Effects of a Fifteen Dollar an Hour Minimum Wage in the City of Los Angeles

[FreakinDJ]

Effects of a Fifteen Dollar an Hour Minimum Wage in the City of Los Angeles

America has lost ground on the intent declared by Congress when the Fair Labor Standards Act was enacted in 1938, that workers will receive wages sufficient to maintain “the minimum standard of living necessary for health, efficiency, and general well-being.” The federal minimum wage had the greatest value in 1968. Set at $1.60 an hour, it had a value of $10.51 in 2012 dollars. The current federal minimum wage of $7.25 is worth 31 percent less. This wage attrition is part of most people’s every day experience:

◾Three-quarters of the full-time labor force residing in the City of Los Angeles earn less than comparable workers 30 years ago.
◾Wage erosion was greatest for workers in the bottom half of the wage scale. From 1979 to 2011, annual pay dropped 14 percent for workers in the 50th percentile – the median or typical worker, and 26 percent for workers in the 25th percentile – the working poor.
◾The average hourly wage for all workers residing in the City of Los Angeles in 2013 is estimated to be $27.85, yielding estimated annual pay of $58,244 for the average wage and salary worker.
◾Forty-six percent of LA’s wage and salary workers are paid less than $15 an hour. This includes 41 percent of the 1,097,000 full-time employees and 54 percent of the 665,000 part-time employees who live in the City of Los Angeles.




Economic Stimulus

When workers’ households receive additional income, their increased spending stimulates growth in the local economy. Their increased purchases of groceries, clothes, meals out, health care, car repair services, and rental housing stimulates added purchases in the local supply chain. Jobs would be created in the same industries where workers would receive wage increases, including restaurants and retail stores. The increased buying power of workers would make these industries direct beneficiaries of the higher wages they would be paying.

The increased spending translates into added sales for local businesses and their suppliers, as well as added jobs at those businesses and their suppliers, and increased tax revenue for local, state and federal government.


http://economicrt.org/publication/effects-of-a-fifteen-dollar-an-hour-minimum-wage-in-the-city-of-los-angeles/

[Cleita]

1. What's sad is that the 1% know this.

When workers’ households receive additional income, their increased spending stimulates growth in the local economy. Their increased purchases of groceries, clothes, meals out, health care, car repair services, and rental housing stimulates added purchases in the local supply chain. Jobs would be created in the same industries where workers would receive wage increases, including restaurants and retail stores. The increased buying power of workers would make these industries direct beneficiaries of the higher wages they would be paying.

Yet, they don't care because, I believe, they don't want to pay this to their maids, gardeners and other domestic help as well. These employees don't generate wealth, so they constantly fight wage increases for everyone. The 1% are narcissistic sociopaths. This is MHO.

[Old Codger]

2. This part

The increased spending translates into added sales for local businesses and their suppliers, as well as added jobs at those businesses and their suppliers, and increased tax revenue for local, state and federal government.

Is the part that I can't understand they don't highlight as an overall benefit for the entire country if it were enacted nation wide.

If they would admit this and follow through on it we would not need all the extra taxes they hate so much.... Simple math really

[Cleita]

3. Increasing Social Security to reflect a living income would also

accomplish added sales and use of services. These are two fixes, increases in minimum wage and pensions, that would create an economic boom, but the predatory money sharks have their eyes on the 2.6 trillion in the SS fund. They are trying to get at that fund, hence all the talk about ending these programs.