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Baraka_Guru · 10-14-2009, 08:08 AM

As invalid as the data I posted above may be, the bottom line on minimum wage is whether it is a livable wage. Sure most minimum-wage earners are teenagers and students, but not all of them are. The data here suggests that nearly a third (29%) of minimum-wage earners in Canada are between the ages of 25 and 54. (This is StatsCan data.)

Many of those are not the primary earners, but some of them are. One reason why minimum wages came about was to protect those who had no advocates otherwise: many of these earners are women, some are supporting families (or are at least trying to). The idea today is that a minimum wage should have the potential--at least--to earn a livable wage. One should be able to make a living on minimum wage. Not all minimum wage jobs are transitional jobs.

I know raising minimum wages puts pressure on job creation, but wages that are too low (i.e. on the other side of the coin) puts pressure on the economy in other ways. It's about achieving a balance. It's about social improvement.

And sometimes the only way you can get a raise is if the government does it for you by raising the minimum wage. Inflation can be a bitch. And before you jump on me by stating, "Raising minimum wages is what causes inflation!" please realize that only 5% of the Canadian workforce earns a minimum wage. And if it is as bad as requiring a raise in minimum wage to get a raise at all, then I don't think changes to minimum wages have as much as an impact as changes to the other kinds of wages...you know, wages that are twice as high or more.

10-14-2009, 08:08 AM	#650 (permalink)
Baraka_Guru warrior bodhisattva Super Moderator Location: East-central Canada	As invalid as the data I posted above may be, the bottom line on minimum wage is whether it is a livable wage. Sure most minimum-wage earners are teenagers and students, but not all of them are. The data here suggests that nearly a third (29%) of minimum-wage earners in Canada are between the ages of 25 and 54. (This is StatsCan data.) Many of those are not the primary earners, but some of them are. One reason why minimum wages came about was to protect those who had no advocates otherwise: many of these earners are women, some are supporting families (or are at least trying to). The idea today is that a minimum wage should have the potential--at least--to earn a livable wage. One should be able to make a living on minimum wage. Not all minimum wage jobs are transitional jobs. I know raising minimum wages puts pressure on job creation, but wages that are too low (i.e. on the other side of the coin) puts pressure on the economy in other ways. It's about achieving a balance. It's about social improvement. And sometimes the only way you can get a raise is if the government does it for you by raising the minimum wage. Inflation can be a bitch. And before you jump on me by stating, "Raising minimum wages is what causes inflation!" please realize that only 5% of the Canadian workforce earns a minimum wage. And if it is as bad as requiring a raise in minimum wage to get a raise at all, then I don't think changes to minimum wages have as much as an impact as changes to the other kinds of wages...you know, wages that are twice as high or more. __________________ Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing? —Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön Humankind cannot bear very much reality. —From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot Last edited by Baraka_Guru; 10-14-2009 at 08:17 AM..