The labor unions and Progressive Liberals in California (CA) just raised the Minimum Wage from $10 to $10.50 in 2016. $10 per hour was already the highest minimum wage in the country. By the year 2022, that rate would top out at $15 per hour.
The national $15 per hour movement claims that this rate would bring families out of poverty – it will not. An extra $100 to $200 a month won't change much for anyone. If someone is trying to raise a family with a minimum wage job, they are doing it exactly wrong.
These entry-level jobs are for teens, college students, and retirees. These jobs should be motivating folks to better themselves and get a better job. It should push people to learn a trade or go to school. The world doesn't owe anyone, it was here first.
Most people do not know that if the minimum wage goes up, so must the pay of people with tenor. Otherwise, when a shift manager is making $10.50 an hour and the minimum wage is raised to $10.50, a newly hired person would make the same as the manager.
This will necessarily drive the cost higher for the consumer. McDonald's raised their minimum wage to $10 per hour a year ago. Soon thereafter, the $1.00 McDouble sandwich became a $1.69 sandwich. The dollar menu will become the $5.00 menu, unless the corporation decides to eat the cost and make less money. Which scenario would you bet on?
CA has been struggling financially for years and this will only exacerbate the problem. In the photo above you can see the newest McDonald's employees. These machine vastly reduce payroll, never call in sick, they don't need healthcare insurance, and they cannot be rude to customers.
With an effective tax rate of 60%, large companies have been fleeing the state or shutting the doors altogether. New businesses will avoid opening in the Golden State and joblessness will increase dependency on the government.
