Even a Higher Minimum Wage?
Thursday, May 11, 2023
Dorothy Philbin l CNBNews Columnist
Last week a robot was scrubbing the floor at SAM's Club in Deptford. Two of the employees were discussing how the robot was taking a job away from a human. Facebook is
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Robots and self-service shouldn't be a surprise. Everyone was excited about the minimum wage going up as high as $15.00 per hour in some locations. In New Jersey the minimum wage is currently $14.13 per hour and will reach $15.00 on January 1, 2024. A few years ago the minimum wage was $8.50 per hour, now it is almost double that. Something had to give and that something was human employees.
The purpose of minimum wage originally was a training wage. In theory, once an employee was trained and could perform for him/herself, the salary would increase. Sadly, employers didn't increase the salaries because...that might decrease their profits. In the beginning the minimum wage was 33 cents per hour. In the 1960s when the gray-hairs got their first jobs, minimum wage went all the way up to $1.00 per hour. One dollar in 1963 would equal $9.86 today so the minimum wage grew much faster than inflation.
Last week (May 5, 2023) Senator Bernie Sanders (I Vt) proposed increasing the minimum wage again, this time up to $17.00 per hour. It is easy for Senator Sanders to say this, he is a millionaire with three homes. What no politician has ever told the public (his/her voters) is for each dollar the minimum wage increases how many jobs are lost. Either the politicians don't know or don't want the voters to know.