Mar
18
JESSICA: Class 15
March 18, 2015 | Leave a Comment
In my opinion, I think a living wage is just. The fact that there are people working hard every day, late nights and weekends in exchange for a meager salary is displeasing. The articles mentioned the service industry and the Guardian article was an anecdotal piece about a waitress. Many people look down on these jobs and pursue an education to avoid a life in the service industry. Others are in the service industry to kill time until their real life starts or to pay off that beloved higher education. While many service industry workers are compensated predominantly on tips, if paid a living wage the employees would not have to stress over their fixed income costs month to month.
The Forbes article was the least helpful in trying to understand income inequality and the difference in wages. The “five myths” are actually factual. The author tries to divert the reader’s attention to the fact that income has increased and that no one really cares about income anyway, however he is just stating numbers and does a poor job of backing them up. For instance, he compares average household income between now and 30 years ago. Even as a research intern I understand how poor of a comparison that is. A better comparison could have been five years ago, or stating every year since 2010. Additionally, all of his “myths” can easily be disputed. Some families only have one person working cause maybe the other is watching the children and tending to the needs of the house. The third myth about people being voluntarily on welfare confuses me. Why do people lack trust in others so easily? We all want to work hard, why does this author think that some people are sitting on their checks to come in? Overall, this article took me by surprise because I still do believe the myths he stated to be true.
On the other hand, I really appreciated The Guardian article. I understand that it is a London based newspaper, but I appreciated how they were able to tell the story without atrociously stating that people in America are basically not paid to work. The article made me think about certain things I guess I do not even realize my server may be doing when I am eating at a restaurant, such as going to the bathroom. The ending of the article also really resonated with me and the “confidence code” that women lack when applying to jobs. While I do not think it is just women who are getting ripped off for not being paid a living wage, many women are being affected by this matter. Although the problem would not be solved by women applying to more positions, it is a start for some women to realize they are an asset and can become a valuable part of the company they are working at.
Furthermore, even though I did not feel too strongly about the Crain article, I respected the ending sentiment in the article. I hope lawmakers realize that they will be helping a large population when raising the minimum wage. Every argument has two sides and I can see why they would not want to raise the minimum wage, for example, where would that money even come from? Also it may be raising $1 or $2 but there are x amount of people who need it, which probably adds up greatly. Even with all that, the minimum wage should be raised. I also strongly agree with Senator Krueger’s statement. As an intern for a large, successful company, if I was compensated and living in poverty, I definitely would not stay in that corporate culture, no matter how great the team I was working with was. Even for intern positions I would not accept a low wage or no wage, and why should I? The skills one gains from any position, whether it be part time or full time should be compensated for.
In the end, no matter who you are, you should not be looked down upon due to your occupation and paycheck. In the end, we are all cogs in the machine. Those who look down upon employees in the service industry, yet do not know how to cook or never do, are the ones who should be tipping 20%. I am grateful for the service workers and while I cannot empathize with their struggles, I can rejoice knowing that they are working on those weekends I do not feel like cooking so I can eat something, or those times when I haven’t eaten anything all day and they are open to provide me with their services. Additionally, lawmakers must see that the raising the minimum wage into a livable wage is the next step to conventional legislation.
