If you’re a Michigander who makes the minimum wage – good news, you’re getting a raise! A law that went into effect in 2018 is giving you its annual bump, so let’s take a look at what’s happening.
Here are Five Fast Facts on Michigan’s minimum wage increase:
- 🧐 Let’s Define It - The minimum wage is the lowest rate legally allowed for businesses to pay their workers. There’s a federal minimum that applies to all states, but many states have their own minimums that are a bit higher. Currently, the federal minimum is $7.25 per hour, and the Michigan minimum is $10.10 per hour. State > Federal
- 📈 The Changes - As of January 1st, Michigan’s minimum will go up to $10.33 per hour. For minors (age 16-17) the minimum goes up to $8.78, and for workers who receive tips the minimum will go up to $3.93 per hour.
- 👍 The Pros - The best thing about this is, obviously, the increased pay for those workers, and the additional economic activity that can come as a result. Duh.
- 👎 The Cons - Any time the minimum wage is raised we also have the potential for higher prices and lost jobs as a result. And more automated kiosks, ugh.
- ⚖️ The Lawsuits - Of course there are lawsuits. Basically, it’s legal bickering over how quickly the increases should happen. The MI Supreme Court will make the final decision at some point in the future. Until then, um, just look at your Paycheck for a (possible) surprise…?
🔥Bottom line: We’ve talked about minimum wage increases before, and the same things apply here. It’s great for people to be getting bigger Paychecks, but we need to be careful to make sure those increases are the result of real productivity gains rather than simply the government waving a magic wand to make it happen. If that’s the case, then it just hides or compounds the real problems that need to be addressed.
What do you think of this increase?
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