Minimum Wage

Most people feel they have value. They have skills, expertise and education they feel entitles them to a shot at better opportunities.

For a 30 hour worker that would mean a yearly salary of $23,400 or $31,200 for a 40 hour worker. Nowhere near a “living wage” in a city like Seattle.

With all the conversation about the minimum wage, there needs to be another discussion about how that increase will affect the average consumer.

Equal pay for equal work. You can’t pick up a paper or turn on a TV without hearing something about this “feel good” topic.

At $7.80, Montana currently pays more in minimum wage than all but a few states, but according to Montana Department of Labor and Industry Communications Director Casey Kyler-West, the minimum wage will be going up again in 2014.

Carl talked this morning about the downside of having a minimum wage, or a living wage. The minimum wage is why businesses don't hire very many new workers, because new employees can't generate enough profit to pay for themselves. Carl Graham on 1450 KMMS Pt 1 Pt 2

Not even Michael Scott of Dunder Mifflin fame would pull the kind of controversial stunt the mayor of Scranton, PA. has.

With the unemployment rate being what it is, a lot of people these days are being forced to work for minimum wage. But exactly how much you get could depend largely on what state you’re in.

If there seems to be a little bit more change in your pocket, it might be because Montana’s minimum wage climbed to $7.35 an hour on January first. That’s an increase of ten cents, which translates to $32 per month for the average worker.