Just Fred wrote:

What does everyone think about the effect raising the minimum might have on such things as public assistance programs and welfare?  Wouldn't government also receive a boost in revenue via tax collection?

It should help the welfare roles to some extent, but there will not be a big boost in revenue if you consider that 1) the percent of people on minimum wage is low and 2) the taxes collected from the bottom of the ladder are really insignificant in terms of the total pie of collected taxes. 

 

Just Fred wrote:

True, Tenny, at first.  But, we would have to be patient.  Wage increases for the working and middle class tend to follow minimum wage increases for those on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder.  And, with that comes a greater demand for goods and services ................. thus greater a demand for jobs and employees to fill those positions.
 

Sounds like it could lead to an inflation spiral which is never good either. Back in the 80s is was horrible (good for people who were receiving the interest) with interest rates spiking to 14% for long term interest. People complain about the low interest rates today, but inflation can be devastating and possibly even more so. 

  Here's the kicker, Rongone rightly posted that CEO's make over 400% more than employees, plus the long list of other upper management salaries. I never heard anyone ever say that the cost of goods went up because those people got astronomical pay. Why not ? When the uppers get paid, no big deal, no calculation as to how much that effects prices, but the lowers get paid, oh shit we have a problem!
  How much money is built into a product so the shareholders get paid too ? 
  I'm going to start complaining to everyone I can that since the CEO and upper management got paid so much, I now have to pay more for my burger damn it !

tennyson wrote:

One think to note is that the LAST TIME that the minimum wage was raised in PA was back in 2006. How many people have gone without a raise for 10 years ?  We can debate the amount, but is certainly past time to raise the minimum wage here in PA. 

 

It would be good to know how many people who were making min wage back in 2006 are still making that same wage today.

Minimum wage is for those in entry level jobs, right. In theory, assuming a person is a semi-competent worker, they're making more than that within a few months or at the very least a year.

I guess the bigger question is what to do about all of those people who earn $12-$14 an hour. 

If minimum wage is doubled, does it then mean the the $14/hr employees salary is doubled as well? 

Let's do some math (with a lot of round numbers since I'm horrible at math)

I own a business. Let's say it's an independent convenience store. I have 10 full time employees. The minimum salary I pay is $8 an hour.  Six of my employees get $8/hr, I have three shift managers that get $10/hr and one general manager who I pay $15/hr.

Typically, annual hours worked is 2,040 for full time workers. 

So let's look at my annual payroll as it stands today.....



My payroll has nearly doubled. And correspondingly, so has my payroll tax bill. 

So outside of raising prices or laying off people, how to I absorb the significantly higher payroll costs?

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/tyson-ceo-to-exit-with-dollar24m-plus-a-dollar5800-an-hour-advisory-job/ar-AAkCF8h?li=BBnbfcN&ocid=iehp

How much more do we have to pay for our chicken, oh that's right, that line of thought only pertains to the lowest people on the pay scale !