Raising the Minimum Wage
Raising the Minimum Wage
Once President Joe Biden took office at the beginning of the year, he had made plans for a Covid Relief Bill. In the bill, he proposed that there be an increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. This sparked arguments between people in Congress, and left many divided on the issue. Those for the increase argued that it is incredibly difficult for even a single person to live on minimum wage and it becomes even more difficult with families. Those against the increase argued that small businesses would struggle to pay their workers, and as a result many people would be left unemployed. Ultimately, the minimum wage increase ended up being denied from the bill. Despite being denied from the bill, this issue continues to cause much debate, and people have been starting to become restless over this. All around the country, employees are demanding that they receive higher wages. Some businesses have supported the employees’ wishes, but there are still many places that are against an increase in wages. This is an issue that will not go away until there is a solid solution. The federal minimum wage should gradually be increased to $15 an hour over several years in order for many Americans to live a bit more comfortably, and will allow businesses to prepare for the increases in wages.
A report in March 2021 by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), named “Raising the Federal Minimum Wage to $15 by 2025 Would Lift the Pay of 32 Million Workers”, senior economist analyst, David Cooper, argues for an increased minimum wage and explains why Raise the Wage Act of 2021 is beneficial for America. Cooper supports his argument by including charts and data retrieved from EPI, and clearly lists each of his reasonings in organized bullet points. Cooper’s purpose is to advocate for an increased federal minimum wage in order for the lives of millions of Americans to be changed for the good. Cooper’s intended audience for this report is for Americans and for them to learn about this issue and to get them to support the increased minimum wage. The Raise the Wage Act of 2021 plans to increase the minimum wage to $15 over a five year period, and would continue to increase over the following years. Gradually increasing the minimum wage is a smart plan, since just deciding to move to increase the minimum wage by that much in one year, would most likely be impossible. This gives time for businesses to adjust to the increase. Plus, the United States is overdue for an increased minimum wage. Currently, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, and hasn’t been raised since 2009. (Though, there are several states that have a minimum wage that is higher than the federal one, with only Washington D.C. being $15 an hour). Since the last minimum wage increase, “A full-time federal minimum wage worker today earns 18% less than what her counterpart earned at the time of the last increase, after adjusting for rising costs of living ($15,080 annually in 2021 versus $18,458 in 2009)” (Cooper, par. 2). If the minimum wage were to correctly coincide with the rate of inflation and productivity, then it “would be over $22 per hour” (Cooper, par. 3). With all this in mind, it seems almost ridiculous for there to not be some sort of increase in the minimum wage. If the cost of living and inflation increases, then wages should correspond with them, so people are able to keep up.
electricity, and the list goes on and on. If someone has kids, then that’s a whole other battleground to deal with. It is virtually impossible to cover all of these expenses on $7.25 an hour, or even the minimum wages set in certain state’s. There are many Americans who have to make the decision of if they are going to eat or pay rent. No one should have to be faced with that decision. Sometimes to compensate, people will take on more than one job- their lives become completely engrossed with work. The minimum wage should be the minimum amount of money it takes for someone to be able to live on, and currently that is not the case in America.
Working at a minimum wage job is not as easy as many people perceive it to be. These jobs come with a ton of obstacles. There are constantly customers yelling at the employees’ faces for minor mistakes. Getting yelled at is definitely not a pleasant experience, and can even be degrading in some cases. There are cases where things may get physical, such as throwing a napkin at an employee or even food, if it is not done to a customer’s liking. The hours of these jobs can be unpredictable or non accommodating, and trying to get a day off is another obstacle in itself. Many minimum wage places often have little to no benefits as well. With the pandemic, a new interference ensues as well. At the Covid Virus’s peak, going to work every day was a gamble. An employee ran the chance of catching the virus, which could easily become deadly. For many, there was no possibility of just staying home - they just had to hope for the best. To make matters worse, many customers would enter the businesses with no mask, and had no intention of putting on one either. If an employee asked that customer to put one on, it could lead to verbal harassment. Employees had to worry and deal with all of these factors (along with the actual work that they had originally signed up for)
for as low as $7.25 an hour. Many people are sick of these treatments and want to actually be valued as an employee now. They are quitting and demanding for better treatment and wages. This can easily be seen with the increase of “now hiring” signs in front of businesses. People are growing greater standards and are becoming intolerant.
businesses/employers are struggling to deal with this. Rhodes examines this problem, by interviewing both employers and employees in the hospitality industry, along with statistics and polls from various resources. It appears that Rhodes hopes to spread awareness to this growing problem, in anticipation that a solution can be found, since Rhodes herself doesn’t offer any official solution. Rhodes most likely wrote this article mainly for Florida residents that have found themselves in the same situation, or those who haven’t been fully informed of the topic yet. Although, the main problem of this article can most likely go beyond those in Florida, as people in other states could be in similar predicaments. As the hospitality industry begins to go back to normal conditions in Florida, the ability to find or keep employees has become a set back for many businesses. A survey for hospitality workers in Florida had found that “13.5% of workers told pollsters they felt confident the industry would protect their jobs in the event of a future crisis. Another 57% said they were furloughed, laid off, or had their hours cut hastily, and more than 43% said they planned to leave their current company in the next year” (Rhodes, par. 25). This can stem back to the fact that many workers believe that they are not being compensated enough for the work that they have to do, that often goes beyond the original job description they signed up for. In Florida, the minimum wage is “$8.56 an hour, but for tipped employees, it is only $5.63” (Rhodes, par. 29). These wages do not properly compensate for the work those in the hospitality industry have to deal with, and they certainly are not livable wages either. Plus, for tipped workers, they end up having to rely on customers, and there is no guarantee that the tips from them are going to be adequate. As a result, what many people have begun to realize is that going on unemployment pays almost the same as having a minimum wage job. Why work at a place with horrible conditions and benefits, when you could stay home with your family for the same pay? All in all, people are beginning to realize their worth and value as an employee, and are beginning to grow restless for livable wages. If there is no solution soon, businesses will become short staffed and desperate.
There is a good chunk of people who are strong opposers to raising the minimum wage. They often worry that an increase would be a huge blow for small businesses and as a result many people could become unemployed. This is a valid concern, especially with pandemic affecting a lot of places. Hopefully, if there is a gradual increase of the minimum wage, it will give businesses enough time to prepare for this. Plus, if people are paid more, a lot of that money will go right towards businesses. Some people will have enough money to pay for other things, besides the essential living expenses. In a more harsh perspective, if a small business can only stay running by paying their employees inadequate and unlivable wages, then perhaps they are not capable of running their business. Another argument is that there is no need for an increased minimum wage, since most minimum wage workers are teenagers. However, this is not true, since Cooper points out, “The average age of workers who would see a pay increase under the Raise the Wage Act is 35 years old. About 90% of those with increased wages would be adults age 20 or older” (Cooper par 13).
It is clear that the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is not enough for American workers. It is insanely difficult for someone to survive on those wages and does not reflect the work that they have to do. Americans are starting to become vocal about this issue, and are demanding that there be some sort of change. This is completely reasonable. American workers need to be better cared for, and should be able to live comfortably. An increase in the minimum wage is long overdue, and many Americans are not going to stop until that is done.
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