Answers

Does the minimum wage need to track living costs? I'll examine the arguments for and against cost-of-living indexing. Does the minimum wage need to keep up with the cost of living? There is no single legal or economic answer - it depends on what goal you want the minimum wage to achieve. The debate is between preserving purchasing power vs. risks to employment and inflation. What "keeping up" m

Your question touches a classic cost-of-living debate — I'll pull current data on how minimum wage tracks inflation and living costs. Whether it "needs" to depends on what you want the minimum wage to do - but in economic terms, if it doesn't keep up with cost of living, it loses value. 1. What "keeping up" means The cost of living is generally measured by inflation, the rate at which prices f

Should the minimum wage track living costs? I'm gathering the latest data and arguments on both sides. Does the minimum wage need to keep up with cost of living is a policy question, but economics provides clear facts about what happens when it does or doesn't: 1. The original intent was to keep up with cost of living When Congress enacted the federal minimum wage in 1938 at 25 cents per hour