What if wage increases never kept up with the growth.... your whole argument is based on the premise that wages have kept up with growth and they are at a fair level. When there is strong growth a business actually has no incentive to raise wages because it cuts into their bottom line. If they can grow their revenues with more business but keep wages low it is a win win for them. You assume business owners think of the welfare of others before themselves. There is plenty of prove that wage growth has lagged inflation and economic growth which indicates that growth opportunities do not automatically drive wages for everyone, only the mid and upper levels. The lower levels still get the shit pay because there is always another person who can step in and take it.
Wages will be what the market can bear. Wages are a form of imperfect competition where there are many buyers and sellers. No one can manipulate the market.
Elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-eighth Congress and to the five succeeding Congresses, Miles C. Allgood served from March 4, 1923, to January 3, 1935. He was chairman of the Committee on War Claims (Seventy-second and Seventy-third Congresses). He was a proponent of establishing a minimum wage to encourage businesses to hire white workers over non-white workers who were willing to work for less, telling his fellow Congressmen he hoped a bare minimum wage law would put an end to out-of-state contractors bringing in "cheap colored labor... in competition with [local] white labor."
Yes but you still ignore the point that employers are not pushed to raise their lowest wage earners no matter how good the economy is. If the minimum is not at a level commensurate with local living conditions, there is nothing wrong with a joint government/private consortium to work on setting a higher minimum wage that works for all.
This is much too simplistic. Assistance programs play a huge factor in worker availability at the lowest wage levels. Also, a decline in union membership has taken away critical market counterweight.
Employers and employees don’t have pricing power. If there was one employer who controlled wages, I agree a minimum wage would make sense. But wages are strictly a product of supply and demand. Beyond the intersection of the supply demand curve, why should an employer be required to guarantee a “living wage” whatever that number is decreed to be?
You are missing the point. Minimum wage laws make sense when employers collude to keep wages low. They can’t do that. Decline in union membership is a free market phenomenon. Employees don’t want to pay union dues. I dont believe assistance programs are the reason wages are low. My wages are lowest in areas where there are no assistance programs. It’s driven by supply and demand and cost of living.
This post will attempt to identify various causes of homelessness, to propose some solutions while addressing common psychological issues that impede progress in this issue, and list the issues to society caused by homelessness. I have been homeless or have lived in alternative living situations for most of my life. Part of my knowledge in this area stems from interacting with many people in a similar situation as my own. I can confidently claim at least some expertise on this subject and my analytical nature combined with seeing various Government efforts at work over the years gives me a practical perspective on what is needed for a long term solution. The main causes of homelessness are as follows: Severe economic downturns - Loss of employment, insufficient savings, and no or limited friends and family social support structure created many homeless when people were foreclosed on or evicted. In the 2009 Great Recession, a significant number of people were sleeping in vehicles or used a tent or other items for shelter. This group of people tend to lack awareness and or discipline in financial and consumer matters. Many of these people are prideful, which can be a help or hinderance to their situation. Where their pride of not accepting assistance from others is greater than being homeless, they will go the homeless route. Others do not know all the resources and temporary help available to them from churches or Government programs. Proposed solution: Policy that allows temporary ability to borrow from Social Security retirement account combined with a counseling session with trained administrator that informs that person on their options and creates a mutually agreed upon plan for recovery. Substance abuse - Since rule of law and Constitutional Rights seem no longer in vogue with many current politicians, why not unlock the Government’s ability to use a effective hardline approach, Philippines style, to finally make progress on this issue that causes many times more destroyed lives than our losses in our wars and terrorism combined. Imagine if we reallocated some of our terrorist budget that can cost millions of dollars per terrorist killed to a war on drugs where hundreds of dollars would likely be all that is needed per individual helped. Efficiency is key, perhaps even over the temporary expense of drug dealer and user civil rights. Transitional - Young people leaving a dysfunctional or abusive living situation can face a tough time until they can establish themselves, exposing themselves to increased risks while not having the knowledge to act appropriately to situations. Education and school counseling may help here. Church outreach can help, but many young are afraid of the Church because of their alleged “Brainwashing” efforts. Additional public outreach by the church may be helpful. Gambling problem - There are some people so addicted to gambling, they will convert everything they own to cash, including their phone to support their habit. Many of these people are actually smart and productive, although tend to be manipulative. In addition, many gamblers will resort to criminal activity to support their gambling habits, ranging from fraudulent client overcharging, embezzlement, confidence schemes, and drug dealing. It seems monitoring, a state imposed trust fund funded by gambler to ensure payment of basic expenses and obligations, and required attendance to Gamblers Anonymous meetings may help some people and our community. Depression - A lot of depression is caused by family issues and post military service. Although my understanding is veterans have a “Exit interview” when leaving the service that addresses Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, I wonder how much effort is actually put into creating a plan and having a followup system in place. It seems the key is to recognize common problems that face our veterans and address them earlier rather than later. Costs attributed to this effort should be a part of our defense spending and be considered a “Cost of doing business”. Fewer wars would help as well. Family issues are tough and are addressed elsewhere in this post. Abandonment - Too often after a breakup, a young woman with few social connections will be left without a source of support. Some of these woman don’t know what to do and will be exposed to risky situations until they figure it out. Sometimes these woman will get caught up in a bad situation leading to a long term downward spiral. In a perfect world, we would all come from reasonably functional and two parent homes. Unfortunately, the reality for many is different, causing one to miss out on a solid social support structure or solid parental advice. Therefore, it seems appropriate for school curricula to address these issues. The cost of homelessness is reduced economic activity in the affected area, reduced investment because of risk based fears, and in turn reduced tax revenues that adversely affect funding for social programs that in turn can hurt the homeless prospects. When someone decides to buy a home, they want to be reasonably certain their neighborhood will retain its quiet charm and their home’s value will not be harmed by campers. Homeowners have a right to expect their real estate taxes be wisely used by Government in maintaining infrastructure related items connected with their property, including external influences. The homeless should not be considered a protected class. Constructive or actual downzoning of a neighborhood by introducing multifamily housing in a single family subdivision or by allowing campers is a violation of voting taxpayer trust. Retail customers, especially restaurant customers, go to a restaurant to enjoy a quiet and peaceful meal. Where the homeless camp out and attempt to “interact” with these customers, this enjoyment is infringed upon and these customers will go elsewhere, reducing the economic viability of the business and reduced tax receipts for that locale. Multiply this by several businesses combined with Government services being reduced or reallocated, and this area will experience decline. Tourism dollars are quite valuable and are highly sought after because of the direct nature of this spending. It seems at least doubly counterproductive to create policy that does not consider the homeless impact on tourism. For the homeless that are determined to be likely long term, perhaps the most viable solution is to warehouse them in an area outside the tourist areas where basic homeless needs are provided through non cash transactions in order to reduce third party corruption.
So the government moved to “work fare” meaning someone recieving public assistance for rent or food, etc must be seeking employment or be employed. There is not too many rules, just show a pay stub. These assistance programs are much more valuable than the minimum wage job many people work that need these programs. Now there is no means testing these programs meaning the more you make the lower the assistance provided. They’re just something like 1.5 to 2xpoverty level qualify or cut off. This creates a large workforce that will work minimum wage jobs. Jobs that otherwise can’t even pay for a car. We are subsidizing low wage employers by about $17 billion per year. There are lots of solutions for this. We can tax employers per employees that work below a certain wage or we can simply raise the minimum wage. We can add means testing to assistance programs. Etc. What we should not do is continue this system.