The big thing that is hurting low level service jobs is there are openings in factories and elsewhere that pay better.
The wages at many of these jobs make up a small portion of the bottom line. The increase in cost amount to almost nothing:
A rising tide lifts all boats. The wealth gap between rich/poor has grown significantly over the last couple decades and moving wages up for the lowest levels will hopefully reverse that trend.
That line is just not true, grocery prices have gone up an average of 10%, price at the pump has gone up almost a dollar from a year ago, price of cars, lumber, energy bills,ect…. Now I will admit that shipping delays cause a supply and demand issue which is dragging a lot of pricing up, but to say the increase in cost amount to almost nothing is lunacy.
I also think your rising tide analogy doesn’t fit this narrative, it’s a nice thought, but a businesses job is to make more money then the previous year, if a business raises wages, and sales stay the same, that leaves a business few options, pay more and have less workers, or pay more and raise prices to cover its losses due to higher wages.
Let’s say a company starts paying higher labor by 10%, and they make water heaters, that company then takes that 10% and adds it into the price of their water heaters, now you the consumer who is making 10% more, is also paying 10% more, so you have a net gain on exactly $0.00. Now strip the 10% in higher wages, and from the price of that water heater, and you are back to the same spot.
Another example, a minimum wage worker gets a pay raise to $15 an hour, another worker in another industry who used to make $15 an hour for more skilled labor asks for higher wages bc they can work an entry level job and make just as much money doing it. The skilled laborers company then raises their wages to stay competitive and keep their workers, thus expanding the wage gap that had just been shrunk, the company then starts charging more for its goods to cover the increased wages, and the cycle begins all over again
that rising tide your talking about just raises everything, costs, and wages, and at the end of the day, the wealth gap stays the same
btw, direct quote from the article you attached
“passing along the price of raising pay to consumers.”, that perfectly illustrates my point, wages have to go up to attract workers, and the added cost of labor is being passed onto the consumer, starting a cycle that isn’t good for anyone