Finally an article that puts numbers to the argument of Min Wage

[aczlan]

In KS. I don't believe restaurants are required to pay minimum wage if the servers receive tips. My daughter worked as a server and received $3.25 hr. plus tips. No business in KS. is required to pay minimum wage if it is for part time help. I have no clue what the laws are in Seattle but I would guess that things are skewed to the restaurant owners favor just based on political power. As far as the farmers, if this is a City law the only way it will affect farmers is if they can't get help because they don't pays as much as the city jobs.

IIRC, the federal rule is that wage plus tips MUST equal at least minimum wage.

Aaron Z

 

[Bird]

When wages go up, prices go up. I think they call it inflation.:laughing: So what's gained?

 

[Ken45101]

When wages go up, prices go up. I think they call it inflation.:laughing: So what's gained?

What's gained is votes from gullible voters, sound bites on TV, etc.

 

[Loren49]

Minimum Wage Mythbusters - U.S. Department of Labor

Minimum Wage Question and Answer | Raise The Minimum Wage

Most Americans for Raising Minimum Wage

With momentum building at the federal and state level to increase hourly base pay, more than three-quarters of Americans (76%) say they would vote for raising the minimum wage to $9 per hour (it is currently $7.25) in a hypothetical national referendum, a five-percentage-point increase since March. About one-fifth (22%) would vote against this.

Loren

 

[dave1949]

When wages go up, prices go up. I think they call it inflation.:laughing: So what's gained?

This is an interesting contrast dealing with fast food wages in Denmark where labor unions have forced the industry to pay $20/hour. What is gained I guess depends on the goals. Workers there make a wage they can get by on and the restaurant owners make less than here. A higher minimum wage here would move a lot of young adults/families off the Medicaid, TANF and SNAP programs--which we pay for. If taxes are a drag on an economy and wages a boost, then moving expenditures from taxes to wages is a good idea in many regards.

Most minimum wage laws, as mentioned in KS, do not apply to all workers, either by age or hours worked. The impact on prices would reflect that.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/28/b...ed-in-denmark-fast-food-restaurants.html?_r=0

In interviews, Danish employees of McDonald’s, Burger King and Starbucks said that even though Denmark had one of the world’s highest costs of living — about 30 percent higher than in the United States — their $20 wage made life affordable.

True, a Big Mac here costs more — $5.60, compared with $4.80 in the United States. But that is a price Danes are willing to pay. “We Danes accept that a burger is expensive, but we also know that working conditions and wages are decent when we eat that burger,” said Soren Kaj Andersen, a University of Copenhagen professor who specializes in labor issues.

Measured in Big Macs, McDonald’s workers in Denmark earn the equivalent of 3.4 Big Macs an hour, while their American counterparts earn 1.8, according to a study by Orley C. Ashenfelter, a Princeton economics professor, and Stepan Jurajda, an economics professor at Charles University in Prague.

 

[dave1949]

Franchise restaurants--where presumably a good chunk of restaurant dollars are spent by the public--can be very profitable in the US. The average annual revenue per franchise restaurant store is $750,000. The top 12 franchise single store average annual revenues range from $3,158,000 at Chick-fil-A to $1,480,000 at Wendy's.

There is a lot more involved than the $60K-$65K average annual restaurant owner income which includes small Mom&Pop operations who have limited numbers of employees in any case. $15/hour is $31,200 per year gross full-time.

Million-Dollar Burger -- The Most Lucrative Fast-Food Restaurants - Forbes

You can see the brands and average store revenues for the top 12 here:
Ringing Up The Most Sales - In Photos: The 12 Best Fast-Food Franchises To Own - Forbes

 

[vulcancowboy]

I think the Feds should stay out of this altogether, let the states decide. If the state of Washington wants to raise their minimum wage, go for it. Other states can watch and see the results and let that help determine what they do. This is exactly what the founders envisioned.

 

[EddieWalker]

Another result of raising the minimum wage is that it creates more work for illegal aliens. As owners of business's reduce costs to stay profitable, they turn to hiring illegals and pay them under the table.

Eddie

 

[Tomtint]

When did burger flipping and salting fries become a career choice ? People sign up for those jobs as a way to have spending money with friends for after school activities ... When they are 16-18. I believe the intent is to deflect attention and make the masses take their eye off the ball. Fact is that wage inflation has not kept pace with cost of living increases. This has been the case for a couple decades. The raise in MW will also increase the tax collected... Which is a shell game in itself

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Another result of raising the minimum wage is that it creates more work for illegal aliens. As owners of business's reduce costs to stay profitable, they turn to hiring illegals and pay them under the table.

Eddie

Hmm. What if we close the borders, and deport the illegals...wouldn't that result in a shortage of minimum wage workers, which in turn would result in a rise in minimum wages, which would entice more people into the minimum wages jobs? Oh, it might help to require those adults with families who are receiving ADC and other welfare benefits to go to work.