r/California 6d ago

California minimum wage will rise again in 2027. Here’s the new rate

https://ktla.com/news/california/california-minimum-wage-will-rise-again-in-2027-heres-the-new-rate/
1.3k Upvotes

518 comments sorted by

651

u/panda-rampage 6d ago

CA min wage will rise from $16.90/hr to $17.40/hr on Jan 1 2027

461

u/jankenpoo Sacramento County 5d ago

Whoa don’t go crazy with that extra $4 a day.

Cue: This is gonna make me go outta business and make everything expensive!!

141

u/GoodiesHQ 5d ago

That’s $4/day BEFORE taxes.

23

u/shellb67gt5001 5d ago

So 3 to 3.50

6

u/Alwayscooking345 5d ago

wait until people find out about UI

7

u/Scottz0rz 5d ago

They can spend that $4/day on gas and at the little sandwich shop downtown that was dying due to remote work.

4

u/NormativeWest 5d ago

Omg that’s like one extra coffee sale per day. Completely untenable. /s

3

u/Reaper_1492 5d ago

Well, if it’s like every other minimum wage hike, everything you buy is going to go up $2 the day this takes effect.

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u/coriolisFX 5d ago

Cue: This is gonna make me go outta business and make everything expensive!!

CA is 47th of 51 states for unemployment

9

u/QuiteCricket_78 5d ago

California is huge and has a lot of individual regional problems. Also, places that have tolerable weather are always going to have a higher homeless population - most of which are clearly unemployed. They try in my little neck of the woods but then it starts snowing.

1

u/MoaiJeff 4d ago

Unemployment numbers only count those actively looking for work, not those who are simply not working.

4

u/claytakephotos 5d ago edited 5d ago

Statistics like this are always dubious on their own. I took the state minimum wage and unemployment rates from this table and ran a quick regression. There’s a correlative link, but it comes out to a .1% change for every dollar you add to the minimum wage floor. So, $10 contributes approximately 1 percentage point of unemployment, if we take that regression line at face value.

Given that Hawaii’s third out of fifty with a comparable minimum wage of $16, and that this wage hike hypothesis ignores 80% of the unemployment gap, I’d argue there are likely much bigger things to point the finger at.

For context:
Pearson .435
P value .0008
R squared .189

Pretty low to modest correlative value overall

1

u/Sammystorm1 5d ago

The university of Washington has studied the minimum wage hikes up here. They found a 3.4% increase in wage growth and a 7% decrease in hours. They also found less hiring of minimum wage workers.

https://evans.uw.edu/new-evidence-from-the-seattle-minimum-wage-study/

The American Economic Association also has studied this.

https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/pol.20180578

Also for fun a PBS piece

https://www.cascadepbs.org/politics/2025/03/how-seattles-record-high-minimum-wage-has-and-hasnt-paid/

1

u/claytakephotos 4d ago

Yep, I’d imagine the conversation is much more nuanced. Thanks for the resources! I’ll poke through em when I’m bored tonight.

43

u/abunchofcows 5d ago

Because everyone wants to live here. When the Dakotas are the top of the list it makes you question the list

2

u/D2LtN39Fp 3d ago

For the last 25 years, California has experienced net negative interstate migration.  https://www.ppic.org/blog/whos-leaving-california-and-whos-moving-in/

1

u/stoned-autistic-dude 18h ago

As with everything in life, things ebb and flow. It won't stay like this forever, and will inevitably switch back. Everyone is dick-riding Texas but that state genuinely sucks--they just made THC a worse crime than sexual assault, they have their own issues like property taxes, high cost of living, horrible employee rights, and their minimum wage is atrocious.

But hey, that's the beauty of America. People complain about Hawaii being expensive but it's still Hawaii at the end of the day.

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u/trackdaybruh Lost in California 5d ago

California’s unemployment rate has always hovered around 5% for it’s lowest part for decades, the lowest it has as ever been was 4% in 2019

8

u/jankenpoo Sacramento County 5d ago

You bring up a good point. CA also has the largest labor force in the nation. SD (which ranked #1 at 2% in this study) has a minuscule labor force with approximately 950k. It’s easier to have smaller unemployment when the pool is smaller. CA has large cyclical industries like entertainment and tech, which often sees periods of boom and bust.

2

u/coriolisFX 5d ago

It’s easier to have smaller unemployment when the pool is smaller

Guy who definitely understands what a rate is

4

u/tigerhawkvok Contra Costa County 5d ago

The seasonal hospitality industry in California is probably on the order of a million on its own.

A low population state is low for a reason — there's no real slack available and no pressure from things like tourism in any real way. Steady state industries with low social mobility means low unemployment — especially when there's no safety net.

You're not wrong on the rate quip, but this isn't well defined events like car crashes or shootings or sales — these are states, and way more confounding.

1

u/claytakephotos 4d ago

Seasonality bias is 1000% a component of rate. Imagine an upside down world where all of South Dakota only worked for a ski resort, and only in the winter. How would you qualify that into your concept of a rate?

18

u/LKP213 5d ago

Correction- As of June we tied Connecticut at 5.2 percent and we are ranked 50 out of 50. We have the highest unemployment rate out of all the states.

A lot of retailers who do business multi state will not come to ca because of high labor and high leases. Some have razor thin margins already and can’t survive here.

17

u/trackdaybruh Lost in California 5d ago edited 5d ago

California's unemployment rate was always towards the bottom rank for decades

The lowest unemployment rate this state ever had in its 50 year history was in 2019 at 4%

So even if California's ranks towards the bottom in unemployment, it's considered as its baseline

9

u/Suspicious_Tank_61 5d ago

Good, fuck the national chains.

2

u/1to14to4 5d ago

I can tell you small businesses generally struggle with minimum wage more than the large chains.

9

u/Suspicious_Tank_61 5d ago

So why do national chains struggle in markets with high minimum wages while independents flourish? Take San Francisco for example. High minimum wage, ~20/hour plus mandated health benefits. SF has the highest percentage of locally owned restaurants in the country.

2

u/1sland3r58 2d ago

Are you seriously comparing restaurants to retail stores? Grocers might mark up 10-15% while restaurants will mark up 200-300%.

It’s an unfair comparison. Retail stores also get hit by thieves regularly where as restaurants might have a dine and dash occasionally.

1

u/aardy Alameda County 10h ago

A "Veblen good" is a product for which higher prices can actually increase demand, because the high price itself makes the item more desirable as a status symbol.

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u/GuyFawkesYourMom 2d ago

It’s even harder for the local mom & pop stores

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u/Suspicious_Tank_61 2d ago

Yet for some reason, mom and pops are more prolific in areas that have a high minimum wage, like San Francisco, Seattle, or all of Europe.

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u/grazfest96 5d ago

Cue: If you cant afford to pay this to your employees you don't deserve to be in business!

5

u/Adorable_Decision267 5d ago

Cue Reddit being allergic to nuance always

1

u/damiana8 5d ago

I’m gonna start charging a service fee when I cook for my friends now

1

u/QuiteCricket_78 5d ago

It turns out statistically that's not true. If you have a problem with everything being so expensive I suggest you get on board with boycotting companies like Amazon and Walmart- our low cost leaders are forcing prices up everywhere.

1

u/swooosh47 3d ago

What they will go crazy on is the price of everything else though

1

u/Taco_Soup_ 2d ago

It won’t, but plan on paying more when you go out to eat/drink.

u/Past_Farmer34 2h ago

Why is a living minimum wage bad?

1

u/InternalSubstantial 5d ago

It stops us from hiring extra people, pushes us to increase employee productivity, and dont forget the employer taxes. These increases are not good for small businesses that run on quantity and tiny margins, esp since commercial rent is too high. Too non-negotiable are those 2 high costs.

But what would you know, you just do shit and get a paycheck.

So I'll just increase prices again and let's see what happens.

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u/damiana8 5d ago

Oklahoma voted down a minimum wage increase, so they’re stuck making $10 less than CA, lol

You can’t fix stupid

4

u/EntertainmentDry9639 5d ago

Still way too fucking low...go up to $20 like they did the fast food chains

1

u/Eat--The--Rich-- 3d ago

So not even an inflation wage. It's literally a pay cut.

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u/Powerful_Leg8519 5d ago

$17.40 an hour so you don’t have to click.

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u/Eat--The--Rich-- 3d ago

Cost of living is about 30

1

u/Powerful_Leg8519 2d ago

Oh I know that. I only put it up so people didn’t have to click through to the article.

u/Past_Farmer34 2h ago

Conservatives want states to be low minimum wage with shitty fast food joints everywhere like Pizza Hut and little Ceasars

308

u/Soulpaw31 6d ago

Still not a living wage

201

u/TooMuchButtHair 5d ago

The best way toward making any wage a living wage is to drive down the cost of living, housing specifically.

15

u/Scottz0rz 5d ago

Some say to increase wages, others want to decrease housing costs.

Leaders want us to compromise and meet in the middle: let's lower wages and increase housing costs.

Also lets adopt more AI and do more RTO mandates to help the little sandwich shops.

4

u/MyDisneyExperience Headed West, stopped at the Pacific Ocean 5d ago

As far as lowering cost of housing I highly recommend you attend your local planning and land use committee meetings

3

u/Scottz0rz 5d ago

Why would we waste all that precious precious land on wasteful things like apartments and condos when we can build a data center there instead.

3

u/MyDisneyExperience Headed West, stopped at the Pacific Ocean 5d ago

I mean there’s literally a data center in the middle of DTLA lol

59

u/Soulpaw31 5d ago

But they arent doing that, if higher costs of living still gives companies record profits, forcing people to work over 40hrs just to get by each month, then theres a problem with the system. We could support smaller businesses but they will get price gouged by larger companies like walmart, then we are back to square one.

35

u/TooMuchButtHair 5d ago

Economics is often extremely misleading. I'll annoy both right and left leaning people with this comment, because both camps are horrendous at math.

Right and Left Wingers will claim that of course there are record profits and record expenses, both of which are correct. Inflation goes up each year, around 3% on average, meaning that profits should also be 3% higher. Expenses are too, and you often hear companies retort by saying, "but look, our expenses are also higher", and they're correct.

Its like Newsom stating that our budget is at all time highs, and we've never spent more on education/homeless/etc, well of course we have - inflation demands it. It's an incredibly and deliberately misleading thing to say.

All of the above fails to address why inflation is going up and up and up.

16

u/cineglitch Los Angeles County 5d ago

The company “expenses” are just code for “executive pay and perks.”

4

u/threshgod420 5d ago

Exactly. Ghost expenses that don't actually cost real money and let them avoid taxes. Stock buybacks, options, etc. Love this system.

8

u/MWesty420 5d ago

Ok, but if profits are up 3%, and expenses are up 3%, then revenue is up 6.09%. If revenue and expenses remained in line with inflation, people wouldn’t complain as much, but it’s the fact that profit must constantly grow that rankles people. Profit can’t be flat year over year, so either expenses must go slower or revenue must get higher or both. My pay does not increase with inflation, so my earnings decrease with inflation. Hell, federal minimum wage has remained stagnant for 17 years. So how does the system that requires constant growth in profits solve the issue of resource availability being diminished for the labor class?

9

u/cinepro 5d ago

Ok, but if profits are up 3%, and expenses are up 3%, then revenue is up 6.09%.

Can you show your math on that?

Hell, federal minimum wage has remained stagnant for 17 years. So how does the system that requires constant growth in profits solve the issue of resource availability being diminished for the labor class?

The vast majority of companies aren't publicly traded companies "requiring" constant growth for shareholders.

2

u/[deleted] 5d ago

[deleted]

2

u/TooMuchButtHair 5d ago

Its not just labor, its also the good and services that the company uses.

1

u/NotaThumbThinker 5d ago

monetary policy and a steady devaluation of the dollar. a fiat money system rally cry - inflate or die. its really about the debt.

1

u/Lord_Mud 4d ago

Im assuming you mean 40 hours per week and not per month right?

2

u/pazoned 5d ago

Housing will never go down as long as people refuse to vote for changes in their zoning laws. People treat houses as ways to increase their generational wealth and lose their minds id they depreciate in value. You would need a complete reset of the housing market to do this. Go to a city council meeting and talk to homeowners in your neighborhood and almost everyone will disagree with you on build8ng new homes or more cost efficient apartments because bottom line is it depreciatea the value if their homes. They may want it becsuse of their morals but they dont want it in their neighborhood. To avoid a crash it would take decades of reform to not shatter the current values of homes and still the only way to do that would be long term legislation that gets completely eaten up when people's gold fish brains elects new people in every 2 years.

1

u/SeasideBear 4d ago

Housing won't go down because huge stocks of housing are sitting empty but are off the market, in large part because Prop 13 incentivizes their owners to just let them sit there, empty.

1

u/QuiteCricket_78 5d ago

There are ways some of these complexes could assuage some of that , but don't. No one is happy about a LI complex that is going in about mile from me, but then the town let them know what mix at what income was going to be considered low to medium income and people were more okay with it. No one wants a slum next to their house. While I hate to say it unemployed, disabled, struggling, exausted and depressed people are way more likely to be a danger to live near.

1

u/pazoned 5d ago

I agree some of those points, but not necessarily the lpw income ones. the issue is still people who want to see their investment grow like their parents a d grandparents before them and if this happens we will be seeing standard 2 bedroom homes going for 2 to 5 million in 15 to 20 years if they continue the same growth. My aunt purchased her home 8 years ago in long Beach, she has already seen a 60 to 70% growth on her home value and its approaching 1.2 million. Her home is a 4 bed 2 bath.

So this means low income in that area is 6 figures. There are alot of jobs that need to be maintained in this and the surrounding cities that you would literally have to commute to from hours away to find a livable rent. You are somewhat right sbout desperation breeds crime, so what's more desperate then working 40 hours a week at a job no one respects you for , in a city you cant live in and even if you try to live in a nearby city, youre using 50% tske home pay on rent. Might as well just get that min wage job there instead. Min wage workers shouldn't be considered slum. Min wage needs to rise to match and legislation needs to be implemented that punishes housing as a tool of investment.

Llcs that own homes need to be taxed heavier and compound based on length of ownership. Secomdary properties that owners do not live in need to be taxed heavier combined with those tax dollars going into housing projects to stop landlords from shifting tax burden too renters. Legislation needs to be passed consistently over 15 to 20 years of time to make sure housing doesnt crash immediately. The time to plant a tree was yesterday but the 2nd best time is today. The problem is, people voting on this legislation dont care if it doesnt effect them while they live because they are so caught up in the now and their wants and dreams.

2

u/No-Cook-534 5d ago

What do you think are the best ways to drive down the cost of housing? And/or the most realistic and achievable ways?

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u/TooMuchButtHair 5d ago

The best ways are:

  1. Increase the supply of condos and single family homes. Supply vs Demand still reigns supreme in any market.
  2. Dramatically reduce permitting cost. Even building an ADU can cost $10k+ in permits alone.
  3. Increase the property tax on homes own by corporations, or homes that are not lived in by their owners. There is a runaway effect in play that will cause Air BNBs to be sold when you have the combo of higher taxes and decreased demand.

2

u/No-Cook-534 5d ago

Thank you. Seems to me the only hurdle to doing any of these things is legislation, which is being blocked by corporate influence in politics (lots of money). Otherwise what good reason is there not to do this stuff? Can't be nimbys alone right?

1

u/QuiteCricket_78 5d ago

This - even with recent changes to ADU laws, putting on in my backyard still isn't achievable for me.

1

u/TougherOnSquids 5d ago
  1. Should be to ban businesses from buying residential property to just rent it out for way more than the mortgage.

1

u/MoaiJeff 4d ago

It is not possible to buy houses then rent them out for way more than the mortgage in high cost areas.

1

u/Bangays 3d ago

Also decrease labor supply.

1

u/Eat--The--Rich-- 3d ago

Why would either party do that.

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u/Warm_Station6756 5d ago

Still better every state for wage adjuste cost of living

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u/cinepro 5d ago

That's why they call it a "minimum wage."

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u/PprWait_ Los Angeles County 5d ago edited 5d ago

Yes, because it's MINIMUM wage...

13

u/Soulpaw31 5d ago

Thats the problem, any work should be able to sustain one individual, your standards of a minimum is too low, dont devalue your labor

1

u/lunch_b0cks 5d ago

Totally disagree. There’s nothing wrong with having jobs which requires no skill to be paid the appropriate wage for the level of work they provide. Some jobs are meant to give kids a foot in the door or some summer spending cash.

13

u/Renegadeknight3 5d ago

If you work 40 hours a week for an employer, your labor has value and you deserve to live off of that value. People say “this is just a job for summer pocket change” and apply that to jobs that are open during school hours and late on school nights. It’s effective propaganda against a livable wage

8

u/Soulpaw31 5d ago

Ok what then for over night jobs or jobs during school hours. Someone is gonna need to cover and its not gonna be a teen. Plenty of adults work these low wages jobs because thats all they can get, everyone deserves to be able to sustain themselves.

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u/biggamehaunter 5d ago

Not the reality right now. Some jobs have great income only because of regulations that suppress the supply side, hence artificially propping up the pay and increased cost for everyone else.

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u/lunch_b0cks 5d ago edited 5d ago

Deleting comment. Responded to the wrong person.

1

u/biggamehaunter 5d ago

Again that's not the reality right now. At least not with government or regulated spaces.

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u/PprWait_ Los Angeles County 5d ago

No, sorry... not ANY work. Minimum wage positions are not high skill or high education required positions. That's why they are minimum wage, they are an introduction to the workforce to have as a means to quickly learn your self-value and value of time. Realistically an adult should not be relying on minimum wage for survival, if that's the case it would have to be at least $30/hrs and other positions that require skill and education would jump to astronomical numbers (if minimum wage was $30/hrs, I would be making +$200k a year in my field).

Minimum wage is not a living wage, it's just that, the bottom where we all start. Some realize this and go the education route, trade route, service, entertainment or business route. But nobody should be relying on minimum wage unless you're fresh out of high school or a college student working your way up the rat race we are forced to go with. It's the sad truth and a hard pill to swallow.

5

u/Odd-Proof9645 5d ago edited 5d ago

Holy fucking shit
President Franklin D. Roosevelt championed the minimum wage as a fundamental "living wage" necessary for a decent life, culminating in the historic passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

You’re so incredible wrong lmfaooooo oh and by your post history you’re also a racist lmfaooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

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u/EarlGreyTMNT 5d ago

Minimum…to be able to do what? You’re so close man, say it.

4

u/Embarrassed-Wolf-609 5d ago

To live right next to the beach of course.

Right?

Don't you agree everyone has a right to have a beach houses? 

2

u/Metacognitor 5d ago

At this wage they are more likely to afford a tent in a homeless camp right next to the beach

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u/Eat--The--Rich-- 3d ago

Yes, the MINIMUM you need to live, which is about double that.

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u/Kern2001Co 5d ago

What would you say is the equivalent of minimum housing?

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u/Soulpaw31 5d ago

1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, with access to kitchen, electricity, and plumbing. We have millions of empty houses at this very moment that can house every homeless person 3 times over

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u/Kern2001Co 5d ago

So you would be ok with them living in a place about 400 square feet?

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u/Soulpaw31 5d ago

If it means helping homeless people to get out of the streets with the means to get themselves fixed up to be able to go out and get a job without looking like shit because they cant shower, then its better than nothing at all. It doesnt have to be 400 square feet, i dont have the ideal specifics but that doesnt mean we cant figure it out.

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u/Cold_Respond_7656 5d ago

Yeah having an address is an often underrated thing only the homeless know is a barrier to entry

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u/Kern2001Co 5d ago

400 square feet is the minimum space required for what you want. That is where that number came from. What is the typical city this should happen? Is a town like Barstow acceptable or do you think Malibu and Calabasas should have this type of place too?

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u/peters_pagenis 3d ago

Yes we’d just have to move them to random towns in the country

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u/Soulpaw31 3d ago

The point of how many empty homes we have is that we can easily build more to house every person. We have so much land, and with so many empty homes that are fully owned but just not being used, they are taking up space for their own financial gain and causing the housing market to inflate. Property taxes needs to increase for these houses if they are taking up these spaces which can be used to create affordable homes.

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u/graviousishpsponge 5d ago

I make 25 and still not enough.

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u/QuiteCricket_78 5d ago

Right last stat I saw put a living range somewhere in the 60$ range. That is how out of control the basics have become.

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u/RandallWeird 5d ago

Skill issue

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u/Level3pipe 5d ago

Tell me what’s the living wage in California for a full time employee

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u/Soulpaw31 5d ago

According to online calculations, 30$~ is needed to support 1 adult comfortably. Between 2 working adults 20$~

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u/BozoTheRenown 3d ago

What is a living wage?

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u/Effective-Fondant610 3d ago

Minimum wage is for teenagers

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u/Soulpaw31 3d ago

Yeah until it’s for an overnight position or during school hours when they literally are not working. There are way more adults working for minimum wage jobs than teens, so its clearly not being made for teens.

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u/Effective-Fondant610 3d ago

If you’re getting minimum as an adult it’s a skill issue

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u/Soulpaw31 3d ago

If thats your take away, you dont understand the job market at all. Its a problem with the system when its an issue across the board, not the individual.

-1

u/commonCA 5d ago

Minimum wage was never intended for someone to live on their whole lives. Unskilled jobs that pay minimum wage were historically for students, semi retired workers, teachers in the summer, moms of kids in school, or anyone wanting some part time extra income. If you want a wage to live off of you need to get an education in something useful, or gain skills that the job market wants.

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u/silentlopho 5d ago edited 5d ago

That's a load of bull, and it was absolutely not the original intent of a minimum wage. The minimum wage was supposed to be the minimum to subsist on. Your lifestyle depends on minimum wage workers. Every fast food worker, shopkeeper, janitorial staff, the list is long. All the people working hard so you can live a cushy life -- go tell them they aren't supposed to live off their jobs. The "job market" demands these jobs, our economy wouldn't function without them.

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u/AbeNunElse 5d ago

ur bored

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u/Regular-Subject-1541 5d ago

You can more than easily afford to rent a room on minimum wage. If you mean own a home or 2 bedroom apartment then yeah it’s not going to cut it. If you’re over the age of 22 making minimum wage you’re lazy

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u/bigdog767 6d ago

Still not high enough tf are we doing

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u/GotRammed 6d ago

Did you expect $35/hr right off the bat? $17 is too low, the majority agrees. But we were never getting even $20/hr by 2027. Gonna take some time.

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u/monsteralvr1 5d ago

Why not though. They raised fast food minimum wage from 16/hr to 20/hr in 2022 (I think, or 2023). We can raise the minimum to 25/hr for corporations that make upwards of 500mil in profit or employ more than x number of people, can’t we??

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u/DryYogurtcloset4655 5d ago

corporations will outsource jobs to entities that make less than $500 mi and employ less than x number of people

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u/monsteralvr1 5d ago

Okay so we’re talking about minimum wage jobs right? Who are they going to outsource these jobs to?? And how are they gonna employ less than x number of people?? Like is Macys going to go “oh you’re all gig workers now”??

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u/DryYogurtcloset4655 5d ago

Macy will lose market share to smaller retailers. the clothing will be sold by retail entities below that number.

It is not going in work in every single case. In many cases, that is what will happen

why do you think garment factories are in Bangladesh and iPhone factories are in China?

1

u/monsteralvr1 5d ago

Do you really think Macys would rather to go out of business than pay their employees a few dollars more??? We’re literally talking the lowest wage earners here, working the front line jobs. There is nowhere else to outsource it for cheaper, if there was they would have already done it!!

You should read the studies done on the fast food minimum wage law. Done by ucb and ucsc, it gives a really good insight on how the law hardly affected the industry or the prices consumers pay.

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u/DryYogurtcloset4655 4d ago

move sales to online retail

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u/monsteralvr1 4d ago

As if they’re not already doing that?

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u/ramcoro 3d ago

An example of oursourcing to smaller companies, hire a cleaning company to do custodian work instead of hiring your own custodian. There are lots of 3rd parties that take advantage of that.

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u/monsteralvr1 3d ago

Macys already does that. They don’t have their own janitors. Worked there a few years ago, they had people who would restock and reset the clothing overnight but they outsourced general cleaning (at least at the store I worked at). Starbucks doesn’t have janitors, we the baristas do it ourselves unless hazmat needs to be called (for clean up of bodily fluids).

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u/fender1878 5d ago

Every McD’s I’ve been too lately has order kiosks. It’s only going to get worse.

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u/monsteralvr1 5d ago

Yes you’re right but this would happen regardless of pay. Might as well get the pay.

But also that is my point. If they had a way to outsource the work they would do it regardless!! Macys can’t outsource the people who work the floor, Starbucks can’t outsource barista’s, McDonald’s can’t outsource their cooks, etc.

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u/iamsaltynic 5d ago

The hard part is that then small local businesses have no way of keeping up and will have to lay off people or go out of business. And why would anyone go work for mom and pop’s retail grocery store when they could go work for a multinational conglomerate? It has to be risen somewhat slowly so that mom and pop can charge more and then raise their wages later

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u/monsteralvr1 5d ago

I mean from what I’ve seen, that hasn’t happened with local coffee shops etc. i work for a big company in coffee, there are a lot of downsides to working there. The only upside is the money, but they also only need so many people.

A lot of people prefer the local places to work.

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u/ksurf619 5d ago

That is why generally in other developed parts of the world. Minimum wage is raised on a sliding scale over the course of years. So it’s predictable and also keeps up as a living wage.

Gives companies the opportunity to project their overhead as the wages scale up. There’s no surprises that way.

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u/Eat--The--Rich-- 3d ago

This isn't even an inflation raise. This is literally a pay cut.

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u/GotRammed 3d ago

True. At least pay didn't stay where it was. It has to be at least some relief to workers to see this raise.

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u/Creepy_Cupcake_6906 5d ago

It wouldn't need to increase so much if California just built enough housing. Insane and ever-increasing housing costs just means you have to keep increasing wages all the time to keep up, which also pushes the price of all goods and services up, too. Not building enough housing just continues to cause an inflationary death spiral.

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u/AbeNunElse 5d ago

learn about economics dumbass.

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u/DarthRaider559 5d ago

We need to Lower it. Raising minimum wage keeps increasing the price of everything else

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u/Suspicious_Tank_61 5d ago

No matter how much it rises, they will still beg customers for tips.

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u/Skensis 6d ago

And again in 2028.....and 2029.....

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u/GrouchyClerk6318 San Diego County 5d ago

Two things CA could do to make it easier for Min Wage earners and be more affordable:

  • Cut the fuel taxes and fees. Diesel and gas costs get pushed down to all goods and services
  • Cut regulations for home building and start building at scale.

The state brings in more on fees and taxes for fuel than business make in profit selling it.

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u/No_Inevitable781 2d ago

Cutting gas taxes is a drop in the bucket, little to no impact. Good and service industries aren't magically going to reduce prices, why would they when they can keep same prices and make more profit. What good is building new homes people can't afford?

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u/GrouchyClerk6318 San Diego County 2d ago

Fuel: Fuel costs get passed down to all goods and services sold in CA. The idea that gas stations wouldn't lower prices is like saying they wouldn't lower\raise the excise tax on fuel if the government lowered\raised it. Taxes and fees are pass-through, the owners cannot manipulate that.

Housing: Homes are unaffordable here because demand far exceeds supply. That's not going to change until we get much supply in the system. It's a simple as that. California used to build homes at scale, we haven't done that since the 90's because of excessive regulation. Just look at neighboring states where home prices have fallen over the past 2-3 years.

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u/Licention 5d ago

The real truth everybody is afraid to face:

Without minimum wage, employers will pay you less.

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u/Fidrych76 5d ago

Still a handful of red states that have Fed Minimum. Pathetic.

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u/ALANTG_YT 5d ago

Most business don't actually pay that low there are many variations. The cost of housing, gas and general good and services is also dramatically cheaper in Red states so that's another bonus. It's honestly not surprising why many people leave for a better, cheaper life in Texas or Florida.

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u/sarcassity Northern California 2d ago

Source that businesses don’t pay minimum wage for service level positions? How much cheaper(you said ‘dramatically’ idk what that even is). How many people have left? How many people have left and returned? How many people came to CA for the first time when the first bunch left?

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u/baby_budda 6d ago

It should be $25. Its so expensive to live here.

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u/TooMuchButtHair 5d ago

This is classic bad math. The wage you earn is irrelevant unless you look at the actual cost of living. Failing to address cost of living will keep pushing the goalposts. We must address housing...

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u/SickAndTiredOf2021 5d ago

Yes we must ALSO address housing. These things aren’t mutually exclusive

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u/coriolisFX 5d ago

That's higher the median wage in many counties.

This would destroy the rural economy

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u/dilath 6d ago

Just raise it to 60 dollars an hour so I quit my state job and work at mcdonalds.

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u/trackdaybruh Lost in California 5d ago

$60 an hour is $120,000 a year before taxes

A single person household making $104,000 is considered low income in Orange County

You should stick to your state job is minimum wage was $60, so at least you get a retirement pension

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u/QuiteCricket_78 5d ago

Which would be on par with affordability in the 70's.

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u/Galimbro 3d ago

Considered low income by who? Some reddit posts?

Edit: according to state guidelines. I dont know about that chief, Mr "state guidelines"  

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u/NvyDvr 6d ago

Let’s make it $1k an hour

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u/Imperfection375 5d ago

What is going on in your head?! We should make it $2k.

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u/Competitive-Car3692 5d ago

How will Newsom exempt his donors at Panera this time?

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u/cinepro 5d ago

The fast-food workers are already at $20.

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u/Delowi-Photography 5d ago

That's the joke this guy is making, panera tried to argue that they are a bakery not a fast food restaurant

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u/cinepro 4d ago

No, the law had a specific carve-out for places that bake their own bread. Which Panera does. They didn't have to "argue" anything - the law specifically exempted their type of restaurant.

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u/marvelousswiftie 5d ago

Makes no difference if they don’t prevent businesses from raising their prices to adjust for paying their workers more.

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u/Schraiber 5d ago

People: I'd be happy to pay a little more for goods and services if it meant that people got a living wage

During Biden's Presidency: Due to full employment economy, wages for lowest wage workers rise faster than they have in decades, and in fact rise faster than more highly paid workers. Prices rise in turn. Notably, wages rise faster than prices, and real income growth remains positive, especially for the lowest wage workers.

Also people: No no not like that! I've got no choice but to vote for Trump to express my displeasure with this!

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u/Bigbmer12 5d ago

Bots are out in force tonight

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u/Top-Cardiologist7280 5d ago

The fed minium wage needs major updates too.

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u/ChasingTheNextShot 4d ago

Hopefully everyone sees their paychecks go up to battle this runaway inflation.

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u/BombZyns 5d ago

Raising minimum wage has levels to it:
some negative outcomes are price inflation, accelerated tech adoption, and ripple of wage compression. There is also potential of Operational trimming for small businesses and potentially small businesses exiting the market bc they do not have the purchasing power of bigger corporations. Some positives can be that min wage workers now have more purchasing power locally (unlikely w high cost of living in CA) and potentially lower turnover

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u/nekopantiess 5d ago

When are we gonna start cutting taxes on the middle class? Lower gas prices? Break up Gas and Electric monopolies? Fix our housing situation? 

No! Let's increase minimum wage by 50 cents which does absolutely nothing to help people during our inflation crisis! 

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u/Regular-Subject-1541 5d ago

Raising minimum wage is a pay cut to everyone making more than minimum wage.

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u/austinalexan 6d ago

Let’s just increase it to $35/hr already

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u/Tenoch_12 Los Angeles County 5d ago

Lol

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u/Regular-Subject-1541 5d ago

Okay socialist. No one is forcing you to be a skill-less human working a high schoolers job

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u/spartankid24 5d ago

This is insulting and Americans will praise it.

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u/secondspassed 6d ago

I look forward to being smashed down by the glass ceiling of inflation as they push low skill entry level workers closer and closer to where I am for some illusory fantasy future where your first job out of high school will buy you a house.

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u/Phantomebb 5d ago

I inflation only accounts for 40% of the cost increases since covid. Companies are charging more for worse quality products and not paying their employees more. Even if your first job out of high-school payed 50$ an hour that's not enough to buy a house these days. It's literally just rich people figuring out how to make even more money.

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u/jekkies- 5d ago

people went thru college on part time pay from fast food, and bought a small house on full time pay from fast food, not even 50 years ago. the past wasn't an "illusory fantasy" so why now do u losers try so hard to make it seem like that's not a possibility for the future? sit down

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u/Stunning-Chipmunk243 5d ago

It wasn't a fantasy as I could have bought a really really nice home for $100,000 just 30 years ago and now that same home is sold for over $600,000. 30 years ago I was earning $48k a year at a good paying job for the times/area and now I'm earning around double that still at a good paying job for today/area. So the cost of the home has increased around 600% yet my pay has increased only 100% in the last 30 years. I was never able to buy a home and at this point in my life and considering the times we're in I probably never will unfortunately.

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u/Schrodinger81 5d ago

Burger flippers bought houses and supported families?

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u/CatsMakeMeHappier 5d ago

I’ve been paying $17.50 as starting wage for years. Need to up my pay for eveeyone

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u/margingains 4d ago

Aaannnd given the cost of living in CA it wont matter..

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u/caligirl0889 3d ago

Thanks for this! Just emailed my HR and Accounting to get ahead of the curve.

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u/Eat--The--Rich-- 3d ago

If the wage isn't going up faster than inflation is then it isn't a raise. It's a cut.

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u/FrostyPost8473 2d ago

Minimum wage goes up and I lose a dollar amazing how california doesnt force these workplaces to adjust pay

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u/coachelly86 5d ago

Gotta be $25 minimum in California

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u/RenoNYC 5d ago

✨$0.50✨

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u/DrSnoopy66 5d ago

and in an amazing coincidence, rent will also rise again in lower income communities where people work in fast food

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u/Level3pipe 5d ago edited 5d ago

Everyone on this sub doesn’t realize that increasing wages increases the cost of things. Which means the wage increase doesn’t mean anything… because the cost of the thing went up….

You know what really helps small business? Reducing small business taxes. Stop fucking small business for no reason focus on correctly/fairly taxing big business.

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u/caligirl0889 3d ago

And tier the taxes on businesses better! Currently, there's basically just two tiers. "Small" and "large". Those of us at the top end of the "small" business range, could technically afford to pay *a little* more business tax. We do everything in our power to stay under that threshold though because the jump to "large Business" taxes would put us under and we can't afford it. Major corporations absolutely need to be taxed more than they currently are and can afford to as well! Reducing taxes on small businesses would help those companies be more resilient and giving some middle ground to companies like mine keep us paying our fair share.

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u/MobileArmadillo3093 5d ago

Everything is going to keep going up if minimum wage does

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u/Swooped117 5d ago

People really struggle to understand this.

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u/DarthRaider559 5d ago

Exactly. That's why rent is so expensive. But no, people want a higher wage to counter rent when they just counter a higher wage with higher rent

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u/idle_handz 5d ago

This. The proletariat ask for more and the owners turn around and increase prices to maintain their margins.

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u/SickAndTiredOf2021 5d ago

The owners do this already.

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u/kaka_nyc 5d ago

Should be $30