State Assemblyman Cory Mason (D-Racine) has introduced a bill in the Wisconsin legislature to raise the minimum wage in the state from $7.25 an hour to $7.60 an hour. With the Republican majorities in the Assembly and Senate and with a Republican governor this bill has no hope of passing. Even if it did pass, raising the minimum wage only 35 cents is not enough.
According to Dr. Amy Glasmeir’s work at Pennsylvania State University one adult needs to earn $16,151 a year in Wisconsin, which breaks down to $7.76 an hour, to earn a living wage. That wage varies across the state; in Madison that same person would have to earn $8.74 an hour. In Milwaukee, $8.63 an hour, while in a small town like Adams $7.06 an hour will get you by.
To take this nationally, the average living wage average across the country is $8.37 an hour, while the average minimum wage nationwide is $7.36 an hour. The extremes of the scale are South Dakota with a living wage of $6.44 an hour and a minimum wage of $7.25 and Washington, D.C. with a living wage of $11.92 an hour and a minimum wage of $7.55 an hour.
None of this takes into account the dismal minimum wage of tipped employees. The federal minimum wage for tipped employees is $2.13 an hour. State minimum wages for tipped employees are a mishmash of regulations with no real standard other than the federal floor of $2.13 an hour. My understanding is also that the federal minimum wage for tipped employees is not tied to the standard minimum wage; thus, if the minimum wage goes up it does not necessarily mean that the minimum wage for tipped employees goes up. In a nutshell, tipped employees who work their butts off have to rely on their customers being generous with tips instead of their employer actually paying them for doing their job. (One thing I have learned from my research on this is always tip waitstaff at least twenty percent and per Kim Bobo and her book "Wage Theft in America," always tip in cash. Do not put the tip on your credit card as that makes it easier for the employer to steal the tip from the server.)
Of course, in the typical Republican response to raising the minimum wage—Rep. Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said,
"I think it's highly unlikely given the fact so many employers are having a difficult time breaking even," Vos said. He said raising the minimum wage could raise the unemployment rate.
Oh, pity the poor “Job Creators.” Millions and billions in profits just aren’t enough for them. What Republicans don’t realize is that tax breaks and record profits do not create jobs. Consumer demand creates jobs. If no one has the money to buy your product your product will not sell. If you raise wages to a living wage you as a job creator may have to raise your prices; however, your employees will have additional purchasing power, which means more money in the economy, and thus more demand.
In 1956 the federal minimum wage was a dollar an hour. That same dollar when adjusted for inflation would be $8.30 an hour in today's dollars; which is only a few cents off from what the average living wage is in the United States today. The minimum wage needs to be pegged to a living wage and it needs to be regional, i.e. California has a higher cost of living so California should have a higher minimum wage standard. The minimum wage also needs to hold to the rate of inflation so that it cannot become a political football. It needs to go up on a yearly basis and have a mechanism to prevent it from going down if there is deflation.
Our national priorities are a mess. Instead of doing what is needed to raise the standard of living for the most vulnerable in our society our leaders put corporate profits ahead of people.