Will a $15 minimum wage leave low-paid workers better off?
In June 2014 Seattle’s city council passed a law raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour in stages. The Polis conversation asked how the law would affect the city, for better or worse, and why.
A public Polis conversation in Seattle, Washington
From a public Polis conversation in Seattle, Washington, June 2014 to November 2018: “$15/hour”. People wrote statements and voted agree, disagree or pass on each other’s. These rows are the statements most voters agreed with, the ones that split voters most evenly, and the ones the fewest agreed with, out of 30 that at least 15 people voted on. Statements about the voters themselves, insults and unchecked factual claims are left out. Passes are not counted.
Most agreed
Something needs to be done to address income inequality and this is a good if imperfect start
It’s called a ‘living wage’ for a reason - there shouldn’t be a debate about the ethics of the law. Anyone who has done the math knows that it’s impossible to pay rent and bills on the present minimum wage.
While the arguments for the raise in the minimum wage law have been trumpeted as being “anti corporate greed”, those larger companies are, ironically, the most able to pay for the increase in wages. This will hurt small businesses the most, and I don’t think the law’s provisions do enough to accommodate this.
I think it is unlikely that companies will raise prices, as they still have to remain competitive in the market. I think it is more likely that companies will have less profits and I’m ok with that.
Polis sorts voters into opinion groups by how they voted across the whole conversation. This one found 2: Group A (99 voters) and Group B (39 voters). These are the statements every group was most likely to agree with, ranked the way Polis ranks common ground: the chance of agreeing in each group, multiplied together. Under them is the statement the groups were furthest apart on.
At the very least, customers across the board are going to have to pay more to accommodate the new wage. Some people will be okay with that but I worry that customers will start spending less and going out less as they adjust to higher prices.
Group A26 agreed, 23 disagreed (53%)
Group B22 agreed, 2 disagreed (92%)
This is something that will impact SMB who cannot afford paying 15$/hour wage
Group A21 agreed, 19 disagreed (53%)
Group B24 agreed, 0 disagreed (100%)
While the arguments for the raise in the minimum wage law have been trumpeted as being “anti corporate greed”, those larger companies are, ironically, the most able to pay for the increase in wages. This will hurt small businesses the most, and I don’t think the law’s provisions do enough to accommodate this.
Written for the hearth so this question has a whole card on each side to argue with. No visitor wrote them, so the two parts only a person can fill are empty: what happened to you, and who on the other side called the case against fair.
Yes
Where this card stands
Yes, on balance. Most of the workers it covers get a raise they can feel in rent and food, and the city can adjust the law as it watches the effects.
How sure, before and after the case against
The strongest case against it
Some of the workers it is meant to help lose hours or jobs, especially at small businesses on thin margins, and they are the people who can least afford it.
What would change this card’s mind
If studies of the phase-in found the hours low-paid workers lost cancelled out their higher hourly pay.
Not for everyone it covers. A wage floor that high helps people who keep their hours and hurts people who lose them, and the second group is harder to see.
How sure, before and after the case against
The strongest case against it
Most low-paid workers keep their jobs and get a real raise, and businesses adjust through prices and staff turnover more than through layoffs.
What would change this card’s mind
If jobs and hours for low-paid workers held steady through the phase-in while their pay rose.
“Argue with this card” opens the card on the front page with this card’s position as the case against you. You write where you stand and what would change your mind.