From the Scientific American:
Support for redistribution, surprisingly enough, has plummeted during the recession. For years, the General Social Survey has asked individuals whether “government should reduce income differences between the rich and the poor.” Agreement with this statement dropped dramatically between 2008 and 2010, the two most recent years of data available. Other surveys have shown similar results. What might explain this trend? First, the change is not driven by wealthy white Republicans reacting against President Obama’s agenda: the drop is if anything slightly larger among minorities, and Americans who self-identify as having below average income show the same decrease in support for redistribution as wealthier Americans.
The article is interesting but inconclusive about causes for the change. Oddly the article cites surveys of people who make above or below the minimum wage and their attitudes toward increasing the minimum. But wait a minute. The whole point of the minimum wage is that you are not allowed to work for less, so how can the article casually speak of people who work for less? The point and purpose of the law seems completely lost on the writers.
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Oh, if only it was for a sensible reason…
As you well know, there couldn’t be a law without exceptions could there? I believe waitstaff can work for less than minimum wage because their tips will make up the difference. I’m not sure what other exemptions there may be, although technically salaried people are “exempt” from the minimum wage law as well.
I have waited tables. In my state, as well as others, the minimum wage is 2.13 an hour! Yet somehow people still flock to those jobs. Verrry interesting. Another exception I have heard of is for the disabled, though I’m not sure if that law is still on the books or not.
And if waitstaff does not claim enough in tips to get their average hourly wage up to the official minimum wage, the restaurant has to make up the difference.
I’m not sure this is true. I waited tables for many years and never had a restaurant make up any wage difference. I can say that, in my experience, most waitstaff under-report their tips in order to stiff arm the tax man…and rightfully so!
My Old Man told me that in the old days the waiters in the high class restaurants PAID the management for their jobs. What has this to do with McDonalds?
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