Falsely claiming that wage increases will cost jobs and hurt small business owners, those that oppose the boost appear to be more concerned with corporate needs than those of the larger society. By raising the federal minimum wage, the federal government will be able to lift millions of families out of poverty, improving the economic and social health of the entire country.
According to the Center for Policy Alternatives, if the minimum wage had kept pace with inflation since 1979, when the rate was $2.90 an hour, it would now be just over $7.80 an hour or about $16,000 per year. That’s enough to keep a family of three just above the federal poverty line. At its current level, that same worker only brings home about $10,700 a year. Medicaid, subsidized housing and free school lunch programs help fill the void that low-paying jobs cause. With an increase in the minimum wage, employers would shoulder more of the responsibility for their employee’s basic needs, thereby lowering costs for the states -- and, ultimately, you, the taxpayer.
As far as the criticism that a minimum wage hike will cost jobs, a study by the Economic Policy Institute found that neither the 1996 nor the 1997 federal minimum wage increases caused job losses. It’s interesting that, while simultaneously denying their laborers a salary increase, corporate CEOs see no harm in raising their own salaries. Last year, executive salaries grew 25 percent. According to the EPI, the average American CEO earns more in a half day of work than a minimum wage worker will take home all year.
The federal government has made it clear that the needs of the working poor are not high on its list of priorities. As such, many state legislators have independently raised their state’s wage minimums. Currently, 20 states and the District of Columbia have set wages above the federal minimum, ranging from $6.00 to $7.35 per hour. Research shows that these states have, for the most part, performed just as well economically as states with lower minimum wages.
If the federal government continues to ignore the need for a minimum wage increase, workers will fall further and further behind. State budgets will be overwhelmed as local governments attempt to provide safety nets for workers. Federal legislators don’t deny themselves salary increases, and it’s time they stop denying America’s low-wage workers.
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Judge Greg Mathis is national vice president of Rainbow PUSH and a national board member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
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From www.BlackAmericaWeb.com
