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Bringing minimum wages above the poverty line

22 Mar 2007

While only a small share of workers over 25 years of age are working at or near the current minimum wage (2.1%), a significant share (10.6%) are working between the current minimum wage and the proposed new minimum wage of $10. [...] The virtue of a $10 minimum wage is that it meets the basic moral standard of wages covering the basic costs of living — and it reflects a society that values the contribution of its workers to the nation’s economy. [...] Advocates for an above-poverty minimum wage must remain vigilant about the effects of inflation and the willingness of governments to let inflation erode the real value of the minimum wage. [...] Movements in the real minimum wage over time capture both the periodic minimum wage increases introduced by governments, from time to time, and the impact that changes in the cost of living have on the buying power of a minimum-wage income. [...] For the next nine years there were no increases in the nominal minimum wage, and inflation eroded the value of the real minimum wage to $7.16 per hour by 2003.
health education politics economics economy school income distribution inflation adolescence business collective bargaining employers employment government policy labour labour economics labour law minimum wage minimum wages further education employee living wage poverty line nominal real povert

Authors

Murray, Stuart

ISBN
9780886275310
Pages
56
Published in
Canada

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