Final answer:
Wages for restaurant workers can be 'sticky,' often remaining at or near minimum wage due to laws and market competition. Real wages have actually decreased due to inflation, as exemplified by an 11% CPI increase from 2007 to 2012, eroding purchasing power.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question of how many years wages for restaurant workers have remained the same requires analysis of various economic periods and policies. Wages, especially in the service and food industries, can be downwardly sticky due to minimum wage laws, often preventing a decrease but at the same time, they can be upwardly sticky when a lack of competition in labor markets permits employers to maintain low wages to maximize profits.
Despite this stickiness, the actual purchasing power of wages has declined due to inflation. For example, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 11% from 2007 to 2012, leading to a decline in real wages. It highlights the discrepancy between nominal and real wages, as nominal wages may not have decreased, but their value has decreased when considering the cost of living.