[Rashputin]

In 1965 the minimum wage was $1.25 an hour. That figure adjusted for inflation comes to about $9.50 in today's money. I don't see the problem with the minimum wage keeping up with inflation.

JMHo

[goodnesswins]

At age 17 I worked in Yellowstone Park in 1968....as a waitress...made 1.50 an hour...and had to pay for room & board, too. Still came home with about $700 for the summer.

[goodnesswins]

PS....minimum wage isn’t meant to be a LIVING WAGE...it’s a STARTER wage.

[Covenantor]

In 1965 the minimum wage was $1.25 an hour. That figure adjusted for inflation comes to about $9.50 in today's money. I don't see the problem with the minimum wage keeping up with inflation.

All well and good. or so it seems at first glance. However. the effects reach beyond the published minimum hourly wage.

Consider Social Security deductions. Employee payroll deduction is 7.75%, while the employer is taxed at 15.3% of employees "Contribution". So SS along with other mandated taxes increase overall expense of the employee to a point where static sales and or services costs become insufficient to maintain the business, absent price increases. In the mean time the minimum hourly wage earner sees the increased FICA deduction and Fed and State taxes from his paycheck and by definition not the sharpest, starts screaming to the employer about being ripped off. Happens ever single time.

As others have pointed out on FR, Federal, state, and municipal employees as well as union hourly rates are pegged to the hourly minimum wage, thus increasing the burden on tax payers immediately and down the road as overall pension costs kick in.

So the politicians and unions are all in for it, as taxable wages are increased to further the insane government spending.