Arguments for a higher minimum wage focus on the fact that it would help more people pay their bills, while arguments against raising the minimum wage focus on the damage it would do to businesses.
Of course, the minimum wage was never intended as a "living" wage but rather as the salary for high school and college students to earn extra money. But with the economic changes in the U.S., that has changed significantly.
One point overlooked in the debate is what about the folks who started at minimum wage three, four or five years ago and who are now earning a livable wage now, or have even graduated to supervisory roles at $12, $13 or $14 an hour?
Are we now going to pay the higher minimum to the brand-new, unskilled hires and let those other employees who worked hard for their salary increases see that they are now barely making the new minimum wage? How fair is that?
If we raised the minimum wage, employers would be forced to give all their employees a comparable raise commensurate with raise mandated by the new minimum wage. Otherwise longer-term, more senior employees would be the ones suffering an injustice.
But raising the pay scale of all or most of the employees really does drive inflation as the costs of products and service increase, and then where are we? Back to square one, perhaps?
I fear that too big a jump in the minimum wage has some very negative unintended consequences that our lawmakers have just not been able to see.
Robert C. Rassa, Fallston