# What happens if McD's raises wages to 1.5 times minimum wage? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 30, 2013, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-mcds-raises-wages-to-1-5-times-minimum-wage/664896 "2013-07-30T11:52:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-mcds-raises-wages-to-1-5-times-minimum-wage/664896/41 "2013-07-30T23:17:54Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > I don’t know I’n Out well enough to argue, bu [this picture](http://www.flickr.com/photos/navymailman/6951119645/)of an In 'n Out drive through sign indicates that they are significantly more expensive than the McDonalds aound here. The food is of significantly higher quality, and it also has a very limited menu. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-mcds-raises-wages-to-1-5-times-minimum-wage/664896/42 "2013-07-30T23:42:09Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > The food is of significantly higher quality, and it also has a very limited menu. Also, In 'n Out has a lot more on the menu than just what’s on the menu. The [Secret Menu](http://innoutsecretmenu.net/) (which I first learned about just recently because somebody else right here on SDMB mentioned it in a recent thread). ---
**Author:** ![diggerwam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/919ad9/32.png) [@diggerwam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggerwam)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-mcds-raises-wages-to-1-5-times-minimum-wage/664896/43 "2013-07-30T23:42:56Z")
Why might other companies follow suit?? A) awesome publicity B) because companies tend to imitate their competitors C) higher paying jobs are going to attract a better quality of worker, therefore the companies who don’t follow suit will be picking over a lesser pool of employees. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-mcds-raises-wages-to-1-5-times-minimum-wage/664896/44 "2013-07-31T00:07:04Z")
They don’t seem to worry much about © now. Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-mcds-raises-wages-to-1-5-times-minimum-wage/664896/45 "2013-07-31T00:40:21Z")
> [@cougar58](#): > > Before you reply, note that in 2013, you were working until April 18 just to pay this years taxes. Un uh. This bit of oft repeated lore is either entirely BS or has to vary by tax bracket and/or take states with sales and income taxes (NH has neither) into account too because I’m 100% sure **I** won’t be expected to pay close to 13k in taxes for 2013, not when my income is only 6k more than last year and my federal tax burden was a bit over 4k then. As for the OP, does the cost of living spike when minimum wages go up? Back in Jane Austen’s day 2000 pounds a year for an income was a lot of money, but everything’s monetary been vastly inflated since then, income and costs both. If it’s not wages going up being hand-in-hand with prices going up to keep pace, I’d love to know what causes/d money to increase while buying power largely does not remain higher. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-mcds-raises-wages-to-1-5-times-minimum-wage/664896/46 "2013-07-31T01:01:25Z")
\*\*What happens if McD’s raises wages to 1.5 times minimum wage? \*\* Hitler gets a Sno-Cone! ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-mcds-raises-wages-to-1-5-times-minimum-wage/664896/47 "2013-07-31T01:19:55Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > 1.5 times a McDonald’s wage still isn’t going to afford a family with kids a “living wage”. And it shouldn’t. This is the type of job someone works at, discovers “THIS SUCKS”! And then (via the incentive of not wanting to do THAT for a living), starts working on an education and toward a job that pays an actual (and comfortable) living wage. Who pays for that education? Who pays for daycare for 2.4 children? Who wants to go to school for 2 years, or four, just for the chance to maybe get a better job? And really, jobs that pay well have requirements that weed out many people. Not everybody can be a nurse, or a plumber, or topless dancer. And then there’s drug testing, a whole separate issue. ---
**Author:** ![cougar58](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@cougar58](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cougar58)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-mcds-raises-wages-to-1-5-times-minimum-wage/664896/48 "2013-07-31T01:34:15Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Someone on another website said just today that she lives in the Williston, ND area and McDonald’s had to bring in workers from Southeast Asia because they couldn’t find people to work there, even though they paid $15 an hour. 😕 BTW, they also provided housing, which is important if you live in a town where a 1BR apartment starts at 2K a month if you can even find one. > > I think it was on “All Things Considered” where I heard an interview with a woman who was a schoolteacher and the family had relocated to Williston so her husband could work in the oil fields, and she did indeed work at McDonald’s because the hours were flexible (they had school-aged children) and truthfully, once child care and other incidentals were figured in, she would end up making more money this way. Interesting to note that McD was able to pay workers $15 per PLUS subsidize their homes, and yet they could still make a profit. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-mcds-raises-wages-to-1-5-times-minimum-wage/664896/49 "2013-07-31T02:41:32Z")
> [@cougar58](#): > > Interesting to note that McD was able to pay workers $15 per PLUS subsidize their homes, and yet they could still make a profit. They were probably busy 24/7/365 too. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-mcds-raises-wages-to-1-5-times-minimum-wage/664896/50 "2013-07-31T03:08:41Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > 1.5 times a McDonald’s wage still isn’t going to afford a family with kids a “living wage”. And it shouldn’t. This is the type of job someone works at, discovers “THIS SUCKS”! And then (via the incentive of not wanting to do THAT for a living), starts working on an education and toward a job that pays an actual (and comfortable) living wage. So what do you propose? Sterilize people who work in minimum wage jobs? Take away the children they already have? Require people with children to obtain marketable, profitable skills? You can “should” all day long, but “shoulds” don’t make for good policy. People will always have children unless we authorize the government to do horrible, drastic things to us. And as long as people keep having children, those children are going to need some support. If Mickie Dees doesn’t cut it, then the rest of us will have to pick up the slack. Frankly, I think this arrangement sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-mcds-raises-wages-to-1-5-times-minimum-wage/664896/51 "2013-07-31T04:00:41Z")
> [@diggerwam](#): > > Sorry I was at work. OP here. One topic of my original question that I was hoping would be debated but really hasn’t: If one giant company raised wages for their lowest paid workers, would that then force other companies to raise wages as well. The Costco example already mentioned shows that this does not happen. Publicity is very fleeting, and very few people are going to patronize a store because of wages. In the long run it might help. That’s why minimum wages are state set. It levels the playing field, and the loss in sales from slightly higher wages might be offset by the gain in sales from more people being able to afford your product. ---
**Author:** ![diggerwam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/919ad9/32.png) [@diggerwam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggerwam)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-mcds-raises-wages-to-1-5-times-minimum-wage/664896/52 "2013-07-31T11:19:51Z")
CostCo isn’t a huge nationwide company. I’ve never seen one. That’s why I picked a huge, low income employer. Imagine the feel good TV ads that McDs & WalMart could run if they did this. I see it being a huge game changer with very little added cost spread along to the general public or stockholders. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-mcds-raises-wages-to-1-5-times-minimum-wage/664896/53 "2013-07-31T11:24:38Z")
> [@cougar58](#): > > Interesting to note that McD was able to pay workers $15 per PLUS subsidize their homes, and yet they could still make a profit. Yeah, like **nearwildheaven** says their jump in labor costs coincided with the arrival of an army of oilfield workers with a limitless appetite for gross fast food. That’s probably one of the busiest McD’s in the country. If they had those higher labor costs without the coincident jump in business, they may simply have to close. That’s actually exactly what’s happened in many of the towns on the edge of the oil patch. Their downtown retail and restaurant areas weren’t doing great to begin with, but having to pay wages that are competitive with commuting into the patch while not actually getting that much more business as a result of the boom has caused quite a few places to close. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-mcds-raises-wages-to-1-5-times-minimum-wage/664896/54 "2013-07-31T11:37:56Z")
> [@diggerwam](#): > > CostCo isn’t a huge nationwide company. I’ve never seen one. That’s why I picked a huge, low income employer. Imagine the feel good TV ads that McDs & WalMart could run if they did this. I see it being a huge game changer with very little added cost spread along to the general public or stockholders. Well you said that word “stockholders.” I don’t see stockholders as being willing to part with a single penny of profit for good publicity, public approbation, or anything along those lines. Their ONLY interest is in higher rates of return. They are more like locusts or libertarians, as a group, than human beings. If they had any interest in or ability to think about the general public good, or even keeping the economy running smoothly (i.e., their own long-term good) there would not have been a crash in 2007. They would not have pushed for the repeal of Glass-Steagall. They just keep chewing on whatever they can chew on, mindlessly, because that is what they are. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-mcds-raises-wages-to-1-5-times-minimum-wage/664896/55 "2013-07-31T16:24:23Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > Who pays for that education? The person themselves. They take night classes, get a student loan, work two or three jobs (I did when I went to school), live in an apartment with several roommates. Take the bus, eat Top Ramen, budget/Budget/BUDGET (time and money). > [@](#): > > Who pays for daycare for 2.4 children? My point was, a person shouldn’t be having their 2.4 children in the first place if they’re still at an entry level/interim job. But realistically, people are gonna do dumb things, marriages fail, spouses die, etc. Single parents can gang up and share quarters and baby sitting duties. Example: Three single parent roommates = Two single parents work day shift, one single parent works night shift, the single parents not working do daycare duty. (been there done that). > [@](#): > > Who wants to go to school for 2 years, or four, just for the chance to maybe get a better job? What are you going to have at the end of that 2-4 years if you DON’T get the sort of education that can get a decent paying job? 2-4 years of misery working at a place like McDonalds, that’s what. I can’t imagine anything worse or more miserable than being on your feet 8-10 hours a day in a hot smelly fast food job. Why WOULDN’T you want out of there ASAP?? And why should your neighbors pay to subsidize foodstamps because you “don’t feel like bettering yourself”? > [@](#): > > And really, jobs that pay well have requirements that weed out many people. > Not everybody can be a nurse, or a plumber, or topless dancer. Oh PLEASE. I’m a dum-dum, not young or good looking (meaning not with the sort of advantage that generally gives people an edge, single (meaning I don’t have anyone to help shoulder life as we know it in this day and age) and I managed to do it. I did it while raising two kids, one a baby (was going to school while pregnant), one a young teen. If I can do it anyone can. I managed it because I did the sorts of things I mention above. I sacrificed for the short term, so that long-term things would be much more pleasant. And there are SCADS more different types of jobs than plumber, nurse etc (topless dancer? ). College isn’t the only route, there are technical and vocational schools, apprenticeships, etc. > [@](#): > > And then there’s drug testing, a whole separate issue. That is the person’s choice. Why should your (collective you) neighbors pay for your habit? If a person wants to be a layabout, do drugs and make $7.50 an hour because the cheap jobs don’t do drug testing that’s _their_ choice, that’s not something being forced upon them because they “can’t earn a living wage”. They can, they just don’t want to because it cuts into their doobie habit. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-mcds-raises-wages-to-1-5-times-minimum-wage/664896/56 "2013-07-31T16:29:43Z")
Stories like that HuffPo article are why the Left is accused of economic illiteracy. The same people who think McDonald’s is a rapacious corporate beast think McDonald’s is just overlooking the fact that they could be charging more without losing business? Really? ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-mcds-raises-wages-to-1-5-times-minimum-wage/664896/57 "2013-07-31T16:30:50Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > So what do you propose? > > Sterilize people who work in minimum wage jobs? > > Take away the children they already have? > > Require people with children to obtain marketable, profitable skills? > > You can “should” all day long, but “shoulds” don’t make for good policy. People will always have children unless we authorize the government to do horrible, drastic things to us. And as long as people keep having children, those children are going to need some support. If Mickie Dees doesn’t cut it, then the rest of us will have to pick up the slack. Frankly, I think this arrangement sucks. I do too, but all raising the minimum wage at McD’s is going to do is reduce the incentive for people to do just the things I suggest above, and continue to force the rest of us to take up that slack by our taxes subsidizing those working conditions. 1.5 X mw STILL isn’t going to make a “living wage” for families with children. The fact that certain jobs are horrible, miserable and pay sucky isn’t a bad thing, it causes people to do something about it to get out of their situation. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-mcds-raises-wages-to-1-5-times-minimum-wage/664896/58 "2013-07-31T16:39:22Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > I do too, but all raising the minimum wage at McD’s is going to do is reduce the incentive for people to do just the things I suggest above, and continue to force the rest of us to take up that slack by our taxes subsidizing those working conditions. 1.5 X mw STILL isn’t going to make a “living wage” for families with children. > > The fact that certain jobs are horrible, miserable and pay sucky isn’t a bad thing, it causes people to do something about it to get out of their situation. It’s a GOOD thing. We should probably TORTURE fast food workers, too, just to give them more motivation. (Really, are you listening to what yo’ure saying here?) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-mcds-raises-wages-to-1-5-times-minimum-wage/664896/59 "2013-07-31T16:40:42Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > The fact that certain jobs are horrible, miserable and pay sucky isn’t a bad thing, it causes people to do something about it to get out of their situation. Well, yes, I’d say it is a bad thing, if you really do mean “horrible, miserable, and pay sucky” instead of just all of those things **relative to other jobs**. There’s nothing _dishonorable_ about working at McDonald’s. Many of the people who do so work significantly harder, and provide a significantly more useful service to society, than some of the people who work at higher status, higher paying jobs. It seems only fair that they should get paid decently for their hard work. On preview: Ah, what **Evil Captor** said. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-mcds-raises-wages-to-1-5-times-minimum-wage/664896/60 "2013-07-31T16:42:21Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > Stories like that HuffPo article are why the Left is accused of economic illiteracy. The left is accused of economic illiteracy by the right because they’d like us to forget about the fact that the it was the right’s PECULIAR take on economics that led to the 2007 economic crash. But guess what … we HAVEN’T forgotten! And WON’T forget. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-mcds-raises-wages-to-1-5-times-minimum-wage/664896.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-mcds-raises-wages-to-1-5-times-minimum-wage/664896.md?page=4)