We need to stop looking at minimum wage as a set number across the country, It creates a wage disparity for the working class. A livable wage in Alabama would not be a livable wage in California, a livable wage in California would be an insane wage in a place like Alabama.
The minimum wage needs to be directly tied with median housing costs either at the state level or at the county level. The wage needs to be set where housing would only comprise of a max of 30% of income. So at 30% if the median rent is $2000 per month, the livable wage in that area would be set at about $6700 a month, or about $42 an hour. This would help control housing costs as well as keep wages livable.
The median required minimum livable wage in California for a single person with no children, according to MIT living wage calculator is $27.32
Even if it does get increased to $18, it’s not livable.
I don’t know if tying it to something that’s inflated above core inflation is a good idea. I think the better approach is to reduce the cost of housing.
It’s probably more realistically possible to put some rent caps in than implement $42/hr minimum wage. Virtually all minimum wage employees would be laid off with all the businesses who employ them shutting down too. The only businesses that could survive that much dramatic increase in payroll costs would be the ones making really huge profits, which would almost certainly not include every restaurant in most cities.
Suppose that happens. What’s stopping the landlords from just raising their rents then? Can the government control housing costs? Is it even possible in a “free” economy?
