Minimum wage: $15 NOW!; or 15... eventually

[Undertoad]

The infographic suggests that the cost of inflation has a terrible bearing on a minimum wage earner's ability to buy things over time. It is wrong.

If you bought $20 of goods in 1998, they would cost $28.92 in 2015

During that same time, minimum wage was increased from $5.15 to $7.25*

$5.15 in 1998 has the same buying power as $7.45 in 2015. So, during that period the wage is slightly underperforming inflation.

An accurate infographic would show the wage earner buying the same cart, but with 2-3 fewer items.





*minimum wage now differs by locality, as states and cities have the ability to set their own minimum wage, always setting it higher and typically much higher.

But more interestingly, in 1998 4.4 million workers were at minimum wage; in 2015, it's 2.6 million. In 1998, 6.2% of all hourly-paid workers got minimum wage. In 2015, only 3.3% do. And by 2017, that number is 2.3%. It looks like the market is giving us a higher labor rate than the federal minimum. FWIW Wendy's pays like $12 out here.