Current Events > "In 1935, the minimum hourly wage in the U.S. was set at 25¢.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Since then, it's increased to $7.25 an hour. Joe Biden's recent proposal to increase it to $15 has led to a new round of debate.

from 2020

https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2020/08/a-brief-history-of-the-minimum-wage

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I mean, by 2020 standards, minimum wage today doesn't go as far as it did in the 1950s. That's pretty gross.

It should move up to at least $8.50 - $9.

$7.25 is too low now.

I would say it should be $10.

Now for areas like California, NYC, Philly and even NJ I could see $15.
But states where the cost of living is alot lower? I would think $10, $12 at most would be fine.

And sorry but jobs like McDonalds and other fast food places, their employment model is literally 18-early 20s working there for 2, 3 years tops with high turnaround.

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DoubleDare posted...

And sorry but jobs like McDonalds and other fast food places, their employment model is literally 18-early 20s working there for 2, 3 years tops with high turnaround.

60 percent of minimum wage employees are over 25
https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/minimum-wage/2019/home.htm

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Funny how the only time we've gotten close to a fair share was under Carter who obviously got destroyed in the public in favor of Demon lord himself Reagan.

Fuck Ronald Reagan

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i wonder why op quoted the section he did from the article and not this part

Over the years, the wage level has been lifted to reflect inflation and the rising cost of living. But successive congresses had differing ideas about what a minimum wage should do. Inaction led to the minimum wage often failing to keep pace with inflation, as shown below.

jk i dont wonder

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Letron_James posted...

Funny how the only time we've gotten close to a fair share was under Carter who obviously got destroyed in the public in favor of Demon lord himself Reagan.

Fuck Ronald Reagan

reagan was one of our worst presidents

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Should be $25

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why anyone works min wage when they can easily get a tip scumming job because of the stupid tipping culture is a mystery

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E32005 posted...

reagan was one of our worst presidents

the messed up thing is I was raised in a republican home, and grew up thinking everyone adored Reagan. I didn't realize until later in life that there was another side to his story.

Capitalism is against increases to the minimum wage.

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DoubleDare posted...

Now for areas like California, NYC, Philly and even NJ I could see $15.

Nothing wrong with hyper-locality.

By this time in his administration, Roosevelt was accustomed to the cries of outrage from his opponents. The night before he signed the bill, he told Americans in one of his fireside chats, Do not let any calamity-howling executive with an income of $1,000 a day tell you that a wage of $11 a week is going to have a disastrous effect on all American industry.

Americans must have forgotten.

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22.50 should be the min wage specially in cali and new york

Orchestrion posted...

Should be $25

Yeah

Fight for 15 was relevant about 15 years ago

I recommend this article as well

https://organizing.work/2020/01/making-asses-of-ourselves

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It needs to be adjusted to inflation, no one wants to live in America anymore

Make it $38 an hour

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Who cares if it goes up? When that goes up, so does the prices of everything

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15 for 5 years then 20 after that and 25 businesses that cant hang can get the fuck out the way

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Adjust it for inflation.

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Bad_Mojo posted...

Who cares if it goes up? When that goes up, so does the prices of everything

Inflation is not " basic economics" but a disease.

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So it took 90 years to go up only 7 dollars lol. What a joke

Proto_Spark posted...

I mean, by 2020 standards, minimum wage today doesn't go as far as it did in the 1950s. That's pretty gross.

There's a lot more non-necessities you can buy today though.

That needs to be taken into account.

FantasticAssGas posted...

There's a lot more non-necessities you can buy today though.

That needs to be taken into account.

That does not matter.

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DoubleDare posted...

And sorry but jobs like McDonalds and other fast food places, their employment model is literally 18-early 20s working there for 2, 3 years tops with high turnaround.

Okay, but in this reality, what should min wage be

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MI4 REAL posted...

Inflation is not " basic economics" but a disease.

Raising the minwage means having to pay someone more for the same value they give to the business.

That's not feasible.

Hey guess what?

UK workers at McDonalds get 1 month paid vacation.

How much do we get in America?

Nothing.

Mcdonalds is open 365.50 days a year.

I worked for then for a long time.

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FantasticAssGas posted...

Raising the minwage means having to pay someone more for the same value they give to the business.

That's not feasible.

The business has more than you think. The local Subway actually REMODELED during the covid shutdown.

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FantasticAssGas posted...

There's a lot more non-necessities you can buy today though.

That needs to be taken into account.

no it doesn't. necessities, however, do, and they cost more, not less.

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MI4 REAL posted...

The business has more than you think. The local Subway actually REMODELED during the covid shutdown.

That's due to the pandemic dude, come on.

FantasticAssGas posted...

That's due to the pandemic dude, come on.

Umm...business LOST money due to the pandemic.
And they still could remodel?

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MI4 REAL posted...

Umm...business LOST money due to the pandemic.
And they still could remodel?

you realize that remodeling was necessary to stay open at all right

capital expenditure isn't a sign of having tons of cash to spare for permanent long term cost increases, but rather some cash set aside for unexpected costs

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No reason to increase federal minimum wage. Let the states decide, or better yet, on the town/county level. The economies of this country are too diverse to make such sweeping changes.

I wouldn't argue against increased benefits for full time workers, however. That's where we really fall behind among developed countries.

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doomcrusader posted...

No reason to increase federal minimum wage. Let the states decide, or better yet, on the town/county level. The economies of this country are too diverse to make such sweeping changes.

I wouldn't argue against increased benefits for full time workers, however. That's where we really fall behind among developed countries.

only if we ban gerrymandering nationally

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Sackgurl posted...

i wonder why op quoted the section he did from the article and not this part

jk i dont wonder

There's another way to look at this (in terms of productivity as well as inflation).

Then it would be more like $20, per hour.

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EricDraven59 posted...

So it took 90 years to go up only 7 dollars lol. What a joke

let's hope Biden remembers

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$15 would have been barely adequate 10 years ago.

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do any of these "we can't raise the minimum wage because then prices will rise" people have any explanation for why prices rise anyway, even if wages don't? and if we can't raise wages, what's their plan for workers to continue to be able to afford the increased price of things?

such a pretend concern for the economy. they understand nothing beyond an individual level. the workers provide a demand for goods, what happens to that demand (& thus the economy) if they stop being able to afford to buy things?

you end up nearly defending capitalism to these people. they don't even get how the system they're defending is supposed to work

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I'm just going to ask the unpopular question. What about the folks already barely making over min wage. Shouldn't the people already making $8 to whatever middle class underpaid hourly wage see a bump too? (Which we know they wont).

Contrary to what's indirectly being implied by only focusing on the bottom folks, they are not rolling around in money either.

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DoubleDare posted...

I would say it should be $10.

Now for areas like California, NYC, Philly and even NJ I could see $15.
But states where the cost of living is alot lower? I would think $10, $12 at most would be fine.

And sorry but jobs like McDonalds and other fast food places, their employment model is literally 18-early 20s working there for 2, 3 years tops with high turnaround.

This is so unbelievably far from reality. There is no way you've stepped foot in a McDonalds or any fast food establishment in a decade or more.

The vast majority of fast food workers are older than 25 even.

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NatsuSama posted...

I'm just going to ask the unpopular question. What about the folks already barely making over min wage. Shouldn't the people already making $8 to whatever middle class underpaid hourly wage see a bump too? (Which we know they wont).

Contrary to what's indirectly being implied by only focusing on the bottom folks, they are not rolling around in money either.

Wouldn't their wage increase to whatever the minimum is?

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shnangyboos posted...

Wouldn't their wage increase to whatever the minimum is?

You phrase that if its a good thing....
I'm sure 1000s making 8 to 15 will be enthused their rate is now the same as people who were making less. Or that their rates won't be raising proportional to those making $7.

People may not want to hear this, but not everyone who is already making 8+ is rolling around in money either and get completely fucked over in this.

You have some here who indirectly lump someone already making 8 or whatever struggle middle class hourly wages (which yes be already 15+) as well, to the salaries of Bezos or Bill Gates.

Anyone making any amount over minimum wage up to struggling middle class gets fucked over. Including those in the 8 to 15 range. They were making over min wage, and now they're not in this min wage increase. And I'm sure they worked hard to get pass the min.

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Minimum wage was created to rise alongside inflation.

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BlingBling22947 posted...

By this time in his administration, Roosevelt was accustomed to the cries of outrage from his opponents. The night before he signed the bill, he told Americans in one of his fireside chats, Do not let any calamity-howling executive with an income of $1,000 a day tell you that a wage of $11 a week is going to have a disastrous effect on all American industry.

Americans must have forgotten.

All thanks to Reagan.

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NatsuSama posted...

You phrase that if its a good thing....
I'm sure 1000s making 8 to 15 will be enthused their rate is now the same as people who were making less. Or that their rates won't be raising proportional to those making $7.

People may not want to hear this, but not everyone who is already making 8+ is rolling around in money either and get completely fucked over in this.

You have some here who indirectly lump someone already making 8 or whatever struggle middle class hourly wages (which yes be already 15+) as well, to the salaries of Bezos or Bill Gates.

Anyone making any amount over minimum wage up to struggling middle class gets fucked over. Including those in the 8 to 15 range. They were making over min wage, and now they're not in this min wage increase. And I'm sure they worked hard to get pass the min.

itp: "it's not about whether i make more, it's about whether someone else makes less than me so i know that i'm better than they are"


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Everything I've seen shows that people just above the new minimum wage would also benefit, since employers will raise their compensation in response

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A lot of idiots always say stuff like "$15 is fine for big cities, but not for rural towns" when the $15 is actually calculated for small rural towns. In NY and San Francisco it needs to be a lot higher than $15

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