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Florida Minimum Wage Increasing
December 24, 2013
It won’t come quite early enough to serve as a Christmas bonus, but Florida workers who earn the state minimum wage will see a slight increase in their paychecks after January 1.
That’s when an automatic increase of 14 cents an hour goes into effect, raising the lowest pay rate in the state to $7.93, up from $7.79. The boost to the minimum wage is below the average increase of around 25 cents an hour since Florida started setting its own minimum wage in 2005.
The federal minimum wage is $7.25.
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13 Responses to “Florida Minimum Wage Increasing”
I’m a mom who is back in college. Each semester, there are students 10-15 yrs older than I am (I’m about to be 30) returning to further a previous degree. Just because you went to college, have a degree, or even make “good” choices, does not guarantee you’ll be paid above minimum wage nor does it mean you’ll be better off than those who made different choices. In today’s world, the middle class is now considered to be in poverty. And getting a degree or going to college is not as easy as it seems. The Pell grant help, but they do not pay for it all. And there’s certain degree programs that do not care if you have a job or family, and can make it difficult to obtain a degree amd work, even without the stressors of kids, spouse, etc.
Every increase in wages may help. It may make other things higher. But don’t think because someone has a degree or not always determines who is on minimum wage.
I agree minimum wage is not a lifestyle as it was never intended. There are jobs and vocations that pay very well. The key word is effort and work. Both college degrees and vocational programs require both effort and work. A good plumber or welder can make a very nice living here. Heating and A/C techs do very well also. Those who work hard in college can reap the same rewards. I’ve found over time that most folks working dead end type jobs don’t want to better themselves. Its easy to accept the free housing, EBT and free medical as breathing is the only requirement. Free education is also available but that requires a little work and effort. I feel no pity for those without ambition or drive to do better than the generation before them, none at all.
The reason why we have a minimum wage, for those who think it’s some kind of big government conspiracy, is because before we did, 10 year olds were working 12 hour days for a dime a day. If your employer could legally pay you a dollar an hour, they would, and they’d tell you how lucky you were to have a job. The last 3 decades have seen the greatest migration of wealth to the top 1% in our nations history. What are executives doing now that they weren’t doing 30 years ago that justifies a salary that is over 400 times what their average employee makes, when 30 years ago it was 40 times what their average employee makes? If you want to see what that level of income inequality leads to, google “The Gilded Age”.
BPD is correct in his analogy somewhat…………But that is all this service economy will make is low wage jobs whether I want to use my brain or back. That is unless you work for the government ( then complain about how much they spend…..Really?) Why won’t businesses create living wage jobs……cause they are offshore so someone can make the big money on cheap labors sweat equity. Also help me to understand more marketable…..when there are no living wage jobs. Remember not everyone is college material and we need plumbers, welders and builders to maintain what we have but wait big money has driven those wages down so no one wants to do that.
BPD hit it right on the head agree 100%
When did we just accept the notion that government is LORD? Why do we think that government can make a better determination about how valuable a worker is than the employer, the employee, and the market? Why are people so quick to believe that government knows best?
I suppose when society refuses to bow their knee before Jesus Christ as Lord, something has to take his place, and that thing is usually the state. The almighty, all-knowing, and all-wise state.
Very well written, BPD. So, so true. It’s really sad that the majority of our society blames the people who give them jobs as to why they can not survive financially. Big business, small business, corporations – you name it – all eventually started because someone wanted to better themselves and either got a trade or an education and then did something about it…..
There is always a bad egg in the carton, but that’s not the majority of business owners.
This area has more minimum wage jobs than many places in the country. Education is helpful but only if you are willing to relocate to a place that has jobs in that field.
First off, the minimum wage was never meant to be a living wage. Raising the minimum wage only serves to limit opportunities for entry level workers. For a small business, the more they are required to pay each worker, the less workers they can employ and stay in business.
If you are trying to support yourself, much less raise a family, on a minimum wage job, you have made some poor choices in your life. It’s not society’s fault. It’s not big business’s fault. If you feel you are under paid, you must be willing to do something about it. To make a living wage, you must me willing to work your brain or your back. You can either get an education or learn a marketable skill. Trying to place blame elsewhere will not improve your position in life. You must make the effort to make yourself more marketable in the workforce. If you can’t do that, good luck.
raising the minimum wage helps everybody. It has not been proven that prices increase with raised minimums. In reality, real people have a little more to spend and they tend to spend it immediately. Increased purchasing power means more local spending which helps the businesses increase their purchasing needs which means more and more money is spread around. Hopefully with the increased business at their stores more people will be hired.
Raising wages is a good thing. Don’t let the bosses of these big businesses convince you otherwise. If you want to point a finger, point it at these guys who award themselves huge salaries, bonuses, and benefits. Their greed is causing most of the problems for people making minimum wages.
That’s great. How much is the maximum wage? Median wage? Average wage?
With Gulf Power’s rate increase the $.25/hr. won’t go very far to help. Some people can barely afford heat this winter as it is, and employers like Walmart will just cut the hours people work.
Minimum wage goes up for some and prices go up for everyone.