-
Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!
Take that Seattle; CA rep wants $26/h minimum wage
- Thread starter Marty Chinn
- Start date
- Status
So much BS in the thread, and not sure what kind of crack Babara Lee is on.
My parents both make < 26$ an hour (prob around 20$) and they own a house in San Francisco, lives fine and can save some extra money. Of course life would be better if the wages were even higher. But forcing a 26$/hour wage is not sustainable.
My parents both make < 26$ an hour (prob around 20$) and they own a house in San Francisco, lives fine and can save some extra money. Of course life would be better if the wages were even higher. But forcing a 26$/hour wage is not sustainable.
It's not just a shock to hear it, it would be a massive shock to the system to actually do it.
I'm all for increasing minimum wage, but it should be done in a way that minimizes the potential negative impacts to businesses.
Gentleman Jack
Member
If I may ask when did your parents buy that house?
Why do you think just because you went to college, you deserve more money than a Janitor? I'll never understand that line of thinking. You go to school to train for your career. The amount of school you have isn't a basis for pay.
College is a human capital investment and you expect a return. Doesn't work out very well for many of today's graduates, though.
2004, we immigrated to the US in 1998, we got in when housing was not at the peak, but pretty damn high already.
My parents worked jobs that were barely 10$/ hour when they first came, saved money for down payment while living in a basement for 6 years. My parents were 45 and 47 respectively when they first came here, they are 60 and 62 now. The house has another 12 years on it (refied to 15 years 3 years ago) and I can forsee that they will be able to pay off the house with saving in 5 years, maybe I'll need to chip in 50k for them here and there (I completely don't mind since im very grateful for everything they have done for me).
So I roll my eye to Americans that are making 70-80k (or 100k+ for couple) and complain about being "squeezed out" everytime I hear it.
Executives take a pay cut. Boom.
Yeah my shop/gas station doesn't pay minimum on principle (it's insulting) but if we had to pay 26$ an hour? We would stop selling gas because the profit margins are already razor thin for us on that.
PhantomFear
Member
Anyone else think one potential consequence to such a sudden increase would be a spike in demand for minimum wage jobs, resulting in the unemployment of those who need it most?
I imagine a good number of "business professionals" would take a pay cut from their higher salary for a lower stress, 40 hour a week job that paid $26 an hour. I'd certainly think about it.
I imagine a good number of "business professionals" would take a pay cut from their higher salary for a lower stress, 40 hour a week job that paid $26 an hour. I'd certainly think about it.
Septimus Prime
Member
Yeah, that'll happen.
I have no sympathy for the likes of Walmart, but what do you think is going to happen when their workers' wages are effectively tripled overnight? Let's not pretend they would just eat the loss, so we are left with only a few options:
1. They raise their prices to compensate. Now, everyone effectively has less money because the money they earn is less valuable.
2. They reduce their workforce by two thirds. Unemployment goes up, and the same amount of work will still need to be done, so the remaining one third will endure worse working conditions.
3. They leave the state, and our (CA's) economy drops further into the hole.
Small businesses would suffer just as much, if not more.
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
Get even dumber? How about less in debt for an education that has nothing to do with one's future career?
Who's fault is that though? I have a buddy who works for Rogers here in Canada. He has a Masters Degree in computer science, and his senior co-worker, has been there for over 2 decades holding only a high school degree. Drumming into every kids head that you have to have a university degree has really screwed up the job market for everyone. You don't need a university degree to do a lot of the jobs that now require a degree. Most of them train you when you get the job. Degrees have become like HS diplomas, and are almost just as useless without a post-graduate.
Rebel Leader
THE POWER OF BUTTERSCOTCH BOTTOMS
Not even close
You Are Viewtiful
Member
I think a drug test is in order. Not for this woman, but the people who voted for her lmao
BruiserBear
Banned
Man, I'd love to be making $26 an hour.
I agree but I don't see any of this as a reason to pay janitors more.
toxicgonzo
Taxes?! Isn't this the line for Metallica?
I can't believe they didn't anticipate these results.
Surprise, surprise when minimum wage rises unemployment goes up as well.
This really hurts those who are young since working at McDonalds won't be a matter of hiring teens who have never had a job before, no, they'll hire those who have already worked at fast food for years.
Raising minimum wage doesn't happen in a vacuum.
Sho_Nuff82
Member
2004 was before fb and its ilk were a big deal homie. The average apartment rent within 10 miles of SF is currently $3437 ($2897 and $3898 for one and two bedrooms, respectively). That's a rate that has more than doubled since 2009.
Your parents couldn't afford groceries if they moved to SF now making the same amount.
PhantomFear
Member
???? I know California is expensive, but we're talking about $50K annually. I can see your point if there was a single wage earner in a very large family, but still. That's a decent amount of income (and signifiantly more than what is being earned now).
Basically. Putting minimum wage at where it would need to be for a baseline 40 hr week single-income job has problematic consequences for the availability of on-the-books part-time work.
(Not arguing against the need for a minimum wage- that's la la land.)
Lol did an HR professional fire you? They aren't exactly wealthy
Have you seen the inside of a public wash room? They should be getting hazard pay on top of their hourly wage lol
In all seriousness though, if you work an 8hr shift 5 days a week, you should get a liveable wage. I never understood how a consumerist economy can be expected to survive by depleting the middle class. Who's going to buy all this shiny new stuff if the lower and middle classes can barely feed and put a roof over themselves?
NullPointer
Member
Only in America is it a capital investment. College is free is paid for in most other countries in other ways, not huge loans and major debt.
I was speaking more in regards to big businesses. Huge companies are making record-breaking profits and are swimming in money. They can afford a slight minimum wage increase like $15 an hour. Even Costco starts its employees around $11/hr. Walmart should follow example.
Its still an investment. The difference is in how the bills get paid
I think a drug test is in order. Not for this woman, but the people who voted for her lmao
It's Berkeley, they're all high.
Septimus Prime
Member
I agree, but it's not going to be a livable wage; it's going to be minimum wage. Prices for everything will increase to compensate, and even though you earn a bigger number, that bigger number will be depleted just as quickly. Why can't we buy a vacuum for $5 today like they could on I Love Lucy? This is why. To make it worse, people who are already making $50K or so will suddenly find their wages will no longer be livable, since it will then be minimum wage. Will they get a 200% raise from their employers to compensate? I doubt it.
"...and when everyone is super...no one will be." -Syndrome
Ya, that's not really true. Living off of 50K in San Francisco might be tight (and to a lesser extent the entire Bay area), but the rest of California isn't nearly as expensive.
San Diego:
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-livin...ed+States&city1=San+Diego,+CA&city2=Omaha,+NE
San Jose:
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-livin...ted+States&city1=San+Jose,+CA&city2=Omaha,+NE
Los Angeles:
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-livin...+States&city1=Los+Angeles,+CA&city2=Omaha,+NE
Sacramento:
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-livin...d+States&city1=Sacramento,+CA&city2=Omaha,+NE
San Francisco;
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-livin...tates&city1=San+Francisco,+CA&city2=Omaha,+NE
Hopefully in the next few decades, before it's too late.
How do you explain inflation before the existence of the minimum wage? And the fact that inflation doesn't rise in tandem with the minimum wage, but completely on its own? And that even in years when the minimum wage is static, inflation rises and steadily erodes that wage?
SlipperySlope
Banned
Actually, you're thinking supply. The demand for those jobs would drop.
Septimus Prime
Member
I am not (and don't claim to be) any sort of expert, so I'm going to cop out and say I have no idea. Sorry.
LOL
that's stupid talk
I live in the Southbay now, there are shitty 1 bedroom apartment in north park for 1900 that's < 700 sq ft. and 2500 for like a 2 bedroom aprtment that's 900sqft
then there's people's basement you can rent for like 1000$. And plenty of my friends who are also home owners down here rents room for 700-800$
That's what my parents did. The same basement that we used to rent is going for like 1700$ right now in SF, which is 500$ higher than what we paid in 2004.
some times I wonder where the fuck those number are coming from. Sure if you have to live in a brand new/renovated apartment, I guess you better be making 6 figures starting with a number that's not 1.
This is random and possibly unwarranted, but I always appreciate people who say this sort of thing. Seriously. (I also personally have no idea.)
retrogamer84
Member
Goodness, that is as much as I make at my IT job with over 3 years of experience, a degree and certifications. I cannot even imagine how ridiculous prices on things would get if that really happened.
Scooter155
Member
Or people can live somewhere they can afford, or they can find better jobs.
Walmart isn't anything like Costco. Moreover, how do you propose implementing this as part of minimum wage policy?
Sho_Nuff82
Member
I did a quick google search and found the numbers on rentjungle.com.
No one is arguing that cheap housing doesn't exist in SF at all, only that it's as rare as a unicorn and largely unavailable to the people being priced out of their homes on a monthly basis. You can't take a few pieces of anecdotal evidence and extrapolate it to the whole city.
PhantomFear
Member
No, I'm thinking demand (from a worker perspective). Supply would likely drop as companies reduce their hiring. But demand would skyrocket for minimum wage jobs at pay. The more you pay people for the same position, the more people there are willing to work that job.
Think of it this way: Would you rather got to college for 4 years, start off at $55K salary (with no overtime) as a public accountant, and have to work up to 80 very stressful hours a week? Or would you rather stock shelves for 40 hours a week at Walmart for the same pay. Sure you give up future advancement careers, but some people don't want to move up the ladder and would be fine with the trade off.
Now overtime, the professional salaries would most likely move back to their premium over minimum wage. But things like that don't just suddenly happen.
djSyndrome
Member
Bay Area != California. I moved from Sacramento to Seattle last year and my cost of living went way up.
Of course, so did my income and my income tax went to zero, so it was a net positive overall. But applying a statewide minimum wage that high to places like Lodi, Woodland and Stockton? Madness.
- Status