In recent years the minimum wage requirements of our country have been called into question, and for good reason. A minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is not enough for someone to live comfortably. While this is not important to many minimum wage workers, i.e. high school students, it means a great deal to anyone attempting to support a household. These people are often shrugged off by the majority of society, being blamed for their lack of fortune rather than helped.
One of the forms this blame takes is the argument that they are doing a high schooler’s job. It may be true that minimum wage jobs are traditionally filled by younger people requiring a first career, but this does not make those jobs exclusive to them. Often jobs at chain-businesses are the only ones available and thus must be taken. This does not make the workers lazy or incompetent adults; it simply means that they may not have the required tools to obtain another career.
Another argument against the raising of minimum wage is that others with more important or demanding jobs get paid the fifteen dollars that workers are asking for. This is a completely valid point and speaks to a deeper problem in our society. We measure our success solely in relation to those around us, thus to feel successful we need someone else to be unsuccessful. The alternative to this would be the idea that a rising tide lifts all boats, meaning that if the lower end of our economy is bolstered it will improve life for everyone.
Looking at the base aspects of raising the minimum wage, the essential idea is wealth redistribution. The goal is to put more wealth into the pockets of those suffering from poverty in our country. One of the largest questions is: where will this money come from? The answer should be business owners. This is because the reason that someone would get paid less than a living wage is for the company to make more profit. While companies do need to be profitable, it is not the responsibility of workers to make this happen. If a company can only hire a worker if they pay them less than living wage, that company does not make enough to hire a worker. Otherwise, we are saying that it is a worker’s responsibility to not only do their job, but also to take an economic hit for the sake of someone else’s business goals.
In short, there are many reasons that the minimum wage should be raised to a living wage. If nothing else, because a person working full-time should be able to support themselves in any job that is the point of a full-time job. It makes me excited for the future to see that people are beginning to address this issue on a national scale.
