4 ms·
There's a massive regional variation in the effective minimum wage - in Tokyo the average hourly wage for an arubaito (a part-timer with no job security) is 1,2
by getoj 5y ago
There's a massive regional variation in the effective minimum wage - in Tokyo the average hourly wage for an arubaito (a part-timer with no job security) is 1,203 yen. The average in Fukushima is just 948 yen [2], and the national minimum wage is 930 yen.
Increasing the national minimum wage would do serious damage to local employers in underserved regional centers, and barely move the needle in Tokyo.
[1]https://townwork.net/tokyo/jikyuu/ https://townwork.net/tokyo/jikyuu/
[2]https://townwork.net/fukushima/jikyuu/ https://townwork.net/fukushima/jikyuu/
- soperj 5y agoThanks for that, wasn't actually sure on the specifics since I'm not from Japan. Why would it do so much damage to these employers? Why can't they just increase the cost of their goods?
- anamax 5y agoIf my income goes up by 10% and my expenses go up by 10%, am I better off or worse off? If I had savings, I'm probably worse off. (Yes, I may get more interest going forward, but that won't make up for the value lost by my principal.) If my taxes go up by more than 10%, I'm worse off.
- soperj 5y agoAre you arguing against inflation? Because that's not what were talking about. Given that inflation is the goal, why is the answer always to give a lot of money to those who are well off vs. increasing the wage for the bottom end?
- anamax 5y agoThe claim was that an income increase was necessarily a good thing. I'm pointing out that if your expenses go up more than your income, you're worse off, even ignoring inflation's effect on savings.