Minimum wage question... ??

Question

Don't people realize that raising the minimum wage hurts the middle class and those who have already retired?

If you make more than the minimum wage, they don't adjust your pay up the same amount as those who were making minimum wage... thereby making the products that use minimum wage labor cost more (you don't think the manufacturer or employer are just going to eat this charge - do you?)...and increasing the cost of goods. An increase in the cost of goods makes your over-minimum-wage paycheck worth less and brings you closer to those in the lowest earning segment of the population.
The thing that really gets me is why seniors don't get up in arms about those who want to raise the minimum wage. Those dollars they put away in the 50's and 60's are worth less and less as they raise the cost of goods. (That dollar they put away in the 1950's would buy a whole meal for 2 people at McDonalds.)
I just don't see how people don't see thru the forcing of people into a two class society.

I think some of you might be missing the point. I don't begrudge anyone making a fair wage. Let's just say we raise the minimum wage from $5 to $20 an hour. The price for a coke, for example, might jump from $1 to $4. The person who made minimum, got the "raise" still can afford to buy 5 cokes - same as he could before... but another person who made $10, who could afford 10 cokes, now can only afford only 5 cokes.. The guy who made $100 an hour could afford 100 but now only 20... and the poor guy who put away his paycheck for $200 a WEEK back in 1950 is now forced on welfare to afford medicine because his money isn't worth squat now. and Mr. moneybucks who has a million in the bank doesn't care because he still can afford way more cokes than he could ever drink.The point is how raising the minimum wage systematically strips the wealth from the aged and middle class. I don't see how people don't get this.

Answer 1

i agree, people just see $$$, they dont see 5-10-20 years later when we are all in the poor house

Answer 2

minimum wage goes up as inflation rises so it evens out in the end. Lawmakers ensure minimum wage otherwise an employer can hire 100 people at $3 an hour or 50 people @ $6 an hour. This creates a higher standard of living.
If you feel minmum wage is making your job seem less valuable than you are experiencing social stratification issues. The more a person is educated, the more they get paid because they are valued more than someone you is proud to only know the ABC's. We are entering the information age, employers are sick of hiring people that work slower than machines. Those people are a companys liability. The middle class is evaporating and if you want to be in it, a high school education is not the key to that door. Get to work or live like a slob!

Answer 3

There are other damages too.

What usually happens is the small businesses can't afford the raise in minimum wages and must lay off workers. It's counter productive to workers as well as small business.

The only people it helps are union leaders, because they calculate their wages on the minimum wage.

Always note that when politicians talk about increasing the minimum wage they are speaking to the unions while pretending that it is done to help the workers.

Answer 4

I agree with you. I do not favor minimum wage for low skill labor. If a worker wants more pay, they need to develop a higher skill level and stop relying on the government to subsidize their choices.

Answer 5

Welcome to the endless paradox of finacial "classes"! This thought has been knawing at the anckles of middle-class forever & will never end! The goverment tries to say that if you mandate higher wages, then the folks in this particular tax bracket will provide for themselves as opposed to finacial-aid dependant. But you & I both know differant.............things can't ever return to the way they were but the one thing we can do is make sure our children grow up with moral & education! Sorry☺

Answer 6

My question to you is:

As the cost of goods produced by minimum-wage workers was increasing during the time since the last minimum wage increase, what was happening to that profit? If the base minimum wage didn't change and cost of living increased drastically, what happened to all that extra $$?