Could California’s $20 Fast Food Minimum Wage Do More Harm Than Good For College Students?
By Brenna Sprague
As of the first of April, California’s fast food employees will be making a $20 an hour minimum, four dollars more than the state’s minimum wage. This has led to much excitement, but also concern, over how this change will ultimately affect state economics.
This new change was put into effect by Assembly Bill 1228, which does more than simply raise the minimum wage for fast food employees, but also raises standards for food chains across the state. According to the office of Gavin Newsom, Californian Governor, the bill, “Repeals and replaces provisions of the statute creating the Fast Food Council within the Department of Industrial Relations, creating a process to develop minimum fast food restaurant employment standards, related to wages, working conditions, and training.”
This comes as a response to the ongoing public fight for livable wages. It is no secret that California is an incredibly expensive place to make a living, and fast-food employees have long since been seen as the bottom tier of the workforce. Just think of how often the term “Burger flipper” is used derogatorily.
While this bill will undoubtedly help many fast-food employees who may have otherwise been struggling to make ends meet, there is certain to be an adjustment period, especially for part-time employees who have other obligations, such as college students. Many part-time employees worry about their hours, or the cost of living, and how it will be affected by the new bill.
Marshall Hintze, a student at CSUMB who works at Starbucks said “$20 is nice, but they have made up for it by seriously cutting hours, and my tips had been less because of the price increases, so at the end of the day, I am not making much more,” said MH, “but I’m sure they will continue to raise expenses for stuff like food, gas, and rent, so I have to admit I’m a little concerned.”
As an economics student, Hintze is especially worried about how increased fast food wages will affect the rest of the job force, “It will definitely lead to layoffs, and the job market will only become more competitive. As someone who is graduating soon, I feel really unsure about what the future holds in terms of employment.”
A manager at Panera Bread commented on how the public has reacted to their changes following the wage increase, “It’s crazy how quickly prices went up, we have been getting a lot of complaints on our end. I have to manage customer comments and reviews and it is clear that the public is not happy about our price, and they see through the marketing strategies like overhauling our menu to make it less expensive for us. It is hard to find a balance right now, things feel incredibly unstable.”
When asked about the part-time employees, the Manager shared some additional concerns, “It’s really hard because we do have quite a few students from both MPC and CSUMB who can only work very specific hours…At the end of the day, it makes more sense to give the limited hours to those with more flexible schedules, it just is not worth it to put someone on shift outside of peak business hours because it is within their limited availability. Unfortunately, cuts like this are necessary with all of the added labor cost.”
Outside of employment, CSUMB students have noticed a general lack in quality from their favorite fast-food restaurants, including the campus Starbucks. Max Robinson, a new student at CSUMB this semester claimed that “The Campus Starbucks seems like it is always understaffed. The last few times I went in I was told that they were over twenty minutes behind on orders. As someone who works in food service, I honestly feel for them.”
The issue is not contained to campus, however, as Robinson commented further, “It seems like I am paying more and waiting longer no matter where I go. At this point I can’t even afford to go out with my friends because the average meal is so expensive. I feel like my social life has been affected.”
Despite some apprehensive feelings, many of those who were asked for comments also showed optimism about the change. Marshall Hintze showed some positivity regarding time off, “I am obviously glad to be making more money, it makes it easier to bounce back if I need to take a day off for some reason.”
Overall, attitudes around this new change seem to be polarizing to say the least. With it being such a new change, it is yet to be determined how it will ultimately affect the economic climate for students and non-students alike.
