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Should minimum wage jobs pay well enough to raise a family in Palo Alto?

• dsr_ 9y ago
  Yes. The minimum wage in Palo Alto must support a family in Palo Alto, or within a very reasonable commute.
  • humanrebar 9y ago
    I agree employers should pay that much, ethically and morally. I don't think legally they should be forced to pay that much.
  • SilasX 9y ago
    In order to rigorously capture the notion of a "reasonable commute", I've suggested we stop thinking in terms of nominal wages and start thinking in terms of "DIPHLoW": [real] discretionary income per hour lost to work. Discretionary income = subtract off taxes and housing. Hours lost to work = time at work plus time commuting or anything you have to regularly do to be able to work. That way, the measure is less susceptible to the dismissal of "just move farther out" -- that has a cost in terms of increasing hours lost to work and therefore decreasing DIPHLoW. It also highlights the impact of housing costs -- anything that keeps them from going down is effectively keeping DIPHloW down too.