Washington minimum wage to top $16 an hour next year (Seattle: to rent, how much)

[homesinseattle]

Article link here: https://www.seattleweekly.com/northw...our-next-year/

“Minimum wage workers in Washington will get a pay hike in January.

The state’s minimum wage will rise to $16.28 an hour starting Jan. 1, the Washington Department of Labor and Industries has announced.

That’s a 54-cent increase from the current hourly rate of $15.74, which is the highest of any state in the nation and more than double the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.

Meanwhile, some salaried workers and rideshare drivers could see their earnings rise from other state-required adjustments.

With the minimum wage, state law requires Labor and Industries to adjust it annually for inflation. It does so by using the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. It compared the index for August this year and in 2022.

Washington’s minimum wage applies to workers age 16 and older. Employers can pay 85% of the rate to 14- and 15-year-old employees, under state law.

Cities can set minimum wages higher than the state. Seattle, SeaTac and Tukwila do. Currently, Seattle’s is $18.69, SeaTac’s is $19.06, and Tukwila’s is $18.99, for most workers. Announcements of their respective 2024 rates are expected in the coming weeks.

Also in January, more salaried employees will become eligible for overtime pay. Washington law sets minimum salary thresholds below which all workers must be paid time-and-a-half for overtime hours.”

[rjshae]

I wonder how much of that increase is being wiped out by inflation? It was 4.7% in 2021 and 8% in 2022.

[MechAndy]

I am and have always been pro labor.
I do however have to wonder how many small shops are going to close down because of this?

A couple years ago it was about $13 for a small fry, a small drink and a BigMac at the local MacDonalds.
Given the time span and the increase in wage this simple meal might easily top $15 with the higher labor costs.
$13 was too rich for me to dine on crap food.
$15 would be insane.
To me that would mean well over $30 plus for the wife and I to get a decent fast food meal and those prices will only increase with fuel prices increasing.

I can’t be alone in thinking that this problem is not being properly handled.

[jabogitlu]

I don't know how else you would handle it, though. At full time hours, $11/hour would only gross you $22,880, maybe you net 85% of that (very conservatively) or $19,448, or $1,620 a month. If you rent a room ($900) that leaves you with $720 a month for everything else. Just impossible to live on a wage like that in Washington.

[StealthRabbit]

Rents are the killer.

But... Who, as a business owner can afford to hire a $16 someone they need to train to do everything. At least when I left home at age 16, I knew how to build houses, weld, repair cars, lay bricks, make and read engineering drawings, drive a tractor, and semi truck.. Today, I hire 18 yo who can do none of that, nor even run a net / tare scale to sell berries. Definitely not mature enough to drive or deal with customers.

I made $1/ hr and my rent was 3 weeks pay. So... I had 3 jobs. At 18 my wages jumped to $2.65 + night premium. But rent was still over 1/2 my paycheck. Gas was $0.19/ gal, and I had a daily commute of 66 miles. Rent was the killer for me. By age 19 I bought a house (for my disabled parents). I still had to rent...

Food?
Sleep?
College?
Those were all optional (if I could afford it).

[Transmition]

Any minimum wage job is not going to involve much training, it's why it is minimum wage. If you want skilled labor then you have to pay more. The teenagers mature enough to handle customers well are smart enough to find companies willing to pay more for that skill, and with unemployment so low there are quite a few out there. Advertising a job at minimum wage is not going to get you many applicants in western Washington, the cost of living is too high.

[TheTimidBlueBars]

Aren't most fast food jobs in major metros already paying $17+ these days? I've seen gas stations hiring cashiers for $20.

I guess in like Yakima or Othello the high minimum wage might be more noticeable than in the Seattle metro.

[Ruth4Truth]

What I don't understand about these minimum wage hikes is, what kind of ripple effect, if any, does it have on moderately skilled jobs? That new minimum wage will exceed what office admin assistants get at the UW and elsewhere. Those jobs pretty much require a college degree (or have a strong preference for that), and obviously, office skills, admin skills. Those jobs haven't been keeping pace with inflation. It's one thing to say that unskilled workers deserve at least a minimally livable wage. It's a whole other matter to consider that city and state government institutions would all suddenly have to increase the pay of all their staff jobs, potentially thousands of people in each setting. Where is that money supposed to come from?

I don't know about other government employers, schools, and private colleges, but I can tell you, that the UW's staff has already been through many rounds of cuts in the last 30-40 years. Staff positions initially were cut from full-time to 3/4 time to half time with each round of cuts. Then eventually in each dept., some staff positions were eliminated altogether, with those duties divided among remaining staff, which in some cases was only two people left to cover all the bases. And now maybe even those remaining jobs will get cut to part-time? How are people supposed to make a living? Those jobs never paid enough to cover living expenses even when the cuts first began. Many staff either did without a car, and used transit, or were part of a couple, with a second income. So...now what?

[jabogitlu]

That is a fundamental question of American capitalism that likely can't be solved by UW or the state of Washington.

[87112]

Man, the price of a meal will be 20 bucks soon. Any kind of meal. It use to be 11,12-------

But this is going to get worse and worse. Price of gas goes up everything goes up. Or as democrats leaders say to themselves. " its all part of our plan".