The federal minimum wage was established with the intent to act as a living wage. This precedent was set by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his statement on the National Industrial Recovery Act when he said, “by living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level-I mean the wages of decent living.” While this was its original intent, the federal minimum wage has failed to keep up with inflation as it has not been raised since 2009. Based on this inflation calculator, making $7.25 an hour in 2021 is equivalent to making $5.95 an hour in 2009.
Currently, full-time minimum wage workers make around $15,000 a year, assuming that they work 40 hours a week for 52 weeks. This places them just a few thousand dollars over the poverty line for a single-person household, and it places them in poverty if they have at least one dependent. However, this is an extreme simplification. $15,000 a year for a full-time minimum wage worker does not account for instances in which they would be unable to work, such as sickness, issues with transportation, or lack of childcare. So, missing even a few paychecks as a result of these circumstances draws minimum wage workers even more dangerously close to the poverty line.
Many will argue that no one working 40 hours a week should be living in poverty. However, that implies that there are people who should be living in poverty. If America is supposed to be the greatest country in the world, why is any American living in poverty? Especially when billionaires such as former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos are able to live in such excess that they can buy a $42 million clock or a $400 million yacht.
In 2021, $15,000 a year is by no means a “decent living.” As a result, there has been a growth in support for raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. It has perhaps become most recognizable through the Fight for $15 organization. While this organization has done amazing work for bringing the idea of a $15 minimum wage into the mainstream, it is still not enough.
According to the Living Wage Calculator, a living wage in America would be $16.54 an hour, equaling about $34,403 a year. For reference, a full-time worker earning $15 an hour would be about $31,200 a year. At the same time, 42% of Americans make less than $15 an hour. This means that nearly half of Americans aren’t making enough money to sustain themselves. While raising the federal minimum wage to $15 would be life changing to many individuals, it still simply isn’t enough for every worker in America to live a comfortable life.
Poverty is a deadly disease and having the minimum wage set to such a low standard is just facilitating this illness. Studies show that high rates of mental health issues, substance abuse, and crime, are able to thrive as a result of poverty. Unfortunately, this makes complete sense. Of course, those in poverty don’t have the resources to get a diagnosis for mental illnesses. Especially not when their poverty is often strongly correlated to the existence of their mental illness in the first place. It makes sense that turning to substances such as drugs or alcohol would help cope with the stress that results from not being able to pay bills. It makes sense that people in poverty would have to resort to illegal activities such as selling drugs when they need more money in order to survive.
Not only does poverty lead to increased crime rates — but it also criminalizes people in poverty for just trying to survive. For example, Shaina Bell, a young mother, was recently arrested for leaving her kids alone in a motel while she was working. This was likely her only option at that time, assuming she could not afford to pay for childcare. Although this situation has received high amounts of media attention, it is not unique. For Bell and other parents like her, they are doing whatever they can to provide for their children. Instead of receiving assistance for her situation, she was arrested.
Whether we like it or not, we are all products of our environments and we are limited to the choices that are available to us. No one chooses to live in poverty. People in poverty can’t just “pull themselves up by their bootstraps” as they don’t have access to the resources that could get them out of poverty. They are confined to the select choices they are given. Raising the minimum wage would extend opportunities to people suffering from low incomes
The growing gap between the rich and the poor is making the need for a higher minimum wage all the more necessary. The Federal Reserve reported in 2019 that the bottom 90% of households only share 30% of wealth. On the other hand, the top 1% of Americans held 33% of the wealth. This statistic is staggering, although unfortunately not surprising. The pandemic has only further proved that this is not sustainable. While unemployment rates have soared as a result of Covid-19, billionaires have continued to thrive.
Many will argue that raising the minimum wage will be bad for the economy, however, this isn’t necessarily true. Even if it was, how is the hoarding of wealth between a select few any better? How can the economy be doing well if nearly half of Americans aren’t making enough money to survive?
Raising the minimum wage isn’t going to be the one thing that fixes such a broken system, but it will save lives. Lifting people in America out of poverty should no longer be a debate. The means for a higher quality of life is out there, and it’s time that we finally make it accessible for all.