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The Diva Speaks

Observations and opinions about Hawaii

Minimum wage

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Everyone needs to remember if you increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour from the average national rate of $9.50 that is an immediate 50+% increase in labor costs...for a business, labor costs are 30%, cost of goods are 35%, rent and maintenance fees 10%, taxes 20%...that’s right; 5% for net income/profit...now a business can pass the costs to it’s customers, but national/international competitors will limit these increases and the company will be forced to absorb this labor cost affecting their net income...so you can see increased costs = less or no net/profit = dead income stream and savings = end of business...minimum wage was never supposed to be a “living wage”, but a starting wage to learn how to work and once you learned skill sets, your wage increased exponentially...So my prediction is, when/if our politicians do increase the minimum wage and it takes place, which it will because that’s how our ever growing socialist governments works, you will see an increase in unemployment and the end of many small businesses… ©

Stephany Sofos