The Cost of Raising Minimum Wage

While gettin' my sweat on at the gym the other day, I saw a news report about fast food workers pushing to raise minimum wage to $15/hour. The idea of this is appalling on so many levels. I understand that minimum wage is not a livable wage, but that's kind of the point. Minimum wage jobs exist for people with no job experience, education, or marketable skills-- i.e. high school kids. The current job market is tough, which is why we should all prepare ourselves for success as much as possible.

Minimum wage jobs were not designed to be lifelong careers. They are an entry point into the workforce for people with little to no skills. They exist to teach the basic skills needed for a lifetime of work. A person should learn a trade or get an education in a specific field before expecting to make more than $10/hour. At the very least, a person should aspire to move up to a management position within their current company as a means of gaining more experience and a higher salary. There is something that today's society seems to forgotten, and that is that the purpose of work is to EARN money. Money is a limited resource, and a valuable commodity. It should not be given freely or without effort.

I have two bachelors degrees, and there are months when I make less than the average minimum wage worker. While I technically make a decent hourly wage, I am guaranteed to be paid only about half the hours per month that a typical shift worker would get. When on reserve (an on-call only status), I have no control over how much I work and never know ahead of time how many hours I will work that month. In the months where I don't "break" (go over) guarantee by working more hours than my minimum guarantee, that's all I get. When you do the math, I end up making somewhere around the minimum hourly wage (between 7 and 9 dollars per hour).

I don't have a ton of extra cash for superfluous spending, but I get by. In a previous post, I explained my personal methods for living cheap and making ends meet. I am buried in student loans, and also owe a substantial chunk of cash to my parents for money they've loaned me over the past few years. I chip away at these debts a little at a time, whenever I can spare a little money, and this is how it will be for the foreseeable future. I may not be wealthy, but at least I'm educated and employed. I have acquired job experience and marketable skills, and am working toward a brighter financial future for myself. I am not able to buy all of the things that I want, but I am able to buy all of the things that I need. It's not a perfect life that I lead, but it's one of a hardworking American.

Raising the minimum wage would inspire even more laziness and sense of entitlement than is already present in our society. Do we really want an even less educated and hardworking nation? What ever happened to ambition? Yes, people need to eat. No, not everyone needs an iPhone, or even a smartphone. I didn't have a smartphone until about seven months ago, because I couldn't afford one before then. I also know people who still don't have one. Sure, it's a great convenience and nice to have, but it's certainly not a necessity.

If we raise minimum wage by such a substantial amount, then we are further crippling our nation's future. The low wages aren't the problem; it's the attitude of today's American that is to blame. People need to remember the purpose of minimum wage jobs, and act accordingly. Additionally, if the minimum wage goes up, the wages of people with skill and education should go up by the same amount. To offset these wages, the cost of goods will also rise, and this cycle will continue. The more logical approach would be for minimum wage to stay at a minimum, and spend this country's tax dollars fostering a desire for hard work and career advancement in today's youth.