Reply to Montgmery County approves $15 an hour. Does this = ByeBye to reliabe hours for part timers (my kids)

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Reply to "Montgmery County approves $15 an hour. Does this = ByeBye to reliabe hours for part timers (my kids)"

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[quote=Anonymous]According to BLS statistics, most people who earn minimum wage are NOT the primary wage earners in their household. It's either a teenager earning pocket money, or a person with a second job (like someone who works retail on weekends).

It makes sense too -- in low-wage jobs with high turnover, anyone who sticks around for even a few months and shows dedication is going to get a raise and promoted pretty quickly.

So what this will do is shut the door on entry-level jobs for youth without any experience, like camp counselors and lifeguards and so on. No way to get your foot in the door since someone with no experience isn't worth $15/hour.

This was a big ploy by Council members, nearly half of who are making a run for County Executive next year (partly due to the voters kicking them out via term limits), to appease the unions and get their vote. The unions also benefit because union dues are tied to wages so higher revenues for the union. The Council likes the minimum wage approach because it plays well politically, and it doesn't cost the taxpayer that much (actually it will cost $10-20mln -- remember those lifeguards and camp counselors work for the County parks department and will get a wage increase).

Yes, cost of living is high in MoCo, and yes, people generally don't want to see a single parent supporting 3 kids on minimum wage struggling to survive, but there's a lot better solution to this -- raise the Earned Income Tax Credit. MD already provides it, and MoCo could just increase it for MoCo residents. The nice thing about EITC is it looks at household size and overall household income from all sources. So it goes to those who actually need it, while minimum wage goes to people who don't like teenagers earning pocket money.[/quote]

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