Reply to How much raise should my wife ask for now with Biden and $15/h minimum wage?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm not sure policy makers realize how devastating this can be for depressed cities, especially former industrial towns. I live in one and it declined majorly 20 years ago as factories shut down. Now they are building up again as distribution centers for online retailers (we have 5 major retailers doing it here so far) open up, as well as assembly plants for major automakers. What draws these new businesses here is that the wages here are low -- below $15/hour -- for entry-level, and we're near major interstates. However, our minimum wage is a good wage because cost of living is low here. Cost of living is easily half of in DC where we used to live.

If the minimum wage goes to $15/hr nationwide, then suddenly our town is no longer attractive to employers as being low-cost, and the jobs will start disappearing. There are a million towns also along the interstate where they can put their next warehouse.

If the goal is to make sure households earn enough to live, then we should index the minimum wage in that area to cost of living, or even better just adjust the earned income tax credit (EITC). The EITC takes into account total household income, particular since people may work more than one job, and also household size, like number of children at home.

I know $15/hr is a great soundbite, but I'm pretty sure it's going to leave towns like ours worse off.[/quote]

+1, I’d much rather see a more generous EITC.[/quote]

-1.  I'm also from an economically depressed area, with a low COLA, and initially thought like you did.  My hometown is among the Top 10 low-income cities.  [b]Then I looked up the studies that are by city, and show the actual cost of what you'd need to afford an apartment in various cities across the country.  Even in my very hometown, you need $15/hour [/b]unless you are living with a 2-income household in a 1-bedroom or 2-bedroom apartment with no childcare costs.  Those people taking the $11/hour jobs are only making it work because they are relying on food stamps, leaving their kids with random relatives (know someone back home who regularly left their preschoolers with cartoon network and a drunk aunt), etc.  $15 is the number people use because the people have studied this have figured that it's basically what you need almost anyplace.  I'm sort of sick of big companies making the rest of us subsidize their failure to pay workers a living wage while they pay their C-suite 8 figure salaries.  Aren't you?[/quote]

We're having this debate at home, that $11/hr is plenty to live on in rural VA - I don't think so. Links to these city studies?[/quote]

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