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Idaho's minimum wage will go from $5.85 to $6.55 on July 24.
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Posted by Jen1180 Thu Jul 17, 2008 09:26:01 MDT
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Comment From: unboxed

Is it much too little much too late? In short: no.

Minimum rage increases have been proven to raise unemployment, as they price out low skilled workers. Not to mention politicians fail to realize that business owners affected by the increase in payroll will raise the prices of their services to compensate.

Minimum wage laws were first enacted in 1931 with the Davis-Bacon Act. The forces that propelled this piece of legislation were the predominantly white construction workers and unions, who wanted to protect themselves from the competition of largely non-union black construction workers who were willing to work for lower wages.

While the intent of raising minimum wage today is far from racial, it has the same underlying affect: it cuts out those who are willing to work for lower wages.

Now why on earth would someone be willing to work for lower wages? If someone were an unskilled worker, they have to compete in the market place somehow. Since they don't have a degree to put on their resume, they can compete by offering their services for a lower price.

A concession must be made that those impoverished minorities who are lucky enough to retain their jobs after a minimum wage increase are better off than they were before. The problem is that this intended benefit comes at the expense of the less fortunate who are essentially priced out of contributing to the legitimate economy. For example, many - if not most - minimum wage jobs deal with the production and distribution of inferior goods, such as fast food. By mandating higher wages for unskilled workers, employers are forced to compensate. This comes from an increase in the price of services or decrease in the quantity/quality of the inferior services. Since those with lower incomes tend to consume more inferior goods, they are the ones who ultimately pay the price, and suffer increased prices or decreased quality.

Basically, minimum wage laws are bad economic policy, that only end up exacerbating the problem. Comment From: Ike

I'm surprised the government would even bother. I consider myself on the bottom rung of the latter in economic standards - while I'm going to school - with no degree or special qualifications to speak of. Yet I still manage to earn well above minimum wage. Even in Pocatello, there is no way I would take a job that pays less than $8.50 an hour because I know of lots of companies who will pay much better than that. Granted, $8.50 is a terrible wage to raise a family on, but that's still almost $2.00 better than the mandated minimum.