[autognosis]

CTRL+F "Minimum wage" yields no results in either the OP, or the comments.

That tells me that SF is going to have a homelessness problem for loooong time.

CA has told everyone that they CANNOT work if their time is not worth at least $21/hour. $15 for minimum wage, and ~$7 for taxes on the business to provide that employment. Of course you are going to have these problems.

Downvote me if you like. But you cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring reality. if you really cared about these people, you'd abolish the minimum wage yesterday.

[bm1362]

So you're saying that a high minimum wage prevents homeless people from getting jobs? That opinion seems overly simplistic -- I'm inclined to believe homelessness isn't a result of the lack of opportunity.

[WillPostForFood]

High minimum wage reduces opportunity for those capable of working to find work. And if you are going to hire someone at $15/hr it may mean you now longer have to take a chance on someone less skilled, less experienced, or with a sketchy record. It is simplistic, or simple economics. But of course you are right, the core problem of homelessness isn't lack of opportunity, or lack of housing.

[autognosis]

Yes, that is a fact. Minimum wage increases unemployment. Ispso facto.

No job ---> no self-reliance.

Homelessness is only a short leap from that point.

Simple does not imply over simplification.

[rm_-rf_slash]

Minimum wages also correlate with higher economic growth, as higher wages mean more people can buy more stuff, and so more people are employed to sell those people that stuff.

Also you leave out mental illness and addiction which are impossible-to-ignore factors when comparing homelessness to impoverishment.

[kafkaesq]

I didn't see a need for the downvotes. But you're definitely conflating two very different issues.

[boona]

Actually the issues are closely linked. For example, look at the Davis-Bacon Act which according to the National Center for Policy Analysis "the 1931 Davis-Bacon Act, requiring ‘prevailing’ wages on federally assisted construction projects, was supported by the idea that it would keep contractors from using ‘cheap colored labor’ to underbid contractors using white labor.". Similarly in 1925 British Columbia passed the Hours of Work Act to stop "Oriental labour" from competing with whites. Minimum wage (or Basic wage) was enacted in Australia for the same reason.

It was also praised by progressives at the time. Harvard’s Arthur Holcombe said that these laws “protect the white Australian’s standard of living from the invidious competition of the colored races, particularly of the Chinese.” Florence Kelley said that the laws were “redeeming the sweated trades” by preventing the “unbridled competition” of the unemployable, the “women, children, and Chinese were reducing all the employees to starvation”.

There was a time where we understood the economic impacts of so called minimum wage. We knew that it made it illegal for low skilled workers to be employed. Fast forward to today, if a homeless person cannot produce at a rate of $13.00, which is San Francisco minimum wage, they are not allowed to work. It's against the law! So though it might not solve every case, it would surely help if it were legal for them to hold a job.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/carriesheffield/2014/04/29/on-th...

https://www.quora.com/Is-the-claim-that-minimum-wage-laws-ha...

http://halifax.mediacoop.ca/blog/theuncivilized/31240

[kafkaesq]

Well, they're overlapping for sure. But you have to keep in mind that the root causes behind homelessness are quite complex, and fairly stated, many of these people wouldn't be employable at any wage -- even if there were jobs for them, which are by no means guaranteed, or even likely to appear if we suddenly raised the minimum wage to a viable level (which I happen to be in favor of).

Or stated alternatively -- yes, over generations, the gradual lowering of the minimal wage (combined with the evisceration of middle class wages, and the decimation of affordable housing stock) has certainly been a major driving force behind the crisis we find ourselves in today. But simply raising the minimum wage isn't going to (quickly) reverse that tide.

So that's why the two issues seem to be (while overlapping) basically different kettles of fish.