$15 dollar minimum wage could cost 1 million jobs!

[edhopper]

Sounds alarming, until you realize we were shedding close to that every week during the midst of the Trump pandemic crash.
And we also need to remind people that that job loss is not permanent And many of those who lose their job will find another.

But here is the biggest stat, one that is almost never quoted in the discussion. There are 80 million minimum wage workers in this country, half the work force. So the anti-raise factions are putting the possibility of a million job losses against a living wage for 80 million people.

[Walleye]

1. It is BS from way back. Raising the minimum wage does not cause job loss

[edhopper]

2. The CBO says the job loss is real

https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2021-02/56975-Minimum-Wage.pdf

But the mitigating circumstances I mentioned are also true.

[Walleye]

7. I say let's try it and see what happens. It's only progress

[WHITT]

13. No, It's Not Real

The job losses mentioned are from a Repub STUDY, as in a theoretical occurrence based upon their chosen data input.

In the real world, every time the Federal Minimum Wage has been increased, the number of jobs in the national economy INCREASED, and Unemployment DECREASED.

[edhopper]

19. I posted a link

to the Democratic CBO, so it is real. But the number of jobs is not enough to stop an increase. And many who lose their jobs will find another.
It is basically a little more than the weekly losses under Trump in 3020.

[WHITT]

22. I'm Well Aware Of The CBO Report From February

The only data indicating job losses came from a Repub study, which is merely theoretical. Worthless, with no basis in reality.

[lagomorph777]

23. +1 Any Repub studies should be automatically assumed to be bullshit.

[edhopper]

25. No it wasn't

You will have to find a source for that.

My Labor source says it was from 11 different diverse studies.

https://www.laborpress.org/cbo-offers-up-mixed-report-on-15-federal-minimum-wage/

The 1.3 million figure, she explained, is based on the median of 11 recent studies, three of which projected that raising the minimum would actually increase employment, and five of which said that it would cause substantially higher job losses. The CBO used two of those to estimate that a $15 minimum, at worst, could cost 3.7 million jobs.

[WHITT]

30. You're Missing The Point

you see where you posted "projected"?

That's theoretical. All the 'studies' are theoretical. For some ridiculous reason, the CBO decided to factor in a theoretical study that claimed job losses. Reality disagrees.

[PSPS]

3. "Sounds alarming, until you realize..." that it's just another lie.

They use the same scare tactics over and over. The fact is that there are several cities that have enacted such laws and it just doesn't work that way.

[TDale313]

4. Where's the evidence of that?

Why grant that talking point as a given, even if you’re eventually making the case it’s short term and tolerable? Most studies seem to indicate raising the minimum wage does not cause major job loss.

[jimfields33]

5. Why does the article in post 2 say otherwise? The CBO.

[lagomorph777]

24. Because the CBO quoted a study done by Republicans.

Therefore, the source is known to be untrustworthy.

[edhopper]

27. No

it was from 11 different studies.


https://www.laborpress.org/cbo-offers-up-mixed-report-on-15-federal-minimum-wage/

The 1.3 million figure, she explained, is based on the median of 11 recent studies, three of which projected that raising the minimum would actually increase employment, and five of which said that it would cause substantially higher job losses. The CBO used two of those to estimate that a $15 minimum, at worst, could cost 3.7 million jobs.

It doesn't help us to disqualify the non-biased CBO.

[lagomorph777]

28. Thanks for including the balanced assessment of the CBO report.

Obviously, there is no real consensus on potential job loss.

[WHITT]

31. Including A Theoretical Study

is NOT a "balanced assessment".

[jimfields33]

35. Oh those CBO buggers. What a deceptive move.

And got me by reading the post only.

[temporary311]

6. Wonder how much of that

would be mitigated by people dropping 2nd or 3rd jobs.

[soothsayer]

8. Exactly

[drmeow]

36. At least some of it

also people who would rather stay home with young children or aging parents who can't currently afford to

[duforsure]

9. But they always ignore what happens next,

The additional wages increases spending, which grows the economy.

[bem6207]

10. It'll be alright.

We have restaurants around here raising the minimum wage and offering sign on bonuses because they have not been able to keep people employed.
Here's my take on the entire ordeal, and I may be wrong.
I have seen small business owners boom from the pandemic. They have established an internet based storefront and have really stepped up on the rebranding. Some have benefited tremendously.
My gym permanently closed and blamed it on the pandemic. However, their has been talk for a long time that the place was going to shut down and it was only a matter of time before this happened. Majority of the members (including myself) were already members at other gyms, because we were expecting the closing. Most big corporations like Stein Mart, have been struggling for a long time. I read they were in the middle of a merger before the pandemic and it fell through, so they took out a 10million ppp loan (hopefully to pay their employees) and went out of business. I just imagine this effecting the already struggling companies, and then you will have the greedy folks with plenty of money try to blame this on Biden and brainwash their employees.
It's time for these people to pay up! I have worked my ass off for so many greedy bastards who only cared about themselves while I struggled. People don't tip but expect top notch service and it's usually the rich folk who are the cheap ones. This world is so ass backwards and something needs to change. If you have a shitty employee who is getting paid well, that is just a no brainer, give the job to someone who will appreciate it, but no one can live off of minimum wage. Show some appreciation for the people who keep your business afloat. Damn!!

[KentuckyWoman]

11. That always did come off the stable floor.

The only good use is to plow it underfoot and let it decompose.

[Under The Radar]

12. Those that get an increase to $15 aren't using it for stock buy backs....

... and that money is spent in the local economy. So how many jobs will that create?
Since 1939 there have been 29 minimum wage increases. Not once has the increase negatively affected the economy.
In 1968 the $1.25 minimum wage had the buying power of $21 today. And the last increase was in 2009.

[Scrivener7]

14. If you are employing people full time and can't pay them enough for them to live decently, as in

keep a roof over their and a couple of kids' heads, food for the family, clothing, reasonable leisure required for health, then you have no business employing them. Your business plan is untenable. The best that can happen is that the government, which means you and me, will have to subsidize that untenable business in the form of social services that make up the difference.

It requires rethinking, and some changes. For example, perhaps if you pay restaurant workers $15 an hour, the food will be a little more expensive and the tips will be a little smaller.

But it's like the fuel industry. If we stopped subsidizing oil and gas companies billions of tax dollars per year, oil and gas would be more expensive. We'd use less of it. That is a good thing.

We need to start to price goods and services at what they actually cost.

[Maraya1969]

17. And the taxpayers won't have to continue to help pay the wages of all the working

people who qualify for Medicaid and Food Stamps.

Maybe that doesn't have anything to do with the price of things but it certainly makes things more equitable.

[FireUpChips10]

15. Plus, fewer people would even need a second/third/etc. job

...when they are paid better.

[Maraya1969]

16. Employers hire as many people as they need to run their business. The have to!

Plus with 80 million people practically doubling their salaries the economy will get a big boost and employers will end up hiring more people.

It is a win win all the way around.

[Hoyt]

18. There is a reason that 80 M stat is never quoted, it's not close to true. Min Wage does need to be

substantially increased, though.

Together, these 1.8 million workers with wages at or below the federal minimum made up 2.3 percent of all hourly paid workers.

https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/minimum-wage/2017/home.htm#:~:text=In%202017%2C%2080.4%20million%20workers,wage%20of%20%247.25%20per%20hour.



Today, 41.7 million workers earn under $12 an hour and 58.3 million workers earn under $15 an hour—wages that are too low for families to thrive.

https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/research-publications/few-rewards/?_gl=1*1hqhvb9*_ga*MTQ4ODE3MjY3NC4xNjE5NzE0NTYx*_ga_R58YETD6XK*MTYxOTcxNDU2MC4xLjEuMTYxOTcxNDg2Ny4w


Again, I'm for increasing minimum wage substantially, $15/hour or more in most areas. But I'm also for facts.

[greenjar_01]

20. Old enough to remember when smoking bans were going to end the bar and restaurant industry

And other Chamber of Commerce fantasies and scare tactics.

$15 minimum wage would be integrated into current business practices with almost no effect whatsoever, not even the supposed million job losses. It's a goddamn lie made up by greedy assholes and their cronies in economic departments. It's pure bullshit.

[DontBelieveEastisEas]

21. Half a Job

Also, at $7.50, it is only half a job lost. Or a part time job at $15 could replace it.
At $10 it is 2/3rd job loss.
At $12 and higher, it is likely just a pay raise.

[maxsolomon]

26. "Fire 1 million!" -Zorg

[dickthegrouch]

29. Mandating a specific minimum wage COULD put a fledgling business in trouble

Especially if it's underfunded and not doing well on sales, or not ready to sell anything yet.
Or it could upend a carefully drawn-up fiscal plan and make raising money more urgent.
There needs to be specific carve outs for SMALL businesses which are not part of huge corporations.

Otherwise minimum wage is just another unfunded mandate which many businesses, with razor-thin margins already, can't cope with.

BTDT

[WHITT]

32. But

are we promulgating policies that are good for the nation, or some "underfunded" small business?

Every time the Federal Minimum Wage has increased, national employment has increased.

[roamer65]

33. How many jobs will a $15 minimum wage create?

I bet it’s a LOT more than one million.

If people have more money in their pockets, they spend it and that creates jobs!

That’s why Henry Ford paid his workers $5 a day in the 1910’s. So they could afford his cars.

[edhopper]

34. This is true

The limited job loss would be short term. Long term is probably a plus.