The Consequences of a Living Wage

Despite my complete dearth of material, Rob Port, editor and owner of the website Say Anything, is allowing me to write a weekly column for his web site. Here's an excerpt:

Providing a “living wage” is all the rage these days. From fast food workers union organizers all the way down to that person on Facebook that posts pictures of Che Guevara on her timeline, the living wage is all the rage.

But what exactly is a living wage? Sure, I get that it means “earning enough to sustain yourself”. But what is it, really? CheLover69 will tell you it’s the key to ending poverty. Is it? I don’t think so. Let’s do a little thought exercise.

A cashier at McDonalds–I’ll call her Julia–makes the federal minimum wage. Julia didn’t go to college, has no career plans, and is content to work there. She has no husband and no children. Her only issue is that the federal minimum wage doesn’t pay the rent for her one bedroom apartment, her iPhone bill, her car payment, utilities, groceries, gas, and cable bill. So she agitates for a higher wage. Thousands join in with Julia and demand $15 an hour. McDonalds acquiesces and now we live in a world where Ronald McDonald pays every employee what they need to pay their bills. Julia now makes $15 an hour and she is happy.

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You can read all my postings at Say Anything here.