Brickbat: The Rising Cost of Getting By

Starting July 12, New York City will require food delivery apps to pay their workers $17.96 an hour. That will rise to $19.96 in hour in 2025 and then be indexed to inflation. Prior to the law taking effect, food delivery workers were making about $12 an hour in the city. New York City's minimum wage is $15. City officials decided that food delivery workers should be paid more than the minimum wage because they are independent contractors, who are taxed more heavily than employees and have other work-related expenses that employees do not have.