, that would depend on what a reasonable living wage would be in the US.
Bifurcations
By Bifurcations | Apr 28 2016 12:34 PM
Bi0Hazard: I looked up the living wage calculator site: http://livingwage.mit.edu/metros/26620

to give an example from it I clicked on Huntsville, Alabama:

living wage for 1 adult is $10.13, with 1 child it goes to $19.93.

For a single parent with one kid they have to somewhat make up a deficit of $12.68. That means working incredibly long hours and your kid still going without. When it is this difficult to support yourself on a minimum wage but the emphasis on American people is still that work is the only way to raise yourself it literally becomes an impossible situation for many, many families.

Obviously the thing that has to be balanced is when the Government forces companies to raise their minimum wage too high they will just employ less people which is overall a worse effect than a low minimum wage. That's why a good balance between Government assistance and decent wages has to be found. that will never happen in America until the idea of this being a "crazy liberal policy" is replaced with actual economic discussions.
Bi0Hazard
By Bi0Hazard | Apr 28 2016 1:35 PM
Bifurcations: Then maybe the minimum wage should be raised up $3 to $10.25 or $10.50.
The amount of workers getting paid the minimum wage is not very high, so it won't affect a huge percentage of working class Americans.
In 2013, 3.3 million Americans worked at an hourly rate at or below the federal minimum of $7.25. This data comes from the Current Population Survey (conducted by the Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics). Note that the Current Population Survey does not specify whether workers are covered by federal or state minimum wages; their calculations are based only on the wage reported.

Those 3.3 million Americans represent just 4.3 percent of hourly paid employees. Employees 16 and older who are paid hourly make up nearly 60 percent of the workforce. The denominator here is “wage and salary workers.” (The BLS excludes you from that group if you’re self-employed at an unincorporated business or are a non-paid family worker.)

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/undisputed-facts-minimum-wage/

Another thing is, the amount earning the minimum wage or less has decreased.
The percentage of hourly workers earning the federal minimum wage or less has decreased from 4.7 percent in 2012 and from 13.4 percent in 1979.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/undisputed-facts-minimum-wage/

It may be a good idea to raise the minimum wage a little and constantly adjust it according to inflation. The current minimum wage is lower than it probably should be. One big problem is that wages have stayed down in America over the years but average hours have increased. So Americans are working for longer hours for lower wages, and the top 1% of wealthiest get richer. Also, the American middle class is dying, so I think we should do something about it. Raising the minimum wage may help a little, but it could still benefit the rich since they can afford more and small businesses would suffer more. There has to be a balance so the minimum wage is not too high for business but not too low for working class Americans.
admin
By admin | Apr 28 2016 4:24 PM
Bi0Hazard: Here the minimum wage currently varies a bit depending on your age and a few other things but for most people, it's a little over $15/hour. This is barely liveable given what goods cost here, but ok in the short term. I'd suggest that in the USA the minimum wage is too low as well, and I think about 12 USD is reasonable.

I think the most important thing is that the minimum wage is adjusted to the CPI. Far too often it's either adjusted to inflation (which does not take into account the actual living costs of people) or just kept at a certain level indefinitely. This adjustment should be made regularly, in my view, so people are not blindsided by rising costs of living.
I'm the main developer for the site. If you have any problems, ideas, questions or concerns please send me a message.
Let's revive the forums!
Bi0Hazard
By Bi0Hazard | Apr 29 2016 6:59 PM
What would you think happen if the Federal minimum wage was abolished?
admin
By admin | Apr 30 2016 3:04 AM
Bi0Hazard: People would frequently be paid less than the federal minimum wage. Duh.
I'm the main developer for the site. If you have any problems, ideas, questions or concerns please send me a message.
Let's revive the forums!
Bi0Hazard
By Bi0Hazard | Apr 30 2016 4:58 AM
admin: Also, more new jobs may be created and the price of products would go down. However, wages would go down.
In the United States, it could be left to the states and there could be a different minimum wage for every state.
Maybe it should be replaced by a guaranteed minimum income.
admin
By admin | Apr 30 2016 6:50 PM
Bi0Hazard: I'd disagree with both of those impacts. Minimum wages, in my view, do not cause inflation. As for more new jobs, basically all you'd see is less outsourcing, meaning less specialization in the labour market. It's not an increase in employment, but a shift in the labour market between sectors of the economy. In the US I think you'd see more manufacturing jobs but the tertiary sector would face much more competition, leading to mass layoffs there.

I feel like whether to leave it to the states is a constitutional issue more than an economic one.
As for a guaranteed minimum income, I feel like in the long term technology may make this necessary anyway. That being said I don't think we're ready for it yet.
I'm the main developer for the site. If you have any problems, ideas, questions or concerns please send me a message.
Let's revive the forums!
Bi0Hazard
By Bi0Hazard | May 1 2016 12:10 PM
admin: So, abolishing the minimum wage would have a negative impact on the economy? Is the minimum wage necessary for capitalism?
admin
By admin | May 1 2016 3:49 PM
Bi0Hazard: Personally I think the impact would be negative, especially in the short run with sticky wages and stuff complicating things.

I guess I wouldn't say a minimum wage is necessary for capitalism, but it sure is desirable in an otherwise capitalist economy, all other things being equal.
I'm the main developer for the site. If you have any problems, ideas, questions or concerns please send me a message.
Let's revive the forums!
Bi0Hazard
By Bi0Hazard | May 1 2016 5:04 PM
admin: So, are you a capitalist or if not then what are you? If I were to guess, you seem to be mostly a capitalist that favors an economy mixed with government control and private ownership of wealth.
Bi0Hazard
By Bi0Hazard | May 1 2016 5:16 PM
In my view, I think the federal minimum wage should be abolished and be left to the states here, but this is more of a constitutional issue. In a capitalist economy, i may prefer a minimum income over minimum wage but for now a minimum wage works great. I was thinking that no minimum wage may be a good idea, but I don't know if it would have much positive results. I guess you could look at places with no minimum wage and see how their working class is.
admin
By admin | May 1 2016 5:30 PM
Bi0Hazard: Yeah, I don't like labels like "capitalist" for me. I'm a very practical person economically and rigid labels don't help with that much. If you force me to pick though, I'm a liberal capitalist taking influence from social credit and progressive economics. Which I guess to many would look a lot more like socialism than anything else lol.
I'm the main developer for the site. If you have any problems, ideas, questions or concerns please send me a message.
Let's revive the forums!
Krazy
By Krazy | May 1 2016 8:49 PM
Sure. $0.00
Krazy
By Krazy | May 1 2016 8:57 PM
admin: DHS15608
What would you think happen if the Federal minimum wage was abolished?

admin
DHS15608: People would frequently be paid less than the federal minimum wage. Duh.


Do realize that most states have minimum wages above the federal standard.
Krazy
By Krazy | May 1 2016 9:03 PM
The U.S. federal government is not supposed to impose a minimum wage. The constitution does not give them that authority. It's not listed anywhere in the U.S. constitution in the powers of the federal government section. And the constitution says that anything not listed for the federal government is reserved for the states. So the federal government has been violating the constitution in that area now for quite a while.
Bifurcations
By Bifurcations | May 2 2016 5:33 AM
Krazy: correct most states have a higher minimum wage than the federal which is fine and it shows that for most states the federal minimum wage has little impact on the amount of money given out. However there has to be a national minimum level particularly when you have multi state companies. This affects the states where they would reduce the minimum wage if they could incentivising companies with high numbers of low wage jobs into those states. The federal government can set a minimum to first of all lessen this effect and because there is a minimum standard by which people should get payed for the time they are working. Given that the welfare programs in the US are primarily funded by the federal government it is reasonable for the federal government to have a say in what the minimum wage is. This is the compromise that governments make with companies and the federal government is in the best position to set that level of compromise. The argument that the constitution does not currently allow the federal government to do this is seriously limited. Becasue it isn't legal now it never should be. The constitution has been changed plenty of times before when the argument was made to change it.
Krazy
By Krazy | May 2 2016 8:52 AM
Who gives the wages to the worker? It's the employer. So the employer should decide the wage. That's only logical. The person who gives the wages should decide what they are.

Unless the government is the only employer in the nation, like in a purely communistic society; then a minimum wage would make sense. Minimum wage is solely a communistic idea. And communism, based on evolution; but that's another story.
Bi0Hazard
By Bi0Hazard | May 2 2016 9:56 AM
Bifurcations: I find the federal minimum wage is pointless, the minimum wage in my state is higher than the federal minimum and different states have different standards of living. It would be better to raise the minimum wage to $15 in one state than in 50 states since different places have different income levels and could be hard on small businesses.
Page: 123Most Recent