One of the thoughts that comes to mind every time the $15 dollar minimum wage increase is brought up is the fact that by the time we’re having this conversation-we’re already behind where the new wage should be. It pains me to bring this up but I’ve gone through more than one of these minimum wage increases and so I wanted to share some thoughts about this issue. Currently Denver’s minimum wage is $14.77 and will go up next year over $15 dollars. I thought it would be interesting to share my observations of what happened before and after we began raising minimum wage. By the way, the state of Colorado is $12.32 for hourly and $9.30 for tipped workers in 2021.
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Show Notes
- By the time this episode is released over 25 states will have rescinded the extended COVID minimum wage benefit.
- In the past 5 months I’ve heard the following statements:
- People are lazy
- Workers don’t want to work because they make more on unemployment
- We need to force people “to get back to work”
- It makes me angry that people are using my tax dollars (in a way that I don’t agree with). What, the 1 penny of your money in a massive pot of tax dollars that are fellow citizens also paid into? That money?
- Honestly, I’m getting sick of these comments.
- One of the things that I noticed before we raised minimum wage in Denver was that businesses were having a really difficult time hiring staff. They just couldn’t find people to work when it was around $9-$10 dollars an hour.
- Denver is expensive. Working for $10’s an hour just wasn’t going to attract even part-time employees because it just…wasn’t worth it after taxes were taking out and time was factored in. And for those of you who may not realize this, people regardless of their income do factor in time vs. money. How do I know? Because I’ve had side-hustles that were low-paying and I had to let them go because when I factored in:
- Time
- How the management was
- What I felt like at the end of the day
- It just wasn’t worth it being mistreated by Karens all day.
- If the success of your business relies on paying labor so little that they find themselves in the position of needing to request benefits what is the point of the job? If you don’t get paid time off, food, vacation time or something why are you mad that people don’t want to work for you?
- Basically, just because you have what you feel is an opportunity doesn’t mean that I need to perceive it as one or that I need to say “yes” to it.
- When this conversation heated up in Denver several years ago people were worried about:
- The impact on the cost of goods and services
- Businesses ability to stay open with higher expenses
- Would the increase equate more staff?
- As a person who depended on jobs such as Starbucks, retail, cleaned houses, etc. I want to dispel a couple myths.
- Only teenagers are working minimum wage. If that’s the case who’s manning the registers during the school year?
- Only uneducated people are working these jobs.
- Nope, there were a lot of people in undergrad and graduate school at Starbucks and other spaces around your town. In fact, there are a lot of moms and dads who work these jobs seeking flexibility or because these are the jobs available in their town.
- Not everyone is drawn to or interested in office work. For some people it’s their idea of hell.
- In another lifetime I would own a coffee shop and would love to hire passionate baristas who are passionate about coffee as a career.
- I bring all of this up because I’m tired of the lack of respect for the different types of work that people engage in.
- What exactly happened after we changed minimum wage in Denver?
- Businesses adjusted
- Interestingly enough, finding staff is still a challenge. It did get better but Denver is a difficult city to live in on these wages.
- The wage increase has been phased in.
- You get used to it being the norm and people are baffled by lower wages in other places
What About Minimum Wage Work During COVID
If I hear another person shaming low wage workers for using the Unemployment benefit extension to better their lives I will literally scream. I’ve seen the following comments: there’s so many jobs open paying $15 dollars or $22. Why aren’t people applying for them? These are the same jobs that the same commenters wouldn’t work. Hmmm?!
Here’s the thing. In the US we don’t
- Have mandated Federal leave. We just have a suggested 2 week or 10 business days off a year. Let’s be clear that 2 weeks is not enough time off in a year.
- The vast majority of Americans have been overtaxed and paying into the Federal pot for their entire lives.
- We’re shamed for wanting to rest
- We’re shamed for doing minimum wage work
- This may be the only opportunity that many people get to rest during their entire working lives.
- For some American citizens they now have an opportunity to:
- Uplevel their lives
- Pay off debt
- Change their jobs and leave one industry and move into another
- Say “no” to the opportunity that you’re offering
- To mess up the opportunity presented during this moment…if they have access to opportunities. For some people COVID-19 has dropped a nuclear bomb onto people’s financial lives. They may be paralyzed with fear and unsure what to do next. Having experienced a situation like that before I have so much empathy.
- Or, they may have been so far behind when COVID hit that they’re barely keeping their head above water.
- When I started working on this episode I also thought a lot about how women ended up in the workforce during World War II. The men were at work. Employers and the Government had to employ women to get work done.
- After Slavery was abolished employers had to rethink their business model. A business model that included free labor.
- Is it any wonder that employers are clinging to low minimum wages as a way to get work done? But, it’s not sustainable in the long-term for people or the businesses that they work for.
- Well, if you raise prices the robots are going to replace people’s jobs.
- The ROBOTS and ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE is coming no matter what. It’s already here. People’s jobs are being replaced regardless of whether or not they demand a living wage.
- There’s a reason why people have begun to seriously push for conversations about Universal Basic Income. But, most people aren’t ready for that conversation yet.
Why do I share all of this in a show about the potential of $15 minimum wage increase?
- To make it clear that by the time we’re having this conversation…we’re already behind
- It’s also very clear that there is a large segment of the population that believes if the minimum wage is increased to $15 it will go into affect immediately. Nope, it’s phased in over a number of years.
- To illustrate that there is a bigger issue on a Federal level and a problem with how we think about:
- Access to childcare and anything connected to the care of children
- General leave mandates and the lack of a Federal Leave Law
- Access to healthcare that is not tied to work
- I have to ask a few questions:
- Why wouldn’t people working for minimum wage make the same considerations that people earning more would? Specific to time vs. income? Benefits? Flexibility? And safety.
- I feel like throwing up in my mouth when I say the following but isn’t leading with SELF the thing that Ayn Rand would do? In fact, are you just mad that low wage workers aren’t doing what’s best for YOU vs. what’s best for them?
- Would YOU work for $7 (ish) an hour if it didn’t move the needle? $15 if it didn’t move the needle? Especially during a pandemic?
- Life is short, is putting up with the bullshit worth it? It’s clear that businesses need YOU just as much as you need THEM. How should one leverage that knowledge to their benefit?
- And the most difficult question to ask: where did those almost 1 million souls killed by COVID work? No one is asking that question.
- Isn’t entrepreneurship like the Hunger Games? What happens happens? Only the strong survive? Does this mindset change when it’s YOUR business that might not survive?
- Colorado was smart to change the minimum wage because NO ONE wanted to work for peanuts. The lack of applicants for available positions was a sure sign of that.
- States may be actively rescinding unemployment benefits but they may have forgotten a couple of things.
- Employees now know their worth and will act accordingly.
- Many people have been able to build breathing room within their finances. That breathing room gives people options.
- So, for those citizens who are opting to rest, to look for new jobs or to squander this opportunity if it’s available to you…it’s your choice. You’ve paid your taxes and it’s none of my business what you do.
- For the rest of you shaming people for not accepting what you think they should…your snobbery is showing.
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I am an obsessive foodie, but not self-righteous with it, love travel, meeting new people, helping you look good, and am freaked out by people who don't enjoying reading...something! Grab a Perrier, read my blog, feel free to drop me a line! Hope to hear from you soon.
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