Minimum Wage to be restored??!

Boskowski

Cillerz wrote: »

I'm completely against the minimum wage price floor. Okay maybe in today's terms it might actually be the right action. But in general I just don't see any good sides to it. The price should be left to the free market - let companies set their own wages. With a minimum wage, more people are demanding work and less are supplying it, leading to unemployment. And for socialists, wouldn't it be better to have (for a smaller example) 10 people employed at €5 per hour than 8 at €6? It means more money in the economy!

"A study just released by Ragnatz and Marcel Thum from the Ifo Institute for Economic Research says increasing the minimum wage to 6.50 euros per hour (in Germany, from nothing), as the Social Democrats have called for, would result in a loss of around 465,000 jobs. Raising it to 7.50 euros would kill around 621,000 jobs, according to the report." from atlanticreview.org.

On the other hand there is a significant number of people in Germany who cannot live off their full-time job. Do you think that's the way to go?

SupaNova

On the other hand there is a significant number of people in Germany who cannot live off their full-time job

How many and when you say people cannot live off their full time job in Germany, do you mean they are dying or that they have some other sources of income?

And for socialists, wouldn't it be better to have (for a smaller example) 10 people employed at €5 per hour than 8 at €6? It means more money in the economy!

It would mean more production and services provided(economic growth). It would reduce unemployment. It would help in tackling our deficit problem. Prices of consumer goods would fall.

The negative is any reduction in pay for anyone on minimum wage would mean lifestyle cuts. We are going to have to make these lifestyle cuts sooner or later unless we can perform some economic miracle.

the groutch

hopefully now FG will cut social welfare (actually a reform of the whole system would be better), give people incentive to take the minimum wage jobs.
it's no good having a "jobs plan" if when the jobs are created most of them are on or close to minimum wage, and people are better off sitting at home, taking the dole & a range of other benefits instead

(btw welfare fraud is also a big issue too, but that's for discussing another time)

wolfpawnat

the groutch wrote: »

hopefully now FG will cut social welfare (actually a reform of the whole system would be better), give people incentive to take the minimum wage jobs.
it's no good having a "jobs plan" if when the jobs are created most of them are on or close to minimum wage, and people are better off sitting at home, taking the dole & a range of other benefits instead

(btw welfare fraud is also a big issue too, but that's for discussing another time)

More important again, make crèche fees feasible with low income jobs. Many parents cannot escape the welfare trap if they cannot afford to daycare for their children!

Dale Parish

the groutch wrote: »

hopefully now FG will cut social welfare (actually a reform of the whole system would be better), give people incentive to take the minimum wage jobs.

Although that's a good idea, there are no minimum wage jobs - the minimum wage is too high. If you ran a local shop which was open for 12 hours per day could you afford someone at 8.65 to even work half of those and still make a profit, pay rents etc? The minimum wage is killing jobs like these and making it very hard to do business.

HivemindXX

Dale Parish wrote: »

Although that's a good idea, there are no minimum wage jobs - the minimum wage is too high. If you ran a local shop which was open for 12 hours per day could you afford someone at 8.65 to even work half of those and still make a profit, pay rents etc? The minimum wage is killing jobs like these and making it very hard to do business.

Amazingly all my local shops have staff though...

thebman

HivemindXX wrote: »

Amazingly all my local shops have staff though...

Small shops have closed down in many areas during the boom already though, they are already gone.e

I know our local shop back home shut down and another petrol station up the road shut down as they couldn't afford to stay open.

Someone bought the local shop to try to keep it open but it has never reopened. Its too expensive even with a school right beside it that kids can come up from at lunch time.

The only shop still open in the area is 3 miles away and is a pub and petrol station too now that the other shops have closed down. However a new bypass might see some of that shut down.

Rural areas can't afford high wages and cost of living is lower so a minimum wage for Dublin doesn't necessarily suit the whole country.

Rubik.

the groutch wrote: »

hopefully now FG will cut social welfare (actually a reform of the whole system would be better), give people incentive to take the minimum wage jobs.
it's no good having a "jobs plan" if when the jobs are created most of them are on or close to minimum wage, and people are better off sitting at home, taking the dole & a range of other benefits instead

The majority of jobs being created over the coming years will be in the export sector, they will not be minimum wage rate jobs. I would have thought the difference between 346 euros and 188/144/100 euros would be incentive enough and I'm unaware of large number of minimum wage rate job vacancies presently going unfilled.

The reversing of the minimum wage rate cut is not happening in isolation, employers PRSI for those earning 356 euros or less per week will be halved.