Supporters of the higher minimum wage say that, even in lower-cost upstate New York, is barely enough to support a family and would reduce those workers’ reliance on public assistance programs.
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The Associated Press reports a state wage board filed a formal proposal with the State Department of Labor on Friday.
Earlier this month, New York state announced a long-anticipated plan to phase in a $15 minimum wage for fast-food workers, whose 2012 protests sparked a national movement. But the $15 fast-food minimum wage he’s backing takes a one-size-fits-all approach to the state’s wage scale.
The increase would gradually be phased in to New York City and then to other areas over six years time.
The wage board also identified at least 137 chains, each with 30 or more locations across the country, that would be impacted by its recommendation if it is implemented by the state’s acting labor commissioner.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, when discussing economic development, likes to say how Western New York is different from the North Country and, especially downstate.
By traditional standards, however, these new figures represent very big wage hikes, and economists don’t agree on how positive their outcomes would be.
And it underscores an important part of national minimum wage policy that doesn’t often get discussed. They can look forward to another modest raise at the end of this year, when the statewide minimum wage will rise to $9 an hour. With .24 worth of purchasing power, it beats New York City by 2 cents.
Raising the minimum wage can ensure those with low income a more stabler life, as they would not have to worry about being on the poverty line.
The most expensive city in the U.S., in terms of purchasing power, is Honolulu, Hawaii.
But as the Pew Research Center notes, wide disparity in living cost mean that the buying power of a $15/hr minimum wage differs dramatically depending upon where you live. For example, giving everyone the same purchasing power that $15 has in New York City would cost $13.07 in Chicago; $12 in Fresno, California; $11.10 in Cincinnati; and just $10.43 in Anniston, Alabama.
The picture is similar to one BEA data painted recently, which showed the value of state-level minimum wages.
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Confer’s company likes to keep its starting wage above the minimum to help it attract quality workers.
