Minimum Wage and Food Stamps

[Crabtownboy]

Wonder if the anti-raising the minimum wage folk have considered that by keeping the minimum wage below a living level they, in turn, are then helping the big corporations make bigger profits while at the same time are subsidizing the minimum wage folk through their taxes needed to supply food stamps and food to food banks?

 

[InTheLight]

Wonder if the anti-raising the minimum wage folk have considered that by keeping the minimum wage below a living level they, in turn, are then helping the big corporations make bigger profits while at the same time are subsidizing the minimum wage folk through their taxes needed to supply food stamps and food to food banks?

1. Since only 4.3% of all hourly wage earners are making minimum wage I don't think the correlation between them and food stamp recipients is very strong

2. Since 51% of minimum wage earners are less than 24 years old, I don't think the correlation between them and food stamp recipients is very strong.

3. Big corporation's profits will be largely unaffected by an increase in the minimum wage. Mom and pop stores and small businesses are much more affected.

 

[Revmitchell]

3. Big corporation's profits will be largely unaffected by an increase in the minimum wage. Mom and pop stores and small businesses are much more affected.

And it hurts them in a big way.

 

[Crabtownboy]

1. Since only 4.3% of all hourly wage earners are making minimum wage I don't think the correlation between them and food stamp recipients is very strong

2. Since 51% of minimum wage earners are less than 24 years old, I don't think the correlation between them and food stamp recipients is very strong.

3. Big corporation's profits will be largely unaffected by an increase in the minimum wage. Mom and pop stores and small businesses are much more affected.

Sorry, but your analysis does not stand up in the real world.

Currently 52% of fast-food workers get aid from public programs like food stamps. Raising the minimum wage cuts this need. And cutting the need cuts the cost of these programs.

According to the National Employment Law Project, “Low wages and lack of benefits at the 10 largest fast-food companies in the United States cost taxpayers an estimated $3.8 billion per year. McDonald’s alone costs taxpayers an estimated $1.2 billion each year.”

A Berkeley Labor Center study, Fast Food, Poverty Wages: The Public cost of low-wage Jobs in the fast-food industry says “the cost of public assistance to families of workers in the fast-food industry is nearly $7 billion per year.” and “Due to low earnings, fast-food workers’ families … receive an annual average of $1.04 billion in food stamp benefits.”

That $7 billion — $1 billion of that for Food Stamps — is spent helping just the workers in the fast-food industry. Fast-food workers are just some of the “food preparation and serving related” occupation that is 44% of workers making the minimum wage or less.

Again, we spend $7 billion on government assistance helping people just in the fast-food industry because they are paid so little. They are just some of the workers making minimum wage, which means $7 billion is just some of the spending we could cut if we just paid them more.

http://ourfuture.org/20131203/raising-the-minimum-wage-cuts-food-stamp-and-other-government-spending

 

[Crabtownboy]

And it hurts them in a big way.

Proof please. Studies have debunked your statement.

 

[InTheLight]

Sorry, but your analysis does not stand up in the real world.


Currently 52% of fast-food workers get aid from public programs like food stamps. Raising the minimum wage cuts this need. And cutting the need cuts the cost of these programs.

“Due to low earnings, fast-food workers’ families … receive an annual average of $1.04 billion in food stamp benefits.”

You're looking right past what I posted and are missing my point. Only 4.3% of all hourly workers make the minimum wage. If all of these workers were getting food stamps it would only account for 4.3% of all food stamp recipients.

Total food stamp outlay was $77 Billion in 2003. According to your article $1.06B of this went to fast food workers. That's 1.4% of all food stamp payments.

If all 4.3% of minimum wage earners were to be getting food stamps that would be $3.3B.

Based on these numbers raising the minimum wage to reduce food stamp usage is a lousy argument. It would be much more simpler to reduce food stamp usage by cutting waste and fraud and/or stricter means testing than raising the minimum wage for everybody, including those that don't use food stamps.

 

[Crabtownboy]

You're looking right past what I posted and are missing my point. Only 4.3% of all hourly workers make the minimum wage. If all of these workers were getting food stamps it would only account for 4.3% of all food stamp recipients.

Total food stamp outlay was $77 Billion in 2003. According to your article $1.06B of this went to fast food workers. That's 1.4% of all food stamp payments.

If all 4.3% of minimum wage earners were to be getting food stamps that would be $3.3B.

Based on these numbers raising the minimum wage to reduce food stamp usage is a lousy argument. It would be much more simpler to reduce food stamp usage by cutting waste and fraud and/or stricter means testing than raising the minimum wage for everybody, including those that don't use food stamps.

.

Well as some senator said some years ago "You take a billion here and a billion there and pretty soon you are talking about real money.

 

[Alcott]

Boy, what is the value of the public assistance fast food workers receive, and is that more or less than the proposed increase in the minimum wage would add to their incomes? Or, take the Q this way: how much would the minimum wage be increased so that ___% (say 50, just to have a figure) of earners of such would then cede public assistance? And that ultimately leads the to the Q: how many current m.w. workers would end up better off by an increase in m.w.?

 

[Revmitchell]

Proof please. Studies have debunked your statement.

What studies?

 

[Crabtownboy]

What studies?

Where is your proof. Do a bit of research and you will see your comment is incorrect.

 

[Revmitchell]

Where is your proof. Do a bit of research and you will see your comment is incorrect.

Look I asked a reasonable question. You posted the op, you are making the asertions. Now I have been a small business owner. How about you?


So again I ask what studies?

 

[Crabtownboy]

Look I asked a reasonable question. You posted the op, you are making the asertions. Now I have been a small business owner. How about you?

Look I ask a reasonable question. Where is the proof of your reply. So, I ask where is your proof. You make sweeping replies with nothing to back them up. You remind me of what Eleanor Roosevelt said about FDR that goes something like this:

He doesn't think, he just decides.

Oh, yep been a small business owner. A raise in the minimum wage would not have helped nor hurt me.

 

[Revmitchell]

Well there you go, wow now you are copying Zaacs habits of repeating what others say or saying the opposite when you have no supporting facts.

 

[Crabtownboy]

Well there you go, wow now you are copying Zaacs habits of repeating what others say or saying the opposite when you have no supporting facts.

I am simply tried of you demanding answers but never answering questions. Usually you simply disappear and never respond. I will respond, giving your supporting articles, when you show sources that support your original claim.

 

[Sapper Woody]

Proof please. Studies have debunked your statement.

Real life has debunked your studies. Recently, the federal minimum wage for federal contractors was raised to over $10. Fast food restaurants on military posts asked for an exception, since they are considered contractors. They didn't receive this exception. Many closed down and left the posts before they had to start paying more. Others are trying an appeal, but will pack up if they don't get it. Yes, some are suffering through it. But I've already seen firsthand that the quality of service has gone way down in military post fast food chains. They are always understaffed to try and make up the money they have to shell out.

Bottom line; you can cite all the studies you want. Real life has spoken.

 

[InTheLight]

.

Well as some senator said some years ago "You take a billion here and a billion there and pretty soon you are talking about real money.

Often attributed to Sen. Everett Dirksen, but there is no proof of it.

The US spends $7 Billion every 17.5 hours. Is that a huge burden on taxpayers?

Anyway, in the big picture the numbers just don't add up to much. And as Alcott said, if you raise the minimum wage to $10.10 how many people will that remove from the food stamp program?

I say the negative repercussions from raising the minimum wage to $10 far outweigh the reduction in costs in the food stamp program.

 

[Revmitchell]

I am simply tried of you demanding answers but never answering questions. Usually you simply disappear and never respond. I will respond, giving your supporting articles, when you show sources that support your original claim.

No you won't. And I do not disappear. I intentionally ignore your asinine arguments.

 

[Revmitchell]

Effects of the Minimum Wage on Employment Dynamics

The voluminous literature on minimum wages offers little consensus on the extent to which a wage floor impacts employment. For both theoretical and econometric reasons, we argue that the effect of the minimum wage should be more apparent in new employment growth than in employment levels. In addition, we conduct a simulation showing that the common practice of including state-specific time trends will attenuate the measured effects of the minimum wage on employment if the true effect is in fact on the rate of job growth. Using three separate state panels of administrative employment data, we find that the minimum wage reduces net job growth, primarily through its
effect on job creation by expanding establishments. These effects are most pronounced for younger workers and in industries with a higher proportion of low-wage workers.

http://econweb.tamu.edu/jmeer/Meer_West_Minimum_Wage.pdf

 

[Crabtownboy]

Seems like y'all are chasing a myth:

A $10.10 minimum wage would give economy (and more low-wage workers) a bigger boost

http://www.epi.org/blog/10-10-minimum-wage-give-economy-wage-workers/

A 2011 study by the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank finds that minimum wage increases raise incomes and increase consumer spending, especially triggering car purchases. The authors examine 23 years of household spending data and find that for every dollar increase for a minimum wage worker results in $2,800 in new consumer spending by his or her household over the following year.

A 2009 study by the Economic Policy Institute estimates that Obama’s campaign pledge to raise the minimum wage to $9.50 by 2011 would inject $60 billion in additional spending into the economy.

http://www.raisetheminimumwage.com/pages/stimulus

Myth: Raising the minimum wage will only benefit teens.
Not true: The typical minimum wage worker is not a high-school student earning weekend pocket money. In fact, 88 percent of those who would benefit from a federal minimum wage increase are age 20 or older, and 55 percent are women.


Myth: Increasing the minimum wage will cause people to lose their jobs.
Not true: A review of 64 studies on minimum wage increases found no discernable effect on employment. Additionally, more than 600 economists, seven of them Nobel Prize winners in economics, have signed onto a letter in support of raising the minimum wage to $10.10 by 2016.


Myth: Small business owners can't afford to pay their workers more, and therefore don't support an increase in the minimum wage.
Not true: A June 2014 survey found that more than 3 out of 5 small business owners support increasing the minimum wage to $10.10. Small business owners believe that a higher minimum wage would benefit business in important ways: 58% say raising the minimum wage would increase consumer purchasing power. 56% say raising the minimum wage would help the economy. In addition, 53% agree that with a higher minimum wage, businesses would benefit from lower employee turnover, increased productivity and customer satisfaction.

http://www.dol.gov/minwage/mythbuster.htm

 

[InTheLight]

Seems like y'all are chasing a myth:


Myth: Raising the minimum wage will only benefit teens.
Not true: The typical minimum wage worker is not a high-school student earning weekend pocket money. In fact, 88 percent of those who would benefit from a federal minimum wage increase are age 20 or older, and 55 percent are women.

I don't know where these people get their information from, but here is the real deal:

Twenty percent of teens make the minimum wage. Only 3 percent of those making the minimum wage are age 25 or older.

http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2013.pdf