Right data.DICK Armey makes $148,400 a year. That's nearly 10 times the $15,500 poverty threshold The poverty threshold, or poverty line, is the minimum level of income deemed necessary to achieve an adequate standard of living. In practice, like the definition of poverty, the official or common understanding of the poverty line is significantly higher in developed for a four-person family. At $4.25 an hour, a full-time full-time adj. Employed for or involving a standard number of hours of working time: a full-time administrative assistant. full minimum-wage worker earns just $8,500 a year. Yet Armey opposes ''with every fiber of my being'' an increase in the minimum wage. A callous cal·lous adj. Of, relating to, or characteristic of a callus or callosity. callous of the nature of a callus; hard. majority leader? Not exactly. Armey, a former economics professor, knows the numbers. About half of all minimum-wage workers are under 21. Most are not poor -- 68.2 per cent live in families with income two or more times the poverty line. And for less advantaged youth, whose work is crucial to the family's well-being, a higher minimum has historically meant less opportunity. Between 1950 and 1955 the unemployment rate for young males was about 7 or 8 percentage points above the general rate and there was no significant difference between black and white joblessness. In 1955, and again in 1968, the minimum wage was increased significantly. After each increase unemployment rates for young males rose. Black teenagers suffered the most. Since 1973 their unemployment rate has been 23 to 39 points above the general rate of unemployment. Although the minimum is currently lower than it was in 1950, its reach is far wider. Approximately 83 per cent of all workers are currently covered. Economists agree that a higher minimum lures people out of idleness IDLENESS. The refusal or neglect to engage in any lawful employment, in order to gain a livelihood. 2. The vagrant act of 17 G. II. c. 5, which, with some modifications, has been adopted, in perhaps most of the states, describes idle persons to be those who, and into the labor force. Can that be bad? Unfortunately, it can. A July July: see month. 1995 paper by Federal Reserve economist William William, crown prince of Germany William or Frederick William, 1882–1951, crown prince of Germany, son of William II. In World War I he commanded (1914) an army on the Western Front and was nominal commander in the German attack Wascher shows that teenagers in school are the group most likely to enter the labor force in response to a higher minimum wage. This is a double whammy double whammy Noun informal a devastating setback made up of two elements double whammy n (col) → palo doble double whammy n (inf . By dropping out, they reduce their lifetime earnings, and by competing for low-skill jobs, they make it harder for welfare recipients to find work. Data confirm this: welfare mothers in states that raised their minimum wage remain on welfare 44 per cent longer than such women in states that didn't did·n't Contraction of did not. didn't did not didn't do . President Clinton wants to raise the minimum wage to $5.15, a 21 per cent increase. Based on research published last year, each 10 per cent rise in the minimum wage puts at least 1 per cent of minimum-wage workers out of work. That translates to a job loss of about 80,000. In an economy of 120 million workers, that's hardly noticeable. Indeed, the gain in income for minimum-wage workers who keep their jobs is likely to exceed the loss in income for those put out of work. But appearances are deceiving. One reason job losses are relatively small is that employers have ways to shift the burden of higher wages. They can raise prices. (Wage pressure is perhaps the most important factor in generating inflation.) Or cut hours. The average work week in retailing, the industry most affected by the minimum wage, fell from 37.3 hours in 1963 to 28.9 in 1995. When facing a higher minimum, retail stores in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of cut commission payments, eliminated bonuses, and cut paid vacations Noun 1. paid vacation - a vacation from work by an employee with pay granted holiday, vacation - leisure time away from work devoted to rest or pleasure; "we get two weeks of vacation every summer"; "we took a short holiday in Puerto Rico" and sick leave. Studies show that for every 1 per cent increase in the minimum wage, local restaurants reduced shift premiums by 3.6 per cent, severance pay Severance Pay Compensation that an employer gives to someone who is about to lose their job. Notes: Severance pay is not always paid to employees. It depends on the situation in which the employee is losing their job and whether legislation requires severance to be paid. by 6.9 per cent, and sick pay by 3.4 per cent. Even workers who kept their jobs were worse off with a higher minimum wage. The moral? Even in New York, there's no free lunch.
THE MINIMUM AND MINORS
Unemployment Rate (%)
Minimum Wage All White, Black, Year
Current $ 1995 $ Workers 16 - 19 16 - 19 1950
$0.75 $4.75 5.3% 13.4% 12.1% 1955
1.00 5.69 4.4 11.3 13.4 1968 1.60
7.01 3.6 10.1 22.1 1980 3.10
5.73 7.1 16.2 37.5 1991 4.25
4.75 6.7 17.5 36.5 1995 4.25 4.25
5.6 15.6 37.1
Source: BLS, Economic Report of the President |
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