One reason for this wage increase is because of San Francisco’s higher cost of living. Everything is very expensive in this city, whether the costs of homes, clothes, entertainment, cars, food, or bills. Furthermore, the city had passed a proposition in 2003 that entails a yearly increase in minimum wage, depending on inflation and cost of living for that particular year.
Single people in this city make about fifteen dollars per hour, and the salary is double this amount for households with kids. The city of San Francisco hopes that such a wage increase will encourage its residents to spend more on entertainment, luxuries, and shopping in order to increase the demand for the expensive supplies that they market.
The ten-dollar wage minimum is still way more than that salary that Los Angeles, Manhattan, Chicago and Boston pay their minimum wage employees. Other California cities’ minimum wage is only eight dollars per hour. This city also is the only city in California that charges a payroll tax as well as gives nine paid days of sick pay for each employee.
Being a city with beautiful scenic landscapes, historical landmarks, sites, and tourist attractions, including arts, culture, fashion, nightlife, restaurants, piers and skiing, San Francisco tends to attract many tourists during the seasonal holidays, weekends and vacations.