What is Mr Beast gonna do now?
Quote:
The American restaurant industry continues to hemorrhage money as local governments around the U.S. restrict indoor dining options in order to keep COVID-19 cases at bay. With other parts of the economy still lagging and many Americans still unemployed, Congressional Democrats want to pass another large COVID-19 relief package.
Except this time, Democrats want to provide that relief by doubling the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $15 an hour. As part of that effort, Democrats also want to completely eliminate the tipped minimum wagea lower hourly rate paid to certain workers in the hospitality industry. The federal tipped minimum wage is currently $2.13 an hour and many workers who receive it make up the difference (and then some) with tips from customers. The COVID-19 relief bill could raise that amount to $15 an hour.
As I wrote last month, the Democrats' latest spending effort would likely require many of the bill's intended recipients to seek relief from the relief. Though some employees may see a bump in pay, others would lose their jobs entirely. In a recent report, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour would lift 900,000 people out of poverty while pushing 1.4 million people out of work.
That effect would arguably be even more pronounced in the restaurant industry, which would see labor costs increase up to 700 percent, as opposed to the mere 200 percent faced by businesses whose employees already make $7.25 an hour. (If tipped-wage workers are not able to pull in the equivalent of the full federal minimum wage, employers are already required by law to make up the difference.)
