I almost didn't give this post that title, knowing as I do that calling a spade a spade will get me called unsympathetic to the poor. But some things should be called by their rightful name, and sob stories about breadwinners making the minimum wage is one of those things.
This article by the Christian Science Monitor focuses on an Oklahoma man trying to raise a family of four on six bucks an hour.
It's a sad tale. In fact, it's the sort of sad tale that is trotted out frequently whenever raising the minimum wage goes up. Even though we know that half of all minimum wage earners are under 25 and most are not married and do not have children, it's not as compelling a story for raising the minimum wage as a devoted father and hard working adult.
The Christian Science Monitor story is chockfull of lines to tug at your heartstrings, including that according to this Economic Policy Institute calculator, a family of four in Muskogee, Oklahoma (the setting of the story) should make $33,000 for basic needs. You have to do a little digging to discover that, for the calculator, basic needs includes "housing, food, child care transportation, health care, other necessities, and taxes." While certainly shelter, food, and clothing are "basic necessities," child care doesn't have to be (if one family member stays home with children), and transportation, health care, and taxes are fungible.
On top of all this, the subject of the story, John Hosier, makes above the minimum wage anyway. He makes $6 an hour driving a truck for the Salvation Army. There's nothing in the article that explains how a hike in the minimum wage, which will take two years to go into full effect, will change his life much. Not to mention that prices will indeed go up and some jobs may go vacant.
I have said here and elsewhere that I don't mind them raising the minimum wage, largely because most places are paying more than $5.15 an hour as it is. It's a measure designed to make people feel like they are helping the poor without really doing anything and without having to get their hands dirty by really helping the poor (through charitable work, for example).
What I do mind is stories like this one which try to portray minimum wage workers as just hardworking folks who, but for a couple of breaks, could have been you or me. This is a false picture on several fronts.
* Of the 75.6 million American workers, only 479,000 make exactly $5.15.
* About 1.4 million make below minimum wage (usually food service jobs that include tips as wages or jobs that are seasonal)
* Half of all minimum wage earners are under 25.
* Part-time workers are more likely to make minimum wage than full-time workers.
* Fewer people make the minimum wage now than did in 1979, when data was first being collected.
These statistics aren't as compelling as the man from Muskogee, but at least they are an honest reflection of minimum wage workers.
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