That’s because what’s a living wage depends on what things are needed, and what they need, making it inherently variable.
And conveniently, always able to be argued that it hasn’t been achieved yet. The equivalent of always answering “how much do you think you should be paid?” with “More.”, ceaselessly.
A living wage should cover everything a family needs
So everyone should be paid as much as it’d take to support a family, even if they’re single?
If you live somewhere where you need a car to get anywhere, then a living wage needs to be cover car payments.
Car payments? What car? What term? What interest rate? Car payments vary WILDLY, based on both individual decisions, and different creditworthiness. “Sorry boss, you gotta pay me more, because I got a 96-month auto loan on this BMW at 18%”.
This is a joke, right?
If you life in a walk-able neighborhood
So we’re implementing wage legislation on the “neighborhood” level? Sure, let’s add to the unrealism pile, lol.
food
What kind of food?
shelter
What kind? Apartment? House? How many bedrooms? Bathrooms? Square footage?
childcare
For how many children?
if wages are higher, more people can safe money
More people will have NO money, because they’ll have been fired by their employer who realized they cost more than they’re worth to the company.
You can’t save money without an income.
And even if you’re one of the lucky ones who still has a job, there are practically zero small business categories with profit margins large enough to support such a massive increase in labor costs.
We decrease the amount of labor time that is considered full employment
So, the existing workers’ income drops again? lol
forcing them to hire more people to reach the same output.
You can’t force them to hire anyone. They will hire more people only if doing so increases their profits. If it doesn’t, they won’t. Period.
And conveniently, always able to be argued that it hasn’t been achieved yet. The equivalent of always answering “how much do you think you should be paid?” with “More.”, ceaselessly.
So everyone should be paid as much as it’d take to support a family, even if they’re single?
Car payments? What car? What term? What interest rate? Car payments vary WILDLY, based on both individual decisions, and different creditworthiness. “Sorry boss, you gotta pay me more, because I got a 96-month auto loan on this BMW at 18%”.
This is a joke, right?
So we’re implementing wage legislation on the “neighborhood” level? Sure, let’s add to the unrealism pile, lol.
What kind of food?
What kind? Apartment? House? How many bedrooms? Bathrooms? Square footage?
For how many children?
More people will have NO money, because they’ll have been fired by their employer who realized they cost more than they’re worth to the company.
You can’t save money without an income.
And even if you’re one of the lucky ones who still has a job, there are practically zero small business categories with profit margins large enough to support such a massive increase in labor costs.
So, the existing workers’ income drops again? lol
You can’t force them to hire anyone. They will hire more people only if doing so increases their profits. If it doesn’t, they won’t. Period.