Mar
17
Blog Post #8 Andrew Chen
March 17, 2015 | Leave a Comment
Income defines our limits on what we’re able to purchase, whether it be necessities or power. But with the current income inequality, many families aren’t able to to meet living wage requirements. What exactly can be done to help American families who are under the living wage, meet the current wage, or even rise above it?
There’s news of a New York City new living wage policy. However, will this raise make any difference in the numerous families who are struggling as of now? Will this new living wage policy, actually be a living wage policy, or is it just a minor boost to the underpaid? The Huffington Post claims the policy will benefit childless single people, couples, and even couples with one child. However, for many families with more children, they will still be under a living wage.
Buildings that provide city subsidies to businesses housed in these spaces will pay employees $13.13, up from $11.90. This helps about 18,000 workers, and hopefully income inequality will be improved a little bit. Though Seattle became the first major city to set a $15 minimum wage. This sets the standard for other cities to increase the minimum wage as well, which thirteen states, and four other cities did. As more workers are demanding higher minimum wages, and as one city complies to their demands after the other, more establishments are encouraged to follow suit. If this continues, it’s likely that the implementation of a higher national federal wage will be established.
A good issue that the NY Times brings up is that when the minimum wage is raised, does this mean some businesses will have to reduce their labor expenses and lay off some workers? Or would businesses have to resort to raising their prices to push some of the expense costs to the consumer? The NY Times article takes the stance that the increase of minimum wage is not a “first-rate policy”, and that we should be focusing on a more generous earned-income tax credit, and investing in pre-kindergarten education in order to make a bigger difference.
The article at Heritage breaks down the demographics of minimum wage workers. Though this is an article from 2013, it’s still interesting to see numbers match up. A majority of minimum wage workers work part-time, and about 22%-24% of minimum wage workers are at or below the poverty line. This article states that raising the minimum wage will not solve poverty, as most of the poor are not employed at all. So this brings up the issue of whether we should change focus from raising minimum wage, to providing jobs, or a mix of both. James Sherk, the author of this article, feels very strongly towards Congress finding other ways to help the poor, and I agree, if this information were still be true today.
