Seattle passed a $15 minimum wage law in 2014. Here's how it's turned out so far

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Seattle's law, which gradually increases its minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2021 from just over $9 an hour in 2014, is now at the forefront of a national debate over the impacts of progressive wage increases.

It comes at a time when top Democratic presidential candidates like Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden are calling for a $15 per hour federal minimum wage as they try to appeal to working-class voters. The federal minimum wage is currently $7.25 an hour and has not been increased in over a decade.

Meanwhile, the Seattle law has been life changing for workers like Martin Johnson, who lobbied for higher pay with the advocacy group Working Washington. He works three minimum wage jobs — as a temporary cook on game days at the city's stadiums, as a janitor at Costco on the overnight shift and as a handyman in his own small business. The raise brought with it more dignity for workers and boosted morale, he said.

Another from researchers at the University of California, Berkeley released in 2018 found that the wage hikes increased pay and have not led to job losses. The Berkeley and Washington studies measured different groups of workers, with varying results.

 

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Wonder how 15 per hr work... let’s say in Niland CA, Florence AZ, Hurley NM, or any of 20000 off highway towns?

The job losing effect cannot be fully accessed until in the next recession. When the labor market is tight, the free-market will cause the increase in wages anyway.

$15/hr is a joke unless U live in the city's poverty area...

Amazon still killing us though

Democrats ruin beautiful cities

Beautiful city! I visited one time. Great cup of jo, nice trip to the seafood market, space needle was a blast, and amazing soccer fans...

“Instead of being paid $9 an hour, you’re getting $15 an hour to do the same work.” This is the definition of inflation. More wages , the same productivity.........

alwayschoice RichmondFed inc MinimumWageInfo i,,receive i,,route i,,access domain jurisdictions vary smart people office PayNews markets 'product' $mgmt accesses live off which .ext VT_cosmetics registry i,,file actual value not easily replaced expertisematter outlook

Rather income effect.

Substitution effect writ large.

lorakolodny This part says it all about pay failing to keep up

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Minimum wage is a false construct. Why do you think jobs/factories went overseas?

Unintended effects. One would thing CNBC reporters would know at least basic math and economics

National minimum wage makes no sense. Rural Kansas and San Francisco have no business having the same minimum wage.

Many low level jobs especially in the service industries are second jobs because no one can live on that amount of pay. That is why you have people cutting back on hours when the hourly rates are increased.

Heck, let’s just make it $500/hr. That way we can totally eliminate any entry-level jobs.

Now analyze rent increases 🙄

Hint: Seattle metro area unemployment rate 2.2%

Well the increase will promote... Automation threatening 25% of jobs in the US, especially the 'boring&repetitive' ones:Brookings study 1/4 of American jobs are at a high risk of automation.The disruption will hit certain people harder than others, including low-wage earners& men

Minimum wage is a false construct that creates global imbalances.

Oh those pesky unintended consequences.

There is no debate. There is historical data, you increase minimum wage, you increase economic activity. No debate. Just reading.

So there's basically one example of min wage increase working but his business failed.😑 Stop subsidizing sports stadiums. Stop giving companies tax breaks. Stop being corrupt with the funds. All prices should go up, except wages?! FOH!

What a challenge. I fear that if everyone raises eages it’d tank the economy but luckily, there are cheap states right next to washington where the inflation can be exported. If washington stays at $15 an hour for a decade or so.Wages will catch up to them and things will balance

I’d like to see a studt on the effects to the public sector. I’m a Firefighter in a Kentucky. Been a firefighter for almost 10 years. I know the majority of our department or city employees for that matter do not make $15 an hour. Would love to see the effect on city budgets

Bad. It’s been very very bad.

My view is raising the minimum wage doesnt fix the problem of affordable living. People are just able to afford stuff at a higher price thereby keeping the housing prices from decreasing. If anything a higher minimum wage means the governments have more tax money to spend.

Just ask the South why they wanted to keep slavery, cheap labor. Cheap labor means big profits just ask Wal-Mart family.

It should be $20 per hour maybe the major 69 corporations that paid No taxes could pay for it. Noooo! Corporate welfare gooood! Citizen welfare baaaad!

Ah, so actual research shows it's harmful to business and workers, then a leftist college puts out biased research saying $15 min wage is working great. So leftists then get to say 'there's no consensus among economists.' Gotcha.

The workers got lazy, who'd have guessed. The prices got jacked up, but can you guess what prices didn't get jacked up?

City is a homeless dump hole that is overrun by Antifa. Working great up there🤣🤣

Very interesting article, great info

You need 100 bucks a hour just so you can pay taxes

Once again, I believe it is hubris to think that we are controlling our economy, and using metrics over short time frames substantiates my thinking.

Many small Businesses moved out of Seattle to nearby cities. I am one of those small business owner.

Why not $100/hr?

As clear as muddy water

They didn’t even interviee anyone who paid their employees minimum wage. 😂😂

When we people learn that labor is your biggest expense. People do not start businesses to employ other people but to make money. There is nothing wrong with that.

i work in a seattle bldg owned by ultraliberal universiy of washington, within weeks of this law passing they automated their parking lots and laid off the attendants . . .

Unlike the headline This article does not define whether it's a success or failure.

Matthew Dillon, owner of Sitka & Spruce, says that he believes the minimum wage should be much higher than $15 an hour . . . But when his lease came up, the James Beard Award-winning chef decided it was time to close his doors after more than a decade in business,

No surprise that as a result youth unemployment is over 20% there 🤦🏿‍♂️.

There is a long established consensus-- even among Economists, that price floors and ceilings have the opposite effect (in isolation) of what is intended.

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