The Reality of Poverty

MINIMUM WAGE OUTDATED

MINIMUM VS LIVING WAGE

Today's Minimum Wage

IS FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT'S LAW TO PREVENT POVERTY FULFILLED?

McDonald's:

Technology can do many of the jobs which American laborers are now responsible for, and for a much cheaper price. If the Democrats succeed in raising the minimum wage, entry level jobs will be replaced by machines and computers.

Who's Responsible?

The ranks of the working poor now exceed 47 million, driven in part by the steep erosion of wage standards throughout our economy. The value of the minimum wage has fallen sharply over the past forty years. In 1968, for example, the federal minimum wage was $1.60 per hour, which translates to approximately $10.90 in 2013 dollars. This provides evidence that our minimum wage has become outdated because we fall short approximately $3.65 to what our expected minimum wage should be today. Over the last forty years, the real value of the federal minimum wage has fallen by close to 30%. Even after the 2007-2009 federal increases, the minimum wage remains far too low to sustain working families.

Contrary to stereotypes, low-wage workers whose pay scales are affected by the minimum wage are adults that have a family to support. As an individual, the minimum wage isn’t enough for financial stability because living expenses are too high. For instance, an individual must be able to pay for living expenses such as rent, utilities, toiletries, and etc. Today’s minimum wage makes it impossible to pay for these expenses because you only make enough money to cover most but not all expenses. This is why most citizens who work minimum wage pick up a second job. Working two jobs gives them the assurance to make ends meet. The minimum wage impacts adults with families because there is a big instability for meeting living expenses. Adults with families are not only are taking care of themselves but in fact are multiplying the cost of living by the number of people they must support. Since the cost of living is being multiplied and the minimum wage isn’t increasing, this makes the family become in poverty because of the financial instability. Living wages raise the minimum hourly wage to a sufficient level for workers to meet the basic needs of their families.

Who's affected?

On December 6, 1865, the 13th amendment abolished slavery in the United States. As a citizen, it is your right to get paid the minimum wage for the state you live in. In today’s society, the minimum wage we see in most states is $7.25 which translates to $15,080 for a full-time, year-round worker. Although citizens are no longer working for free, they are still working intensively and receiving low income. The federal minimum wage was signed into law in 1938 by President Franklin Roosevelt, at the height of the Great Depression. Its stated purpose was to keep America’s workers out of poverty, and increase consumer purchasing power in order to stimulate the economy. That idea hasn’t been very successful. Living expenses are increasing and the minimum wage has become outdated. In fact, being paid $7.25 hourly is the new modern day slavery because people work very hard and still receive an income that isn’t the ideal living wage for financial stability in today’s economy.

FINANCIAL INSTABILITY

Corporations have become the core organizations in the market economy. Most Americans work for these corporations such as Walmart, McDonald’s, H&M etc. and receive the minimum wage of $7.25. The CEOs pay to the median employee pay ratio is approximately 1034:1. Most CEOs from their corporations make about 331 times more than their average employer who makes minimum wage. This results in large profits for corporations. The corporations play a big role in the US poverty rate because they give little money to their employees. Corporations should be responsible for providing a living wage for their employees, but don’t because of the general welfare’s liability to provide assistance to citizens who make low income.

Earning a degree can give students invaluable life and professional skills, and having a more educated workforce in turn increases the country's overall productivity. There are some who would point out that poor people in America are still rich by world standards, that compared with the 1 billion people who live on the often-repeated "dollar a day," they are doing pretty well for themselves. It's certainly true that those of us who live in this country are very lucky to do so. But a key aspect of evaluating poverty is considering the ability to participate in one's society, and that is growing increasingly difficult for poor Americans to do. There is a lack of financial stability amongst many American citizens because the minimum wage is far outdated. Worker’s that receive minimum wage are the modern day slaves because they work very hard for little cash. The solution to this is to match the minimum wage to the today’s living wage to ensure financial stability for all American citizens.