As an employer, it's really hard to compete for talent with the company down the street, when the company down the street is paying $300 per week for 0 hours worked. That really messes with the invisible hand.
So my calculus is “Would I rather make $300/week for zero hours worked or $600/week for 40 hours worked?”
So it’s not just a more money question, but a money vs time issue. It seems rational to me to prefer less money for no work. The problem is that it’s not sustainable as we’re adding debt to pay for it in the short term. This seemed important when work was impossible due to COVID, but now that we’re recovering it’s again possible to work.
Is there was a sustainable UBI plan to keep paying for this in the long term, that would be nice.
This is not a wages problem. This is a huge influx of wealthy people to the state that aren't working but are taking up property and services problem.
Even the exorbitant sounding $17 an hour isn’t much of a living wage in Bozeman anymore. Hasn’t been for a decade or more.
Also housing prices are astronomical, but your numbers are a touch high. I believe the median home price is $600k or so.
Cost of living isn't just "buying a house". It's housing, transportation, clothing, food, etc.
> your numbers are a touch high.
Nope. I just got a flier that mentioned that the average home price for a townhouse in Belgrade (a "suburb" of Bozeman (which itself only has roughly a 50k population), for those not local) is $765k.
"Entry wage" is a misnomer for jobs like that. There's no advancement at a job like that except to management, and there will always be an order of magnitude fewer managers than workers (and far less turnover.)
And skilled trades... they've been devalued as well. The average salary for a welder is in the $17/$18 range across America††. Not really better than McD's (in this thread of conversation at least).
† https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/pay-salary/average-sala...
†† https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/pay-salary/welding-jobs...
What drives those prices?
And real estate investment groups buying up housing to rent.
I don't know about Montana but in my state I pay state income taxes, county and city property taxes, and state, county, city sales taxes.
> Starting June 27, Montanans will lose access to the extra $300 in weekly unemployment benefits, but maintain their regular benefits.
This isn't a big vs small business debate - small places don't always pay crap wages, and some big places do pay crap wages.
Sidenote: A lot of fast food places are franchises, and a franchise might just have one or two. They aren't in any better position than a family-owned fast food place in a small town.
If you cannot pay your employees a living wage, you should not run a business.
Try paying them $600 per week. If they see you pay enough for them to afford rent (which is not possible with $300 week) you will have the better offer.
It is quite possible to pay rent if you make $300 a week in parts of this country. That is why the $15/hour nationally is dumb. Let the locals pick their number for their area.
Edit: How does the more productive company survive? Well, there is a "company" down the street creating customers who have $300 per week to spend on things they actually need.