This is in response to the guest commentary by Ariel Jacobson, “$7.25 is still not a living wage,” Thursday, Aug. 20. I will definitely be participating in the $10 in 2010 campaign and would like to add to the commentary that Ms. Jacobson shared.

Even though the minimum wage was raised to $7.25, the minimum wage’s real purchasing power is still below what it was in 1968. Based on the self-sufficiency standards for Middlesex County, using my current situation as an example, one adult and one kindergarten child, statistics show a household of this form should earn a living wage of $53,698 a year, which averages to about $25.43 an hour, in order for me to support myself and my one child in a market-rate two-bedroom apartment. Now, as a parent raising one child, if I’m earning minimum wage, I would have to work close to 140 hours a week in order to sustain a two-bedroom market-rate apartment. (Source: www.liveworkthrive.org; go to “self-sufficiency calculator” to calculate different household sizes.)

In addition, minimum wage shouldn’t just be raised; it should be indexed to inflation because whenever minimum wage is raised, all other prices seem to rise as well. One thing that I don’t understand is how many politicians, namely members of Congress, have salaries adjusted to the cost of living but the state-level minimum wage is not. When inflation rises, so do their salaries, which means that each time they increase their salaries according to inflation and write a bill to pass it, it goes through the House and Senate with ease. They are quick to give themselves a raise but slow to give the people who voted them into office the raise we need.

The inequality and the proper arguments are never addressed properly. The argument is often how will businesses afford to pay for these wages, but what’s missing is that when inflation rises, so do prices on many other products.

There’s something wrong in a society when the salaries and income don’t match rising costs in rent, mortgage, property taxes, food and basic living standards. The person living on minimum wage has a hard time catching up when it’s raised, regardless of the type of job that they have. Citizens cannot pass a bill through reconciliation for a raise in salary; they have to request it from their boss. 

In short, $10 is a step in the right direction, but hopefully it’s just the beginning. Minimum wage should be indexed with the cost of living the same way that politicians’ salaries are adjusted.

Cambridge Chronicle - Posted Aug 26, 2009 2:59 AM

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