Comment by kelnos
2 days ago
I'm happy that CA doesn't set a lower min wage for tipped workers, but the problem is that in many/most places in CA, $19/hr is still not a living wage, so the tips are more or less required to keep those workers housed and eating.
A living wage in most population centers in CA is nearly $30/hr.
People argued the living wage was $15/hour in California a few years ago. Then it was $20/hour. Now you're saying $30/hour.
I have to ask what is causing what's considered a living wage to increase so rapidly, because it appears to be increasing far faster than the national inflation rate.
It sounds like a wage-price spiral, though I'm not aware of anyone claiming we're in one.
You are seeing an environment that is highly conducive to a wage spiral, but so far wages haven't shown reactive enough to find that a spiral has set in. Comments like the above indicate that it wouldn't take much of a spark to see it ignite, though.
Granted, like a lot of things in economics, you can only tell in hindsight long after it has played out and the data is collected and analyzed, so it is also possible that the spiral is already underway and we just don't know it yet.