What really happened after California raised its minimum wage to $20 for fast food workers

[Omaha Steve]

By Judd Legum Dec 03, 2024

What would happen to the fast food industry if it had to pay its workers something closer to a living wage?

California decided to find out. In September 2023, the state enacted a new law that required fast food restaurants with more than 60 locations nationwide to pay workers a minimum of $20 per hour — a $4 per hour increase. The new minimum wage went into effect in April 2024. More than 700,000 people work in California's fast food industry.

Almost immediately, Americans nationwide were told the new law would devastate California's fast food industry. In November 2023, before fast food chains in California were even required to pay higher wages, Good Morning America aired a segment warning that customers of McDonald's and Chipotle could be faced with higher prices.

In April 2024, Good Morning America ran another piece about the "stark realities" and "burdens" restaurants would face due to the new law. The segment quoted an owner of several El Pollo Loco franchises, who claimed that she would have to "reduce hours by roughly more than 10%, simplify menus, and implement new technologies such as automated ordering kiosks." An April 2024 piece in the Wall Street Journal, citing two weeks of data after the new wage went into effect, claimed that "fast-food and fast-casual restaurants in California have increased prices by 10% overall." It also relied on anecdotes from people like John Matthews, a "62-year-old project manager" who " believes the fast-food wage law is a drag on the state economy." Matthews told the paper that he "shifted his roughly $600 in monthly restaurant spending to independent, sit-down restaurants and away from McDonald’s, Chipotle and other chains.”

FULL story: https://popular.info/p/what-really-happened-after-california

[MichMan]

1. Why are fast food workers put in a different category than other minimum wage workers?

Based on the data, it looks like it is time to raise it to $30 per hour on all businesses

[Biophilic]

2. How the heck can any of us begin to keep track of all these "slight of hand" reports and so called news articles?

The larger and larger number of people willing and seemingly eager to lie, to twist reports and numbers in order to gaslight their fellow humans is beyond my understanding. It’s like being “cleverly “ dishonest is a game and the consequences don’t count.

[Beartracks]

3. Corporate warnings make it sound like payroll money somehow exits the economy.

Like that money will never be seen again instead of, you know, increasing economic demand as more workers have more money to spend. Economies have both supply and demand, not just supply.

If you want to see money literally disappear, have conservatives crash the economy again.

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[Basso8vb]

4. Nothing happened

All of the fast food joints near me are still alive and well.

Just the usual complaining from owners.