Minimum Wage question: Would a raise bring people above the poverty level

[graywarrior]

thus preventing them from receiving various services?

[One_Life_To_Give]

1. Depends on where they are at

In Mass anything under $30/hr would be poverty wage.

[graywarrior]

2. That's for sure.

[brer cat]

3. Probably not for most. Min wage is so low it would take a huge increase

to make much difference, I think. My daughter has been working full-time for $7+ an hour, head of household for 2 children, and she gets quite a bit of assistance. I don't think we have a prayer of getting min wage to the point that people can actually make a living.

[BuyingThyme]

4. Perhaps, but here's what's more important:

A higher minimum wage doesn't only give the lowest wage earners more money, but gives them more opportunities.

Just think what can be done with another $300 or $400 a month. You might finally be able to fix the clutch on you car. You might be able to get your small business going. You might be able to move out of an undesirable neighborhood. You might be able to commute to the next town to get your foot in the door of a better job. You might be able to go to school at night. You might be able to eat better. You might be able to buy medicine AND feed the kids. You might be able to just relax for a few moments.

It's a start.

[graywarrior]

5. That's a good thing. I just hate to see anyone lose by gaining.

[brer cat]

7. I agree with everything you say,

and I love your optimism. But it's just not graywarrior's point. What if they gain $300-$400 in salary, but lose $500 in food stamps and Medicaid for the children? That's just a much bigger hole. Whether that would happen is unclear. I think the min wage is so low that what you envision is possible: they can increase take home pay AND keep their benefits because they will still (big sigh) be living in poverty. But if not....?

[jwirr]

13. Some are too low but it will happen to that worker who is

making just below the cut off for food stamps and medicaid. I have worked with disabled workers who make just a little too much money on minimum wage jobs and they lose their medical assistance. For them that is tragic. I think the level for medicaid in our state is $700. If you make even $1.00 over that you are off.

This also happens for the elderly when they get the annual cola raise. Medicare premiums go up, housing rent goes up and food stamps can also be lost.

I think we need to raise the minimum wage but we should be prepared for those are going to slip through the cracks. Those who will be hurt instead of helped. They are the reason we need a universal single payer health care program.

Also if Dems were to raise both the minimum wage and the level for medicaid they would find that they have helped both the working poor and those without health care insurance. Raising the level is one way of addressing the health care problem.

[BamaGirl]

6. Depends on the services

I think the minimum wage should be at least $15/hr and I live in east bum Alabama. But at $16/hr, my husband makes about 31k. There are five of us and we don't qualify for anything but school lunch reduction and WIC if our kids were young enough. If we didn't have insurance, the kids would also qualify for that. Actually right now he's activated and the Army pays a lot more so we don't qualify for anything, which is fine. I can pay for stuff now. That school lunch reduction on 31k makes a huge difference though. 1.75/day for three kids really adds up. Some stuff that really helps imo (kids healthcare, WIC, and school lunches) are definitely not gonna be effected unless the qualifying limits are lowered. Other stuff like food stamps and welfare I imagine will. When we aren't activated and there is no overtime I have to get really creative with my food budget. That's another program that needs a serious boost of money and the income limits have to be raised. If it's hard for me to do it here in Bama, how awful must it be for ppl in more expensive areas?

[EvolveOrConvolve]

8. I know that in Idaho

the cutoff for assistance is about $28K for a family with one child (I have one kid, so I know). Someone would have to earn about $14/hr to make $28K per year. I doubt the minimum wage will be increased to anywhere near $10/hr, so it's doubtful that minimum wage earners would become ineligible for any benefits.

If we raise the minimum wage to $8.50 per hour, the average minimum wage worker would earn approximately $17K per year, which would most likely qualify them for full benefits if they have a family. For those folks, a $3.35/hr raise means about $7,000 extra per year of expendable income and $35 billion added to the consumer economy (5 million MW workers X $7K).

[jwirr]

14. Are you saying that a family of 2 making $28K is eligible for

food stamps, medicaid, free hot lunches, WIC and other programs? If so all of us in other states want to move to Idaho.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

15. No!

Sorry, I didn't explain it very well. A family with one child stops receiving ANY benefits at about $28K per year. The amount of benefit goes up the lower your income, so someone making $25K with one child may receive SOME benefits, but not most (they'd probably get some WIC, reduced price school lunches, etc., but nothing else). My sister and her husband have 5 kids with about $40K per year in income, and they receive CHIP, WIC, ICCP (child care assistance), etc.

But trust me, you do NOT want to move to Idaho. Actually getting the benefits involves a 3-ring circus we like to call the Department of Health and Welfare. They make you jump through some serious hoops to get benefits. The Idaho Legislature (R-obviously) decided that instead of cutting the actual welfare budget, they'd cut the administrative and staffing budgets for H&W, making it very difficult to even figure out how to apply for or receive benefits because there's no one to help you through the process.

[jwirr]

16. Thanks. That is what I was trying to say also.

[rucky]

9. Isn't the purpose to bring people out of poverty?

:shrug:

[GreenPartyVoter]

10. Yes, but once you cross a certain line you lose services that your new income

cannot replace. I had this trouble this fall when a $6.75/hr temp job threatened to nudge me out of the medicaid zone. No way I can get family health insurance replacement on $6.75 an hour.

[sweetheart]

11. Well lets count it up

If we make a monthly minimum budget for an adult to live legally. I made this spreadsheet
working days per month: 22
cost/month
Rent 500
Food 200
Transport 200
medical ins. 300
Electricity
Heat
Clothes
medicines
Gas/car


per workday $54.55
per hour (40 hr) $6.82
per hour (50 hr) $5.45
per hour (60 hr) $4.55

If we count backwards from a cost of living viewpoint, its the only fair way to expect anyone
to survive on a wage, unless it can sensibly be costed.

Now here is with a more reasonable number set:
working days/month: 22
cost/month
Rent 500
Food 200
Transport 200
medical ins. 300
Electricity 50
Heat 50
Clothes 20
medicines 20
Gas/car 100

per workday $65.45
per hour (40 hr) $8.18
per hour (50 hr) $6.55
per hour (60 hr) $5.45

Clearly the objective is to pitch the minimum wage so that people
so infinite overtime and have no poltiical energy left to oppose or
have any sense of commuinity that makes them less 'flexible' labour.

If you think my numbers are wrong, blame excel, how can we expect people
to survive on wages where clearly they must have a backhand arrangement of
some sort clearly just to be getting by.

BTW, all those calculations do not consider any taxes taken out, so final
wage numbers for a living wage need to be adjusted that much higher, if
nothing else to finance the debt of waiting for the IRS to return the money
it steals from the working people every year.

[Sydnie]

12. I think it will just raise what the government considers the

poverty line to be.