Adjusted for inflation, $15 an hour is exactly what Henry Ford paid his workers over 100 years ago.
By Jon Schwarz
The Intercept (9/9/15)
"This Thursday in Manhattan, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called for the state to raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour for all workers. Cuomo cant just do this by edict as he essentially could using an industry-specific wage board when he raised the minimum pay for New York fast food workers to $15 an hour by 2021 so any raise for everyone will have to pass the state legislature. Still, simply getting the endorsement of the governor of the third-biggest U.S. state is a huge victory for a national movement of low-wage workers.
What will come next is a series of hysterical warnings from conservative pundits that New York cant meddle with the almighty power of supply and demand, and that this will cause massive unemployment and destroy the very people its supposed to help, etc.
So heres some historical context: Adjusted for inflation, $15 an hour is exactly what Henry Ford paid his workers over 100 years ago.
"ts true, of course, that only Ford workers initially got $15 an hour, whereas if Cuomo succeeds every worker in New York will. On the other hand, the per capita U.S. gross domestic product is about eight times larger than it was in 1914, adjusting for inflation. If Americans could be paid decently then, theres much, much more than enough money to pay us decently now."
https://theintercept.com/2015/09/11/new-york-state-may-get-15-minimum-wage-ford-paid-workers-100-years-ago/
itsrobert
(14,157 posts)If the standard of an auto worker is $15 an hour in today's numbers. That would mean a way less minimum wage for unskilled workers.
midnight
(26,624 posts)adjusted to inflation. Maybe if you can study some education Elizabeth Warren has done, about why the Labor needs a raise you might understand that it is time to give Americans a living wage based on inflation and not what corporations say they can afford to pay us.
enlightenment
(8,830 posts)here: http://www.measuringworth.com/uscompare
Enter the initial year (1914), the amount (5.00), the desired year (2014, as that is the latest data available).
There are several measures that shed a bit more light on it.
*note: shameless plug for this website, because I think it is one of the most useful things on the Interwebs. I have nothing to do with, however (be thankful for that, as maths isn't my strong suit).
midnight
(26,624 posts)This nuanced definition is spot on. Thanks for the link. Labor needs a raise, and it needs to be adjusted at the very least to inflation.
enlightenment
(8,830 posts)I love that site.
And I agree, labor is long, long overdue a raise.
imthevicar
(811 posts)was $1.25. the cost of the 5 silver quarters today? aprox $15.00. I rest My Case.