Minimum wage does not work. Corporations would rather lay off workers than pay them a minimum wage. Or so the myth goes.
But let me talk about a personal experience with the minimum wage. I currently work at Target, where I know many people who depend on the job as their primary source of income. The sad thing is that the little money they do have they end up spending at discount retailers like Target. Their paychecks are effectively used by the corporation to turn a profit. I have talked a lot with my fellow workers and I am shocked to discover some of the things that go on. For one, my store has fired several senior supervisors (who are paid by the hour) in the recent past for dubious reasons and with little warning. I may be being overly pessimistic, but I suspect that part of the reason for this is that after that many years with the company their wages had risen to the point where Target did not want to pay that much if younger people were available to do the jobs at a cheaper price. Many of the employees must use Illinois Link cards (similar to foodstamps) to purchase groceries.
Now Target here starts workers out at $7.50, which currently is a dollar above minimum wage. But with minimum wage set to become $7.50 an hour in Illinois starting in 2007, my sources tell me that the corporation, in order to avoid bad PR, will scale up hourly wages accordingly. This means an increase of about one dollar per hour, which equates to at least $1,500 more per year for full-time workers. Not only does raising (and maintaining, for that matter) the minimum wage help those who earn the minimum, but it also helps hourly works earning more than minimum. So when people try to say that a minimum wage increase benefits a bunch of sixteen-year-olds working summer jobs, they are simply wrong.
Don't get me wrong, $7.50 an hour is not much. But I truly appreciate the fact that Illinois lawmakers have made raising the minimum wage a priority over the past two years, a period in which it has risen by $2 an hour ($3000-$4000 per year for a full-time laborer).
The argument that a minimum wage increase will cause businesses to move out of state is also fallacious. In order fot this argument to make sense, one has to assume that the markets in surrounding states are competitive with that of Illinois. What business is going to pack up and leave Chicago in order to operate in Milwaukee or St. Louis? Or Iowa/Indiana for that matter? Now THAT would be financial suicide.
Minimum wage increases do not force large corporations to lay off workers. Keeping upper management salaries ridiculously high does. Stores like Target are extremely profitable whether or not they pay workers well.
The final comparative argument against raising/retaining the minimum wage misses the point completely. The thing I am referring to is the notion that raising the minimum wage hurts small business. While research (such as this report, among others) has shown that raising the minimum wage has no discernable effect on small business, I will entertain the argument for the time being. The people arguing against the minimum wage, seeming on the behalf of small business, must believe that small businesses should be protected by the federal government (or else they would not be making this argument). If these opponents of the minimum wage do in fact believe this, then I wonder why they do not advocate an increase in subsidies to start-up businesses rather than the abolishment of the minimum wage? Why must workers and small business be construed as enemies with conflicting interests? Can't we entertain the needs of both? Subsidies simply make more sense.
Now, if you're a libertarian or someone who does not believe in government intervention in such matters for philosophical reasons, the effect of the minimum wage doesn't matter to you. Rather, the concept of regulating the market is what you take issue to. That's an argument for another day. But to give you a sense as to my own viewpoint, I am very much in favor of a worker control (democratic socialist) system. Perhaps if I have time someday I'll post why I think the democratic socialism is morally superior to capitalism.
For now, I'll leave you with this: life is tough (often impossible) if you're only earning minimum wage. I know this not just from reading about it but also from my relationships with people who have to deal with problems resulting from not earning a living wage. Simply looking at statistics does not connect you with the humanity of the people affected. Behind every number in a census report there is a person, and within every person is a story of the daily struggle to live with dignity intact.
If I am to believe in God, in love, and in community I cannot isolate myself from the suffering of others, from the joy of others, and from the dignity of others.