Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Minimum Wage vs. Living Wage

With the economic progress of this country, there are more and more jobs that require more and more education that are more and more specialized. All of this is a necessity of progress that I think everyone understands is happening in all developing nations. The problem comes when we look at the bottom of our economic class system. There are many jobs that can and are being replaced by automation. But there will always be some jobs required by humans that do not pay high wages. The jobs we have illegal aliens mostly covering and other, very desperate members of society. The problem is that our living wage is around $14.50. Or at least it was when Barbara earmarking published Nickel and dimed in which she worked three minimum wage jobs to show that it was impossibly or nearly so to get by. And this problem, though not very noticeable now by the rest of society, will become very apparent as the minimum wage (and lots of under-the-table wages which are much, much lower) spreads apart from a living wage. As the price of living increases with the advancement of our economy, our minimum wage will remain relatively lower and lower in comparison creating an unsustainable economic bottom base that will eat at our welfare and require more and more resources from the rest of us simply to live, let alone provide for anyone else or advance. Increasing the minimum wage is necessary and will happen but what will happen when (assuming for inflation) we reach a point of $7/hour minimum wages (above what they are now) and a $50/hour living wage?

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