2 ms·

Cannot help but feel gig working is what stopping minimum wage from rising.

smt88 2y ago
The only thing stopping minimum wage from rising is the Republican Party. The minimum already isn't market-driven, and it isn't pegged to inflation, either. Adjusting for inflation, it's not surprising to see the lowest earners making less money.
- taude 2y ago
  Not that you were arguing against the point I'm going to make, but ddjusting for inflation, even those in good white-collar jobs are making way less money, and then add the cost of housing (or trying to buy a house) into the mix, and it's downright depressing. I was just looking at a place that was $240K in 2007, and it now costs 1.05M. My wages didn't go from 150K to 600K in that same time period.
  - toomuchtodo 2y ago
    When wage minimums aren’t tied to inflation, we’re stealing from those with the least to increase returns.
  - nickff 2y ago
    Many peoples’ wages went from 0-150k in that period. There were many layoffs during the Great Recession, and comparing asset values from then to now (a point at which there has been ~15 years of secular growth) is absurd.
  - chii 2y ago
    > My wages didn't go from 150K to 600K in that same time period. the thing is, there are people who did have such an increase (in wealth, if not by income). Therefore, the value of said house is higher, because those people who did have wealth increases want those houses.
- tzs 2y ago
  If anyone is curious, I recently happened to look at what the federal minimum wage from the early '80s would be equivalent to today. It's $13-16/hour, depending on what method you use to convert to today's dollars. So yeah, minimum wage workers (at least in states that don't set the state minimum wage higher than the federal minimum wage) have been getting screwed for a long time.
tbrownaw 2y ago
Minimum wage is not a market-driven empirical number "here's the lowest wage that we were able to find someone working for". It's a government imposition that bans any jobs that would pay less than some decreed amount.

The only thing stopping minimum wage from rising is the Republican Party. The minimum already isn't market-driven, and it isn't pegged to inflation, either. Adjusting for inflation, it's not surprising to see the lowest earners making less money.

taude 2y ago
Not that you were arguing against the point I'm going to make, but ddjusting for inflation, even those in good white-collar jobs are making way less money, and then add the cost of housing (or trying to buy a house) into the mix, and it's downright depressing. I was just looking at a place that was $240K in 2007, and it now costs 1.05M. My wages didn't go from 150K to 600K in that same time period.
- toomuchtodo 2y ago
  When wage minimums aren’t tied to inflation, we’re stealing from those with the least to increase returns.
- nickff 2y ago
  Many peoples’ wages went from 0-150k in that period. There were many layoffs during the Great Recession, and comparing asset values from then to now (a point at which there has been ~15 years of secular growth) is absurd.
- chii 2y ago
  > My wages didn't go from 150K to 600K in that same time period. the thing is, there are people who did have such an increase (in wealth, if not by income). Therefore, the value of said house is higher, because those people who did have wealth increases want those houses.
tzs 2y ago
If anyone is curious, I recently happened to look at what the federal minimum wage from the early '80s would be equivalent to today. It's $13-16/hour, depending on what method you use to convert to today's dollars. So yeah, minimum wage workers (at least in states that don't set the state minimum wage higher than the federal minimum wage) have been getting screwed for a long time.

tbrownaw 2y ago

Minimum wage is not a market-driven empirical number "here's the lowest wage that we were able to find someone working for". It's a government imposition that bans any jobs that would pay less than some decreed amount.