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The government giving more to minimum wage workers instead of raising minimum wage feels like a roundabout way to subsidize businesses that don’t way living wag

by davemp 5y ago

The government giving more to minimum wage workers instead of raising minimum wage feels like a roundabout way to subsidize businesses that don’t way living wages.

ChuckNorris89 5y ago
That's exactly how it works in many european countries, especially the ones without a legal minimum wage (Austria for example), so people working "slave" gig jobs (cleaners, delivery, construction and hospitality workers, etc.) where if they earn below a certain "livable' threshold, get various tax credits, subsidies and benefits from the government to reach that "livable" threshold, which, while it sounds good, it creates a perverse incentive where employees arrange with the employer to be paid as little on paper as possible to still qualify for the government subsidies and then get paid the rest under the table (tipping is expected here for this reason) which just moves the burden from the employers of paying a livable wage to the customers and to the taxpayers which are basically subsidizing their business.
- varispeed 5y ago
  What strikes me as weird is that parties that call themselves left-wing opt for this kind of hand outs without realising they are in fact subsidising the rich with workers' money. How this can fly?
  - tnzm 5y ago
    Left and right wings belong to the same vulture.
  - Jcowell 5y ago
    Well not helping people in order to stick it to the rich is neither productive nor effective. There’s a reason for these handouts and it’s not as if left-wing parties don’t advocate for higher minimum wage. A problem can always be attacked from multiple sides.
- brigandish 5y ago
  This is what's happened with housing benefit in the UK[1], it's basically a subsidy to businesses in high rent areas. It was £500M a week, I shudder to think what it is now. [1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06bnbpx https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06bnbpx
taurath 5y ago
The government already does that in terms of food stamps. A job in the richest country in the world should not pay starvation wages.

by davemp 5y ago

The government giving more to minimum wage workers instead of raising minimum wage feels like a roundabout way to subsidize businesses that don’t way living wages.

ChuckNorris89 5y ago

That's exactly how it works in many european countries, especially the ones without a legal minimum wage (Austria for example), so people working "slave" gig jobs (cleaners, delivery, construction and hospitality workers, etc.) where if they earn below a certain "livable' threshold, get various tax credits, subsidies and benefits from the government to reach that "livable" threshold, which, while it sounds good, it creates a perverse incentive where employees arrange with the employer to be paid as little on paper as possible to still qualify for the government subsidies and then get paid the rest under the table (tipping is expected here for this reason) which just moves the burden from the employers of paying a livable wage to the customers and to the taxpayers which are basically subsidizing their business.

varispeed 5y ago
What strikes me as weird is that parties that call themselves left-wing opt for this kind of hand outs without realising they are in fact subsidising the rich with workers' money. How this can fly?
- tnzm 5y ago
  Left and right wings belong to the same vulture.
- Jcowell 5y ago
  Well not helping people in order to stick it to the rich is neither productive nor effective. There’s a reason for these handouts and it’s not as if left-wing parties don’t advocate for higher minimum wage. A problem can always be attacked from multiple sides.
brigandish 5y ago
This is what's happened with housing benefit in the UK[1], it's basically a subsidy to businesses in high rent areas. It was £500M a week, I shudder to think what it is now. [1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06bnbpx https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06bnbpx

taurath 5y ago

The government already does that in terms of food stamps. A job in the richest country in the world should not pay starvation wages.