President Arroyo on Tuesday signed into law Republic Act 9504 exempting minimum wage earners from paying income tax and increasing personal exemptions for other employees.Under the new law, the tax exemptions will provide additional take-home pay of P34 a day or P750 a month for minimum wage earners. The new law also increases personal exemptions for salaried workers.All holiday, night differentia
No minimum wage will be introduced in Malaysia pretty soon, in spite of the mounting pressure from the Malaysian Trade Union Congress, MTUC. According to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the introduction of a minimum wage ‘requires a thoughtful and careful assessment’.
The PM has also raised concern for increase in inflation rate [...]
There’s an individual who comments on The Simple Dollar (and a few other personal finance blogs) who identifies him- or herself as “Minimum Wage.” This person is singularly focused on the issues of low wage earners, and while his/her comments can be frustrating, sometimes Minimum Wage is really effective at pointing out how some advice [...]
Author: Zane Durant
Florida residents who can afford health insurance pay an average of $11,480 per year for family coverage, which is about what the average minimum-wage earner brings home. Premiums are up 87% according to Kaiser Family Foundation. The days of “low-cost” health insurance are all but gone unless you have help from a professional [...]
Just talking with a friend, I learned that to see a Lakers basketball game, you can shell out $2300 for a courtside seat. What a nice way to waste a month’s salary for someone on minimum wage?
$8.25 X 40 hours/week X 4 weeks = $1320 / month (before taxes!)
OK, a nice way to waste two [...]
- Scott Miller
Government has no business interfering with the market forces and wages, and government needs to butt the hell out! As usual, when government bureaucrats get involved to try to “make things better”, thing typically get much worse. This from IBDeditorials:
How Minimum Wage Hurts Teens
Economics: It’s one thing to notice you have a serious [...]
The Jakarta administration announced Thursday the monthly minimum wage in 2008 would go up from Rp 900,560 to Rp 972,604 (about US$107), an 8 percent increase."The decision was based on our assumption that Jakarta's economic growth will reach 6.7 percent next year," Governor Fauzi Bowo said at City Hall.A gubernatorial regulation has been issued on the 2008 Jakarta minimum wage."Our second assumption is that 2008's inflation rate, expected at between 6.2 and 6.6 percent, will be slightly higher than 6 percent this year," he said.Inflation in Jakarta reached 17.11 percent in 2005, 6.6 percent in 2006 and 5.24 percent as of October this year, according to the Jakarta Statistics Agency.Indonesia News Blog: http://indosnesos.blogspot.com
Across thousands of personal finance websites, there are many common themes to be found. One of these is to
Live Beneath Your Means
Living beneath your means is not always easy. Yet, for most of us, we look at people who make just a little bit more than us and wonder where their problem is. The extra $5,000 or $10,000 a year would make all the difference for us. How often though, do we look past our bulging budgets and look at how people making that $5,000 or $10,000 less than us do it?
For a challenge, I want to look at what is possible at the current minimum wage rate. To make the example possible, lets assume a single individual, in good health, with no dependents who works 40 hours a week with no days off or vacations. How will he fare?
There are a lot of variables to be considered. I am going to look at a best case scenario. Many things are possible that would make this less doable than we would like. To help make that clear, here is a list of the assumptions I am making f
To continue our fun jacket post, today, we are going to pick out our favorites from Esprit US. Remember, for as little $60 or LESS.
Cute Jacket $49.99
Formal suit is out, cute jacket is in right now. What I love about this cute jacket is, it hides my tummy for me.
Polka dot jacket $39.99
Polka dot has a come back. Why not using the latest trends on your jacket. esp. a jacket that has a breathtaking price? Love love this jacket. It make you feel like so energized and ready to go. It has active element but still very office wearable.
It's jacket time. We've been talking about decent jacket and coats for girls who is making minimum wage (we all have been there) and want to look decent. So, if you are interested to check out some awesome summer jackets as low as $20s, click here. Or, if you are getting window shopping for fall, these classic styles might be your best bet. And they are only thirty something.
Today, we are continuing the hunt...
Gap Safari roll-up jacket - moonstone On sale: $49.99
Wanna looking for a chic outfit? This is your safe bet right here. Love the color and heart the style. You can even put a girlie dress underneath that jacket and still look fabulous!
Gap Cotton slub coat - blackOn Sale: $39.99
Less is more. Simple three button, clean lines and black & white in color makes you look refreshed and young.
We had to visit our family friendly brand Old Navy whenever we shop together so here is our picks from Old Navy for minimum wage girls who wants to look like a sweet office lady.
Old Navy Women's Trapeze Jackets - Basswood Brown $34.50
This is classic. Want to complete a super efficient look? Add on a office bold bag, some dress pants, there you have it. Want to soft the edge a little? Bring a colorful scarf into the game and you will look chic and charming. I personally love the black one too so, for little over 60 dollars, you can have not one, but two office ready jacket for this fall.
Women's Sateen A-Line Trench Coats $39.50, OldNavy
Also, I want to show you this very stylish coat. Whether it's rain or shine, a chic new standard is in the forecast. Want something that is timeless and priceless? The actual price though, is amazing. I couldn't believe it is less than $40! Similar design from those brand name boys would cost you few hundred dollars, if not, more. It is one
Malaysian Trade Union Congress would lead a nationwide picket demanding the ruling government of Malaysia to consider setting up a minimum wage policy of Malaysian Ringgit $900.00 and a standard COLA (Cost of Living Allowance) of a minimum of Malaysian Ringgit $300.00 for employees in the private sector. The picket is scheduled to take place in every major cities such as Kuala Lumpur (Jalan Raja Laut), Bangsar, Petaling Jaya, Bangi, Shah Alam, Klang, Johore, Kuching and Penang. Thousands of employees in the private sector are expected to throng these locations after signing off from work at 1700 hours this coming Monday 25th of June.Malaysian Malay women with high paying salaries and sitting inside nice comfortable office chairs may not be interested in joining the scheduled picket but I sincerely hope that they would somehow realize that a lot of Malaysians are suffering at the moment due to the ever rising costs of living. The ruling government has never been kind towards those worki
With the new minimum wage increase almost guaranteed to pass, there are many people in America who feel as though this a victory for everyone. Liberals, especially, believe that this is a great change. The problem is that minimum wage increases hurt more people than they help. In fact, only 4% of America’s workers are [...]
For the whole article, visit me at collegecritic.net!
A couple of days ago, on this food-for-thought post, a reader left this comment (italics are quoted from the post):
“Education is a Great Economic Leveler”
-I have a college degree and earn minimum wage. Where’s all the extra money I’m supposed to be making?
“Yes, There Are Educated People Who Think Like This”
-I think I have a pretty good handle on the basics of personal finance. But what good is that when you earn minimum wage and have student loan debt?
I tried to answer these questions here, but I am not very pleased with the attempt. Probably some of you might have more to add.
On a related note, sometime back (I don’t remember on which blog), I read a question by another reader to this effect:
How can I be a millionaire if I earn minimum wage?
How would you answer such questions?
Of course, one would simply say “increase your income”, and although that is quite obvious, it’s a bit shallow (in my opinion). I am trying (and have tried in the pa
The violence that erupted after Nicolas Sarkozy was elected President of France has subsided (free registration required) without reaching nearly the level of unrest seen in Paris in 2005.
Calculated in today’s dollars, the minimum wage was highest in 1968, hovering just over $9 an hour. Another reason why the current minimum wage is shameful.
Prosecutors in New York (free registration required) are using digital photography to help prosecute more cases of domestic violence and convict more offenders.
JUST FOR FUN
Modern Drunkard’s profiles Andre the Giant. Apparently this guy drank 119 beers in 6 hours. That’s one beer every 3 minutes, non-stop. Good lord!
Ever wanted to make a Jackson Pollock splatter painting but lacked the guts to actually splatter paint all over your house? This one is for you.
FROM THE BLOGS:
While US citizens pay on average 50% more for their healthcare than Canadians do under their national healthcare system, the Canadian system beats the US s
On Thursday the Senate voted a 94-3 vote to passed an increase in the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour over two years. The bill will also consist of extended small business tax cuts, close off some corporate tax loopholes and rein in executive compensation.Because of this the House Democrats are insisting that the tax provisions be removed. Our President has warned "I strongly encourage the House to support this combined minimum wage increase and small business tax relief," Why all the fuss?According to the The Washington Post the bill would extend for five years a tax credit for businesses that hire the disadvantaged and would provide expensing and depreciation advantages to small companies, including retailers that own their own stores. The tax breaks would be paid for by closing loopholes on offshore tax shelters, by capping deferred compensation payments to corporate executives and by removing the deductibility of punitive damage payments and fines.I can't see anything wro
The Senate is holding firm, for now, on not passing the minimum wage legislation without tax breaks for some businesses. This amounts to a de facto acknowledgment that the minimum wage is harmful to business and low wage workers seeking to gain skills and the experience necessary to gain better paying jobs.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats’ promise of a quick increase in the minimum wage ran aground Wednesday in the Senate, where lawmakers are insisting it include new tax breaks for restaurants and other businesses that rely on low-pay workers.
On a 54-43 vote, Democrats lost an effort to advance a House-passed bill that would lift the pay floor from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour without any accompanying tax cut. Opponents of the tax cut needed 60 votes to prevail.
Source: The Buffalo News - AP Breaking News
Sponsored By: 2007 Buffalo Calendars 2007 Calendars with Buffalo images, ships in 2 days.
The minimum wage bill, as proposed and passed by the Democrats, doesn’t apply to Starkist Tuna workers. I’m sure if one digs deep enough, a bit of quid pro quo would be found.
House Republicans yesterday declared “something fishy” about the major tuna company in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco district being exempted from the minimum-wage increase that Democrats approved this week. ”I am shocked,” said Rep. Eric Cantor, Virginia Republican and his party’s chief deputy whip, noting that Mrs. Pelosi campaigned heavily on promises of honest government. “Now we find out that she is exempting hometown companies from minimum wage. This is exactly the hypocrisy and double talk that we have come to expect from the Democrats.”
Read the rest: GOP hits Pelosi’s ‘hypocrisy’ on wage bill - Nation/Politics - The Washington Times, America’s Newsp
(Posted by Patrick Sullivan Jr.)
George Will pulls out some interesting stats that I had never seen before with minimum wage in his article, Raising the minimum wage is still a bad idea:
Most of the working poor earn more than the minimum wage, and most of the 0.6 percent (479,000 in 2005) of America's wage workers earning the minimum wage are not poor. Only one in five workers earning the federal minimum live in families with household earnings below the poverty line. Sixty percent work part-time and their average household income is well over $40,000. (The average and median household incomes are $63,344 and $46,326 respectively.)
Forty percent of American workers are salaried. Of the 75.6 million paid by the hour, 1.9 million earn the federal minimum or less, and of these, more than half are under 25 and more than a quarter are between 16 and 19. Many are students or other part-time workers. Sixty percent of those earning the federal minimum or less work in restaurants and bars
When television and newspapers give us a portrait of a typical minimum-wage worker, they are almost always wrong. They usually portray a mother or a father with at least two children, who are unable to make ends meet on the $10,300 provided by the minimum wage (the poverty line for one person is $9,827, for a parent and child $13,200, and for a family of four $19,806). In fact, the great majority of “minimum wagers” are much different.
The total number of workers making minimum wage in 2005 was less than 1.9 million.
Sixty percent work part time.
53% are under the age of 25, mainly students and weekend workers.
12.7% of the benefits from a minimum wage increase would go to poor families.
63% would go to those with household incomes over twice the poverty level.
42% would go to those 3 times above the poverty level.
3.7 percent of the benefits from a $7.25 an hour federal minimum wage would go to poor African-American families.
3.8 percent would go to poor single-mother ho
It was the first time in a long while that I had been scheduled to take the early morning shift. Usually if I work breakfast, I clock in at 8:00. However, someone went down sick, so the formidable 6:00 AM slot fell to me. As I walked into the restaurant, I felt good. It was a crisp, clear morning. I encountered no omens on my drive in. As we opened the doors and a few old-timers trickled in, I thought This won't be so bad. I'll probably just have a few guests. Nothing to strenuous. Then I'll sit back relax, sip some Hot tea and eat a few syrup sopped biscuits in the break room...Little did I know that this was to be the longest morning of my commercial culinary career. The following takes place between 6:21 and 7:43 AM.As I walked up to the table I realized that I had waited on them before, though I couldn't remember if it was a pleasant or a vexing visit. It was a couple in their mid-50s.In as genuinely a country fresh tone as I could muster at 6:21, Hello folks, ready for a R
Here is some more great news that came out of yesterday's election.
The voters of the United States overwhelmingly want an increased minimum wage. Minimum wage increases were approved in Colorado, Arizona, Missouri, Montana, Nevada and Ohio. And most of these states the vote was not even close:Minimum wage hikes won in every state they were on the ballot, winning by a resounding 76 percent in Missouri, 73 percent in Montana, 69 percent in Nevada, 66 percent in Arizona, 56 percent in Ohio and 53 percent in Colorado (latest totals).That does not include counties and cities passing similar resolutions, like the one that I voted for here in Cook County.
But it gets better. President Bush has said that a minimum wage increase is one area where he may be willing to cooperate with the Democratic leadership on:President George W. Bush on Wednesday said increasing the national minimum wage is likely an issue on which he could cooperate with Democratic leaders in Congress.I have written ma
Found a wonderful post over at Common Sense Political Thought, Dana over there found a great from the site Gold-Plated Witch on Wheels who had an editorial on her site about Teddy "the drowning whale"(
"How well does this money hit the mark? We heard Senator Kennedy say repeatedly: Those on the lowest rung of the economic ladder. The studies show it is not true. Raising the minimum wage doesn't efficiently target the poor. So most of that $11 billion or $18 billion won't be going to the people who need it the most. It is more likely to be going, for example, to raise the salary of a teenager from a well-off family who has a part-time job at the mall"—Jan. 26, 2007.
On Thursday the Senate voted a 94-3 vote to passed an increase in the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour over two years. The bill will also consist of extended small business tax cuts, close off some corporate tax loopholes and rein in executive compensation.Because of this the House Democrats are insisting that the tax provisions be removed. Our President has warned "I strongly encourage the House to support this combined minimum wage increase and small business tax relief," Why all the fuss?According to the The Washington Post the bill would extend for five years a tax credit for businesses that hire the disadvantaged and would provide expensing and depreciation advantages to small companies, including retailers that own their own stores. The tax breaks would be paid for by closing loopholes on offshore tax shelters, by capping deferred compensation payments to corporate executives and by removing the deductibility of punitive damage payments and fines.I can't see anything wro
