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Tag: standard of living

  • Minimum Wage Hike: Will There Be More Jobs or Less?

    According to a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted by Langer Research Associates, two-thirds of the United States populace supports an increase in minimum wage. Many claim that basic livelihood necessities cannot be met with the current payment structure in place. In fact, 48 percent of those polled are “strongly” supportive of an increase while only 20 percent are “strongly” against an increase in minimum wage.

    For example, Pennsylvania Representative Mark Cohen (D) has been vocal about supporting an increase in minimum wage within his state. “The employer community would prefer tax cuts, but we’ve already had massive business tax cuts in Pennsylvania. That’s one reason we’re in such poor financial shape. We can’t afford all the subsidies, starting with Medicaid, that go to low-income workers. If we raise the minimum wage, we encourage spending among low-income people. That creates jobs and reduces welfare spending.” Cohen said before adding, “Obviously, at some point there’s an increase in prices, but there’s also an increase in purchases. A store can’t unilaterally announce it’s raising salaries, but if all the other stores have to do it,” collective pressure would change the ending result to increased spending from a higher-paid workforce.

    However, there are critiques to raising minimum wage. One argument asserts that businesses will be forced to make significant layoffs in order to remain financially healthy. By increasing the amount each employee will receive the total amount of employees will decrease in order to maintain the bottom line. Still this mentality appears to be the minority as evidenced by results from the recent poll where 64 percent claimed that present policies support the wealthy.

    The federal minimum wage is currently set at $7.25 and has been since July 24, 2009. Some states have already opted to offer higher minimum wages. There are 24 states that currently operate under the federal minimum wage guidelines. These states are as follows: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

    Image Via Wikimedia Commons

  • $11.50 Minimum Wage For D.C. In 2016

    In the fight to raise America’s minimum wage, no one was probably betting on the state of Maryland to lead the way. In the nation’s capital, the D.C. Council voted to raise the local minimum wage from $8.25 per hour to $11.50 per hour. The measure is expected to be approved by Democratic Mayor Vincent Gray.

    There was concern that Gray would fight the wage hike, as he had already expressed concerns that such a drastic increase in hourly wages would negatively impact local businesses. Gray had also already vetoed a previous bill that would have seen hourly wages increase to over $12.50 an hour. It seems that a dollar off that amount is a compromise willing to be had as no one is expecting a veto.

    Across the nation, battle lines are being drawn as those working for minimum wage march and protest, saying that what is offered at minimum wage is just not enough to live on. Their argument is that the only way to allow more Americans to stay above the poverty line would be to raise earning dollars for the poorest of working Americans. Fast food workers are demanding $15 an hour. At the same time, Congress gearing up to discuss passage of an Obama-backed bill that would raise federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour.

    The spotlight remains on the state of Maryland, where aside from the District of Columbia, Prince George’s County and Montgomery County have also voted to raise the minimum wage to $11.50. The difference is that both counties hope to gradually increase minimum wage by 2017 rather than 2016. There is talk that the unanimous effort was meant to ensure increases in all locations.

    New York looks stingy by comparison, where next year the state will see the minimum wage increase to $8.00 per hour. The state expects to reach $9.00 per hour by 2015.

    Nearly 5% of America’s workforce receives hourly wages at around minimum wage. These individuals also tend to be enrolled in government aid programs such as welfare, food stamps, and Medicaid.

    Image via Wikimedia

  • $11.50 Minimum Wage: Sound Nice?

    Community leaders in Seattle have vocalized desires to raise minimum wage, and now leaders in Maryland have instigated the process to implement policies that increase wages. Presently, the federal minimum wage is set at $7.25 per hour though some states have set the level higher. On December 17, 2013, a representative from Prince George’s County signed a document to increase minimum wage in the area to $11.50 by 2017. Likewise, another county in Maryland (Montgomery County) signed documents to also increase minimum wage.

    Economic Policy Institute analyst David Cooper said, “We estimate that only about 10 percent of the workers earning less than $12 per hour in Montgomery County are teens.”

    According to the president and CEO of the chamber of commerce for Prince George’s County, David Harrington, there needs to be a balance between satisfying the needs of employees and determining the functioning level of viability for employers. “Clearly there’s a need for an increase, but what is the level to which businesses can still create jobs even while paying a higher wage,” Harrington said in an interview with CNNMoney.

    The city council for Washington D.C. also approved increasing the minimum wage to $11.50 an hour on Tuesday. The bill will now be sent to Mayor Vincent Gray who has been outspoken against raising the minimum wage to an amount as high as $11.50. Mayor Gray had previously proposed increasing the minimum wage to $10 an hour in order to determine how an increase would influence the labor market. While Mayor Gray has the potential to veto this bill, the council could then opt to override the veto.

    Council member Tommy Wells spoke about his support for this legislation. , “I had the leadership to get nine votes…I led the first bill to show I could get this done. I promised I’d get this done, and I’m getting it done today,” Wells said.

    Council member Vincent B. Orange said, “This is legislation introduced by me.” Orange added that the underlying support behind this process is “not leaving people behind” in the midst of the present economic climate.

    Image Via Wikimedia Commons