Minimum Wage just went up to $11.50 in Washington State. The price of milk is $2.68 a Gallon.

[Martin Hash]

Minimum Wage is Washington State is $0.00

The 2018 Washington Minimum Wage Is $11.50. Washington's minimum wage applies to workers in both agriculture and non-agricultural jobs, although 14- and 15-year-olds may be paid 85% of the minimum wage ($9.78).
Initiative 1433 changes the state minimum wage and will require employers to provide employees with paid sick leave.

Minimum Wage

[Fife]

Nick is right; if being just a bit too narrow.

The minimum wage everywhere is zero.

Case A:



Case B:




Case C:



Not an exhaustive list, but you all get the idea.

[nmoore63]

Minimum Wage is Washington State is $0.00

The 2018 Washington Minimum Wage Is $11.50. Washington's minimum wage applies to workers in both agriculture and non-agricultural jobs, although 14- and 15-year-olds may be paid 85% of the minimum wage ($9.78).
Initiative 1433 changes the state minimum wage and will require employers to provide employees with paid sick leave.

Minimum Wage

Not if you're fired.

[BjornP]

No minimum wage by law. $5.92 a gallon, average price. (Assuming I did all my calculations right. We don't buy milk by the gallon, but in 1 liter boxes).

Aside from youth workers, cleaning staff probably get the lowest hourly wages, and most unions set the minimum hourly wage for cleaning services at around $20.

[jediuser598]

Minimum Wage is Washington State is $0.00

The 2018 Washington Minimum Wage Is $11.50. Washington's minimum wage applies to workers in both agriculture and non-agricultural jobs, although 14- and 15-year-olds may be paid 85% of the minimum wage ($9.78).
Initiative 1433 changes the state minimum wage and will require employers to provide employees with paid sick leave.

Minimum Wage

Not if you're fired.

Would you say it follows that if we don't raise min wage then automation won't happen?

[nmoore63]

Some automation will happen regardless of minimum wage.

[jediuser598]

Some automation will happen regardless of minimum wage.

10 years down the road compared to 15? Horse and buggy is going goodbye regardless. Except for the upfront cost, automation is better in nearly every way.

[nmoore63]

Depends.

In three ways really

The first is similar to minimum wage. Entry price point. Some jobs disappear entirely as minimum wage goes up. Not as in automation. Not as in someone else does them, as in they don’t create, say $2/hr of value, and so are no longer done at all.

The second depends on cost. Whether all tasks can be automated as cheaply as a high schoolers afternoon is questionable. Provided the government allows the high schooler to bid low Enough. (Or apprentices for that matter)

Then third of course is the Abolition of Man. Whether this is true remains to be seen.

[jediuser598]

Depends.

In three ways really

The first is similar to minimum wage. Entry price point. Some jobs disappear entirely as minimum wage goes up. Not as in automation. Not as in someone else does them, as in they don’t create, say $2/hr of value, and so are no longer done at all.

The second depends on cost. Whether all tasks can be automated as cheaply as a high schoolers afternoon is questionable. Provided the government allows the high schooler to bid low Enough. (Or apprentices for that matter)

Then third of course is the Abolition of Man. Whether this is true remains to be seen.

This is all just speculation.

What's the price of milk where you live?

My point is pretty simple. Just because minimum wage goes up, doesn't mean the price of milk goes up. Minimum wage is, one would most certainly figure, a factor, but it is not the sole factor.

Let me give you another example. When I moved away from the small town I lived in Southern Illinois the thing they kept telling me is that "You're not going to make more, you're just going to have to pay more because it will all even out." Blatantly wrong. I can consult my bank account any time to find the truth in that. I worked 115 hours in two weeks and got paid around $830 after taxes. That's ridiculous. Now I work in Washington State, work around 36-40 hours each week and make $670 after taxes.

I'm at the bottom of the pay scale, I make minimum wage. My life has gotten better with a higher minimum wage. Hey, guess what! The price of milk is not tied to minimum wage. Just because minimum wage is higher does not mean the price of milk is higher. Dispute me on that nmoore.

That's in black and white, man, that is a fact.

[Smitty-48]

According to a University of Washington study, Washington State's increase in minimum wages, led to a 9% percent reduction in hours worked for minimum wage employees, which actually resulted in a 6% loss in earnings. The government made the employers pay them more, the employers compensated by working them less, the net result was a loss of income not a gain.

Obviously a University of Washington study doesn't carry the same weight as the anecdotal cry blubbery lefty feelz of Jediuser, but it is something to consider.

I would also add, that here in Ontario, the fuckwit Liberal government, in an effort to pander to cry blubering lefty feelz, just raised the minimum wage to about the same as it is in Washington State, and the employers immediately turned around and cut the employees hours, took away their paid breaks, and made them pay for benefits which they has previously been provided for free, so that the businesses wouldn't have to raise their prices.