President Obama made many great proposals in his State of the Union address, almost all of which require a significant amount of funding.
But raising the U.S. minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $9.00 per hour is one proposal that does not have any upfront costs, but would improve the lives of tens of millions of Americans.
But what does this mean to all of us, as DU students? Colorado’s minimum wage is currently $7.78 an hour, and a raise to $9 an hour by the summer would help DU students who are working their way through college. A difference of $1.22 per hour over an eight-hour workday comes out to about $10 extra per day, $50 per week, and $500 over the course of the summer in a ten week job.
This extra $500 could be used for textbooks, to help make a down payment on student loans, or even buy an Epic ski pass for next season. All of this economic activity generated from a wage increase contributes to the overall economy as well.
Some historical perspective is needed to understand why such a major increase in minimum wage is necessary. For the past four decades, increases in the minimum wage have consistently lagged behind inflation.
In real terms, this means that the minimum wage today is substantially lower than it was in the 1960s. In the same timeframe, worker productivity has doubled. It’s time to properly compensate these employees for their hard work.
The main effect of a raise in minimum wage would be a rise in the income of hard-working yet low-paid Americans.
These are the employees that put in long hours every day to drive the U.S. economy forward, but are paid nothing close to their fair share of the profits their labor generates.
The best way to drive an economy in a slump forward is to get money into the hands of lower income workers, who will go out and spend the money and drive economic growth. Raising the minimum wage is the best way to do so. A lower minimum wage simply means that less money is transferred from the already well-off Americans who own the large companies to their workers, instead ending up in their retirement accounts and not helping to drive the economy.
A common criticism of a higher minimum wage is that it will make employers less likely to hire new workers. But the fact of the matter is that the exact effect is not clear; some studies link a higher minimum wage to higher unemployment, but there is also plenty of research indicating that raising it has no effect on the jobless rate.
The biggest problem facing a raise in minimum wage today is that, frankly, most Republican leaders feel disdain for low-wage workers. Minimum wage workers rarely pay federal income tax, making them the “takers” in the eyes of the GOP, receiving benefits like Medicaid and food stamps. But giving these workers a slightly higher wage would actually help save the government money by relieving the government from some of its welfare obligations.
Furthermore, most Americans support raising the minimum wage to $9 an hour. A Rasmussen poll found 54 percent in favor of the change, with 34 percent opposed and 12 percent unsure.
As students, we are some of the people who have the most to gain from a raise in minimum wage because we are part of a demographic most likely to work for minimum wage. I worked for minimum wage all last summer to save money before coming to DU, and would have appreciated the extra $500 for my hard work.
Don’t we all deserve $9 an hour?
