Minimum Wage Increase In Oregon Did Not Cost Jobs

http://www.laborradio.org/node/4998

Minimum Wage Increase In Oregon Did Not Cost Jobs

Four years ago the state of Oregon set its minimum wage to increase each year along with the cost-of-living. Jesse Russell takes a look at the impact:

As the new year dawned Oregon’s minimum wage workers saw a .30 cent increase in their paychecks. In 2002 Oregonians approved a ballot measure that required the state’s minimum wage to keep pace with inflation - that automatically bumped it up to $7.80 this year. A report released this week by the Oregon Center for Public Policy suggests that opponents of the measure, who claimed nearly 30,000 jobs would be lost if the wage increase passed, have been proven wrong. The report finds that Oregon’s job growth is 11th fastest in the nation with restaurant jobs increasing by 13.5 percent. The Oregon Restaurant Association has been one of the loudest critics of the measure. The state has also bucked a national trend where agriculture jobs have dropped by 15 percent nationally over the past four years. Oregon has seen an increase of one percent. Report author Michael Leachman:

: "Despite the doomsday predictions from minimum wage opponents, Oregon's annual cost-of-living adjustments have gone hand-in-hand with solid job growth."

An estimated one hundred thousand workers in the state of nearly 3.5 million earn the minimum.

And it is indexed here.

I lived in a Portland neighborhood with a lot of restaurants (a LOT of restaurants), and before the minimum wage was passed, most of them offered $5.00 lunch specials.

After the minimum wage increase passed, with the unions successfully fighting off an attempt to exempt restaurant workers from the minimum wage, the price of the lunch specials skyrocketed to....$6.00. It certainly didn't stop me from eating out, and it was beneficial to the restaurant workers.

(I haven't been back since 2003, so I don't know what the lunch specials cost now.)

Everything in America is trucked. All restaurants get their food supplies delivered by a delivery truck. The costs of getting goods delivered in America has sky rocketed since Bush* came to power. I would venture a bet that the lunch specials have risen in almost every state whether minimum wage went up or not...

the minimum wage in Ohio. I don't remember the exact numbers but they had an example of a family of 4 currently on minimum wage. The best I remember they currently get $340 in food stamps and they will be reduced to to $260. In addition to that they would now have to pay a $60 co-pay for emergency room visits and the parents would lose their health coverage. I don't know if it's the State or the Federal government that is responsible for this injustice but it needs addressed. I personally have witnessed this, my brother a few years ago was working a job that didn't pay very well and was receiving food stamps. He worked overtime for a while thinking he would get caught up on the bills and then they stopped his food stamps he was getting about $280 at the time. Then the overtime dried up and he ended up getting behind on his rent and having his electric shut off before he could get back on the food stamps. You are actually penalized for working overtime or finding a better paying job. He eventually got a divorce because of all his money problems trying to raise two children on a low income with wife that refused to work.

This state requires a maximum $1500 in assets before they'll allow anyone Medicaid. That dollar amount hasn't been raised in DECADES.

In Oregon, Medicaid eligibility is dependent on percent of federal poverty level. Back in the late 90s, I was a budget analyst for the Oregon Medicaid program, and we explored whether increasing the Oregon minimum wage would have an impact on the number of people eligible for Medicaid. There was ABSOLUTELY no research indicating that raising the minimum wage affected anything significant (including unemployment). The best we could tell, using salary reports from the employment department, a few DOZEN individuals might be affected between January, when the minimum wage rose, and April, when the federal poverty level would rise at approximately the same percentage. As I said, I can't speak to food stamp eligibility, and I know just a little about TANF (cash assistance). As another poster mentioned, income and asset eligibility levels for TANF haven't changed in years because of state budget problems.

BTW, after Oregon started raising its minimum wage in 1997, we did look at patterns of Medicaid eligibility and statistically could see no effects linked to minimum wage hikes. The increases in the federal poverty level did seem to have a slight effect every April and May.

All the two bit sky is falling economists in the country need to learn a little HISTORY.

The only time anyone wanted a rollback in wages was during the worst part of the Depression, and that didn't get anywhere.

It's amazing to hear them all shriek bloody murder until the increase has passed, then fall into stony silence as the economy IMPROVES.

I'd be loath to give Stupid a better economy, but I am confident he will veto any clean bill that crosses his desk. He wants the inheritance tax abolished before ordinary people get a break.

I have seen the minimum wage go up from the $1.10 an hour I earned in the early 60's quite a few times, and every damn time Congress went for a hike, the same song and dance routine was trotted out by the corporate shills.

These people would like slavery to be brought back, if they could get away with it. It is a red herring, and deserves no real debate.

:eyes:

I hear that argument.

:D

why wouldn't it also hurt the economy to give corporate execs such obscene raises and bonuses? They can't have it both ways.

when it comes to corporate executive salaries and perks.

It takes x number of people to keep McDonald's open for y hours per week. If those people make $5.15 or $8.00, still takes x of them to keep the store open.

DUH.

-- I say this as a staffing VP with almost 30 years in the "biz", which includes more than a few recessions, btw. In fact, raising the minimum wage creates jobs.

Overtime pay becomes more expensive for your base amployees so you HIRE MORE people to alleviate the cost. overtime pay laws are not just nice for the worker--they are social/workplace engineering at its best. Increasing OT costs -- regardless of the minimum wage-- tell Mister Employer that he needs more employees. Even an enterpreneur with a 12th grade education--and there are more of them out here than you'd think-- can figure this out.

The "small biz owner" got a 100,000 tax CREDIT for "work" trucks and SUVs in the past two years, massive cuts in their personal taxes, and--not entirely their own faults--dropped health insurance premiums for MILLIONS of American employees.

They need to STHU & just bag it. The trough is closed. If your biz can't survive while paying 28O whopping dollars per WEEK, GROSS, to each full-time employee, well, sorry: you stink, your biz stinks, and your training and selection skills stink as well.

If they want to lobby for their own interests, fine. How 'bout SINGE PAYER HEALTHCARE?

This is just like the "debate" over FMLA in the 80's. Yeah. Implementing FMLA really crashed the economy.

But here's one example that's close to home here in Wisconsin.

Culver's, a regional fast-food restaurant, has a CEO who firmly believes that higher wages attract better employees. He pays his people more and he also advocates a high minimum wage (even though this would cause him to pay even higher wages to stay competetive in the marketplace)

And during the past six years, Culver's as a business has triplied from 100 locations to 300. It's been one of the fastest growing restaurant chains in the country, and it's done it while paying its employees premium wages.

(there's tons of OT, often unexpected,in document production) and had the best bar none. We offered a low-cost group health plan, paid holidays, vacation pay, completion bonuses, and above all we were open, honest, and available to our employees and clients.

Employee recruitment and business deveopment was also NEVER a problem. When you're the best, word gets out--fast!

Our co. didn't gouge on billing but we made out like bandits anyway. Clients will pay for good service that's reliably delivered.

Good times, good times.

"If I could possibly pay you less without going to jail, I would"

Not exactly the sort of thing that inspires loyalty in your staff!

also the one that says tax cut increase revenue
fuzzy math all around

it means nothing. There are a few different ways the minimum wage can damage the economy.

If someone finds those and they haven't risen either, I'll eat crow. That said, I predict the minimum wage will force the price of crow up too high for me to do this.

so there is no way to lose 30,000 jobs. Even McDonalds
pays more than the minimum wage since they can't find
good steady workers.

But anyway, the job losses will not happen overnight
if they happen. It will be in places like restaurants
where fewer customers show up and eventually will have
to trim staff.

All the fast food and retail jobs pay minimum wage in Florence. We haven't had one restaurant or hotel or rv park or bar close at all.

the minimum wage jumps up, NEVER RIGHT AWAY. It takes
that long before restaurants can confirm drop off in business.

My family has already reduced eating out from 5 to 6 times a month
to 3 or 4 times a month. Any further increase in 2007 and we will be
down to 2 or 3 times a month.

It's had no affect on any business that relies on service workers. Washington's minimum wage has been indexed since 1998, and like Oregon, even waitresses earn minimum wage. The result is that everybody does better, so more people can eat out. I haven't noticed any substantial increase in restaurant prices in the last 5 years, a dollar or so at most. This is just not a problem.

Last few months we have noticed 10 to 15% increases in
the eateries we frequent.

Gas prices have caused transportation to go up, which makes the cost of goods go up. In addition, the price of power in general has gone up. Not every price increase is directly related to labor. Sole proprietors are my clients and every one of them is complaining about gas prices, occasionally health insurance, never wages.