A universal solution
Re: Inconvenient truths of the minimum wage hike, Jan. 10; Minimum wage myopia, Jan. 11; Tims ‘ dragged through the mud,’ Jan. 11.
By pushing the burden of “providing a living wage” to individual employers, the Ontario government has obfuscated the supply side of the labour market, causing predictable immediate effects — cutting back hours, minimizing benefits, etc. Paradoxically, such a large increase in minimum wage overnight can actually hurt the very people it was intended to help.
A better solution would for the government to provide a livable Universal Basic Income ( UBI) to all citizens along with a tax bracket/rate adjustment such that on a net basis, low- income people are better off and continually incentivized to work; the UBI program cost can be covered through a reallocation of all welfare and related administrative funds plus a potential minor tax increase on middle- and high-income earners. This solution also serves to future- proof the economy to a world with higher unemployment caused by increased automation. Zachary Weinstein, San Francisco, Calif. ( formerly Toronto)