Idle Hands Do....
UPDATE: Youth are made homeless by lack of jobs. https://www.ketv.com/article/omaha-housing-safety-net-supports-young-homeless-population/42298844
So this letter was printed in the Public Pulse, on December 13.
The theme is common. The claim states minimum wage must be able to pay for a person’s own independent housing. But, it never will. This is because work is not necessarily about living independently. People need work for all sorts of reasons from passing time, to meeting new people, to learning new skills, to merely having pocket change. Work also improves a person’s mental health, self-esteem, and sense of self-worth. For many people, a minimum wage job is merely used to pay for food. They do not need housing because they are living with other people or are renting a room or have a living space with other roommates. Most of these workers are teenagers. Other states make adjustments for such teens in their minimum wage laws, but not Nebraska.
Nothing will change these features of minimum wage, because, by definition, it is the lowest-paying job on the career ladder meaning other workers are making more money out of need for housing. Having the minimum wage at $50 or $100 an hour would not change this. Those on or just above the minimum are simply not necessarily looking for income to support independent living.
Movement in Omaha for Racial Equity (MORE) (https://moreomaha.org/publicpolicy) endorsed raising the minimum wage claiming it will reduce racial income gaps. Well, apparently they have not heard of Walter Williams (https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/the-racist-roots-behind-the-minimum-wage/) on the topic who states minimum wages result in racial minorities losing jobs. This image actually shows who is most at risk of losing their job with the minimum going up.
With the increase in the minimum wage coming, and steadily adjusting upward for inflation, there are consequences coming. By raising the minimum, there is a perverse incentive to replace the worker completely. Before Nebraska raised the minimum to $9, self-checkout stands were rare and considered a novelty, but afterwards, they have become ubiquitous and makeup over half the check-out stands in many stores. Those self-checkout stands do not get paid and pay no payroll taxes as they are electronic slaves replacing humans.
Many grocery stores responded to higher minimum wage laws by consolidating stores which resulted in food deserts where a person would have to walk a great distance to buy regular grocery store items. This is why you might find abandoned grocery carts on the street. Shoppers used the carts to bring their bought items home.
To add to the problem, with the minimum wage increased, rents and prices will go up as there is “more money” in the economy. There is a reason Nebraska heard very few businesses objecting to the raise in the minimum. They know they will just push the higher cost of labor onto consumers. Some will raise prices merely because the change in minimum wage gives them the excuse they need to do so. They can be clever in raising prices.
Young people will be kept out of the labor market. This means their idle hands will be free to be lazy or worse. Idle hands do the Devil’s work. Without a job, juveniles are more likely to go astray and commit crimes (https://www.wowt.com/2022/11/29/second-13-year-old-omaha-boy-arrested-murder-another-13-year-old/ and https://www.ketv.com/article/omaha-activists-align-as-police-sound-alarm-on-youth-violence/42248742). At the same time, many of those left jobless will suffer mental health issues being deprived of the value of work.
And what helps such delinquents get around? The Omaha Metro Transit which is providing free transportation to kids in k-12 (https://www.ometro.com/k-12/) and they have extended it (https://omaha.com/news/local/education/metro-extends-free-bus-rides-for-k-12-students-in-omaha-for-another-year/article_e3fe5d96-7bff-11ed-a7f7-6b5427862f25.html).
Most people favor raising the minimum wage strictly out of empathy. Who does not want more pay? However, the increase of labor costs to employers will negatively impact workers. If the price of bread goes up, do you buy more bread? Well, when the minimum wage increases, employers have to figure out how to pay for the higher wage. They may impose stricter standards on employees which may result in more firings or people quitting. They may stop hiring people. They may cut hours or stop offering over time which could result in employees quitting, if not leaving them worse off than before the wage hike. None of this factors in for those who voted for a higher minimum wage, but we are all going to pay the cost for the consequences.