Why Is the Minimum Wage So Low?
October 11, 2006 – 10:07 pmI already wrote in some detail a few months ago about how the federal minimum wage has not been adjusted since 1997. I compared the lack of a minimum wage adjustment to the eight pay raises Congress has given itself in that same time period. That sounds pretty fair.
Well, even the economists agree that it’s time for a minimum wage adjustment. And these aren’t crack economists like my friends Bobby and Mike (kidding, fellas). We have five Nobel laureates, plus approximately 650 of their colleagues, saying that the minimum wage should be raised, and this raise will not have the disastrous consequences the Republican Congress has claimed.
Critics of a minimum wage hike have contended a higher minimum wage lead employers to cut jobs or move them offshore. They also say that many minimum wage earners are teenagers working after-school jobs.
The economists disagreed, writing that a phased-in increase in the federal minimum wage to $7.25 “falls well within the range of options where the benefits to the labor market, workers, and the overall economy would be positive.”
Why isn’t this happening? The rich keep getting richer in this country, and the poor keep getting poorer. Sometimes the reasons aren’t so subtle.
One Response to “Why Is the Minimum Wage So Low?”
Minimum wage is a slap in the face. I understand that it has been raised but $5.85 is not enought to live on.
By Wendee Buss on Jul 21, 2007 at 11:54 pm