Is it possible for college-educated people with full-time jobs to discuss a proposed minimum wage increase without coming off as condescending?
I’m not so sure that it is. What started off as a desire to write a column breaking down the pros and cons of minimum wage increase proposals in Iowa and Illinois turned sour in my brain after kicking it around with my editor. I realized that no matter how I worded it, blaming "the system" would come off as an indictment of people who have minimum wage jobs.
For starters, I think we all can agree that the federal minimum wage (which Iowa also uses), is far too low at $5.15 an hour. Working 2,080 hours a year (40 hours a week for 52 weeks), would yield $10,712. That’s about $893 per month before taxes, and even if one person could afford to pay rent, utilities and grocery bills on that, it certainly wouldn’t leave anything for savings or any luxuries beyond a spare candy bar here or there.
But after that point, what can we agree on? Having even a state government apply a minimum wage to its entire population is an economic foolishness given the difference in cost of living from one town to the next. What happens is that profit-minded employers in each community must make their own determination about how little they can pay to obtain the labor they require.
Continue reading "Trying to solve the minimum wage issue"
No comments:
Post a Comment