Peter Kelly of UW Today reports that Most Seattle employers surveyed in a University of Washington-led study said in 2015 that they expected to raise prices on goods and services to compensate for the city’s move to a $15 per hour minimum wage. But a year after its implementation, this doesn't appear to be the case. According to one survey, "Sixty-two percent of employers said they expected to raise prices of goods and services to accommodate the higher wages brought by the law. Ten percent of the employers believed incorrectly that the ordinance would force their business to move to a $15 wage immediately upon implementation". The purpose of the study was to develop a full understanding of how businesses and nonprofits change their practices to accommodate higher wages, and of whether a higher minimum wage meaningfully transforms lives.
http://www.washington.edu/news/2016/04/18/early-analysis-of-seattles-15-wage-law-effect-on-prices-minimal-one-year-after-implementation/
An increase in min wage is not going to help much people, because the majority people on min. wage are not poor, only 20%of them are in poverty. Smaller businesses with less than 500 employees have 7 years to implement the new wage. It's too early to say anything about this policy.
ReplyDeleteAn increase in min wage is not going to help much people, because the majority people on min. wage are not poor, only 20%of them are in poverty. Smaller businesses with less than 500 employees have 7 years to implement the new wage. It's too early to say anything about this policy.
ReplyDeleteWe are seeing this trend of high rises in minimum wage in a few different areas like California and New York as well. I am not a supporter of this raise in wage (extreme raise in wage) because I feel that this will cause too many lower paying jobs to be lost. Seattle is no exception and I am very curious to see how this wage raise effects the long-run economy in Seattle, along with California and New York.
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