Don't swallow the Republican lie that the minimum wage is only paid to teenagers. Most who earn minimum wage are adult workers and many are trying to support a family (which is why both parents have to work -- because no family can be supported by a person working full-time for minimum wage). The minimum wage has less buying power today than it did in 1968 (when it had the buying power of slightly more than $10 an hour in today's dollars). It is time to raise it again -- significantly.
I wonder how many times we will have to debunk the theory that raising the minimum wage reduces the number of minimum wage jobs because employers "can't afford" to pay the higher wage to the same number of employees. I believe that has been proven wrong three times now by raising the minimum wage and observing that the number of jobs did not decrease, but I'll bet the argument is raised again.
ReplyDeleteMy husband started out at WalMart as a greeter for minimum wage in 2008. If he had not been drawing SS, we might have missed a mortgage payment or two when I lost my job back in 2010. He has had a couple of pay raises but still makes less that $10/hour after 4 years. I'll double down on your assessment, Jayhawk, that the argument IS raised AGAIN!!!
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