Why a living minimum wage matters

Why a living minimum wage matters

Taxes. Yes, that's right, taxes. Disregarding the 1% for a moment, this making more income pay more in income taxes. Those making a poverty wage pay nothing in income taxes. They get everything back in their refund check. This helps no one. the government gets an interest free loan, but that's about it. The worker gets about $500 dollars back in the Spring when their refund check arrives. That's a little windfall, but that will be spent almost before it arrives.

People with disposable income will spend that money, usually locally. A higher wage allows workers to pay for more items such and food and clothing. That money gets put back into the economy very quickly. The shops get more business, in return they can hire more people who will spend their paychecks. It becomes an upward spiral. Throughout this the government gets more in sales taxes across the board.  Governments with more income use that money to better their infrastructure. Roads, bridges, and buildings are maintained. That maintenance means steady jobs. Those jobs pay workers that in turn spend for items such as food, shelter, and clothing. 

Another reason to pay a living wage is that people get sick. Like it or not, Obamacare is here. Even if it doesn't last, people need health insurance. If that insurance is paid for by the individual, that worker needs to have the money. Given a choice between food on the table tonight or maybe having a big medical bill in a few years, dinner is served. Being paid enough so that the insurance is also affordable helps everyone. If a worker does not have insurance, they are far less likely to see a doctor regularly. If they do get really sick, they  go to the ER - but are unable to pay. That increases the costs for everyone else. They are also more likely to go to work sick than an insured worker. A sick worker gets other workers sick. If that worker is in the food services business, the malady spreads to customers too.   Had the worker been insured, the likelihood of their seeing a doctor early would have been much higher. They may have missed a few days of work, but that is better than several workers being out currently and having a reputation of getting customers sick with the product.

People need to eat, food on the table, a car to drive, and a place to live. Working for $7.25 an hour will not provide any of that. Consider that $7.25 @ 40 hrs/week for 50 weeks = $14,500/year - at full time - before taxes. What minimum wage worker gets full time hours? A person would have to work multiple jobs at that rate to make 40 hours a week. That means that person is not a full time employee and so is not getting any benefits beyond the paycheck. No health insurance, and no means in order to buy health insurance, even on the Obamacare exchanges. So we are back to the ER or not seeing a doctor at all. 

$14,500 isn't paying for much beyond partial rent - get a roommate. Buying food is not an option, so you're walking instead of driving. You can't afford that car, or the auto insurance that goes with it, or the gasoline and maintenance costs either. Maybe you can get a bicycle. Are you a single mother of two trying to make ends meet? Hope that your parents are still alive to help out. Got a student loan left over from those heady days when you thought getting a degree was your ticket out of low-wage employment? You must pay that before all other debts. 

A living minimum wage helps the entire society. Paying people what they are worth is the key to the American Dream. We are supposed to be able to work hard to get ahead, but if employers decline to subscribe to the idea that paying people what they are worth is what drives our nation forward, then there is no hope for us a society. Our community is broken and our nation will collapse under the weight of the greed at the top.