Support minimum wage amendment

Congress is currently in the process of debating the renewal of the welfare reform law. The question of welfare and poverty in America provokes reflection on the national minimum wage.

Currently, the renewal of the welfare reform law is stalled in the Senate because of the efforts of leading Democrats to pass a minimum wage amendment. Seven years have passed since Congress has raised the minimum wage, and Democrats are right to stall the welfare bill for a minimum wage amendment.

According to U.S. Department of Labor statistics, Connecticut has a minimum wage of $7.10 per hour- one of the highest rates in the country. Thus, the need for a national minimum wage amendment may sound foreign to residents of states with high and fairer wages. Nonetheless, the need for an increase is very real for millions of people. The federal minimum wage remains at a stagnant $5.15 an hour.

Such a dismal wage rate may be shocking to workers in one of the wealthiest states. It should be noted only 12 states have enacted minimum wage laws higher than the federal government. The federal government must renew its commitment to working class America and the impoverished by passing the minimum wage amendment.

The proposed amendment would gradually increase the minimum wage over a period of two years to $7 an hour. Past increases in the minimum wage have demonstrated there is no negative effect on jobs, unemployment or inflation. In fact, increases in the minimum wage have resulted in an increase in productivity in the economy. After the wage increase seven years ago, nearly 11 million jobs were created over a period of four years.

Since the last minimum wage increase seven years ago, the cost of living has risen dramatically. As a result of a failure to raise the minimum wage, the purchasing power of low-income workers has declined substantially. Workers have been able to move off welfare, but they have not been able to escape poverty.

The purchasing power of the minimum wage has declined since the late 1960s. In order for the minimum wage to buy the same amount of goods as it could purchase then, it must be raised to at least $8.15 an hour. The federal government has failed to keep pace with cost of living and inflation changes. Thus, asking for an amendment that only moderately increases the wage is not asking for too much. Members of Congress could, and should, be asking for a larger increase than the proposed amendment.

The current $5.15 minimum wage generates approximately $10,700 of income a year. That annual amount is nearly $5,000 dollars below the poverty line for a family of three. It is neither right nor ethical for the minimum wage to entitle an individual to a life below the poverty line. The minimum wage should guarantee that workers receive a living wage that does not trap them in poverty.

Recently, America has suffered economically difficult times. Problems of jobs moving overseas, access to health care and rising unemployment are plaguing the economy. However, one economic factor the media has been relatively silent on concerns the level of Americans below the poverty line.

Thirty-five million Americans, including 12 million children live in poverty. This is not acceptable. The number of fulltime workers who live a life of poverty has doubled since the 1970s. Employees who are working full-time and year-round in a low-wage job deserve better than being forced to a life of poverty. Minimum wage workers deserve fair wages.

According to the Coalition on Human Need, a wage increase would have several other public policy benefits concerning families, civil rights and women's rights.

Nearly two-thirds of the people who would benefit from a wage increase are women who are living in poverty. Many women who are able to get off welfare are forced to work minimum wage jobs that do not allow them to raise children at a fair standard. The benefits of a minimum wage increase would greatly help mothers and will work to close the pay gap between men and women.

A minimum wage increase would also help to solve the problems plaguing inner city minority groups who are often unable to get a job at a fair wage. Nearly 2.5 million minorities would benefit from the wage amendment, making alternatives such as crime less profitable.

The amendment will also work to improve family relations. Many of the parents who work minimum wage jobs are forced to work multiple jobs to make ends meet. Not only are parents working multiple jobs, but they are also working longer hours that leave little time for their children. Raising the minimum wage would at least allow parents to work fewer hours so they can spend more time raising their family.

As Congress debates the renewal of the welfare reform law, poverty issues such as these must be the fundamental basis of the debate. A minimum wage increase cannot solve the massive economic problems in America, but it can at least help some Americans break from the trap of poverty. Increasing the minimum wage over two years so that workers receive an additional $3,800 a year will greatly help the poor to purchase fundamental needs such as groceries and pay for heat and electricity.

The Bush administration wants to make the poverty problem even worse by denying millions of Americans access to overtime protections. America can no longer tolerate employers over-working employees at such cheap costs.

The proposed minimum wage amendment is fair and long overdue. A vote against the minimum wage amendment is a vote to keep the status quo, which forces millions of hard-working Americans to a life of poverty.

Over the last seven years, members of Congress have voted themselves $23,400 in salary increases. Congress has been more than willing to give themselves a pay increase, while hard working Americans in minimum wage jobs earn only $10,700 a year. Because workers deserve better, working America hopes Congress will pass a long-overdue fair wage increase this year.

Sources: http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/03/31/welfare.childcare.ap/index.html http://www.chn.org/pdf/IBminwage.pdf http://www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/america.htm