Why I support a higher minimum wage
04/03/16
Josie's column in the New Zealand Herald:
Higher minimum wages are not just good for the people who receive them, they're good for everyone. They help to increase wages across the board by driving more skills and investment into the economy and raising productivity, which raises wages for all of us.
People should have enough income to live on. The lower the minimum wage, the more taxpayers will have to spend to top up wages through Working for Families. Therefore, everyone who opposes increasing the minimum wage to levels high enough to live on is really calling for higher taxes on everyone else. The money to top up low wages has to come from somewhere. This is not ideology, as Barack Obama would say, it's maths: lower wages result in higher wage subsidies.
Higher minimum wages are not just good for the people who receive them, they're good for everyone. They help to increase wages across the board by driving more skills and investment into the economy and raising productivity, which raises wages for all of us.
People should have enough income to live on. The lower the minimum wage, the more taxpayers will have to spend to top up wages through Working for Families. Therefore, everyone who opposes increasing the minimum wage to levels high enough to live on is really calling for higher taxes on everyone else. The money to top up low wages has to come from somewhere. This is not ideology, as Barack Obama would say, it's maths: lower wages result in higher wage subsidies.
