A "Living" Wage: I Take Issue
Today, Schwarzenegger signed into law a minimum wage raise, calling it a "living wage." However, the compromise with Democrats, who authored and pushed the bill through, was that it would not include an annual cost of living adjustment. Why not? What bothers me is the very idea that a wage should have to be designated "living," meaning that its recipient should, in theory, be able to meet the needs and basic expenses of an average family or person as decided by some government bureaucrat with a calculator, or a committee.
What is the point of a minimum wage if it isn't going to be a "living wage"? Is it just me or is it the duty of the government to provide for the basic needs of its citizens? It should not be possible for someone working 40 hours per week not to be able to feed, clothe, and house themselves above the poverty line, and to take care of their own medical needs. Yet, that happens frequently in our society, and there is no reason for it, other than disregard for the dignity of others on the part of the elite.
That a minimum wage should be a living wage goes without saying. San Francisco has a living wage; why doesn't the state of California? Yes, it would burden smaller companies to have to pay more, but again, it simply should not be possible for an American to work full time and not have their fundamental needs taken care of. Shame on whomever is responsible for this shameful gap.
What is the point of a minimum wage if it isn't going to be a "living wage"? Is it just me or is it the duty of the government to provide for the basic needs of its citizens? It should not be possible for someone working 40 hours per week not to be able to feed, clothe, and house themselves above the poverty line, and to take care of their own medical needs. Yet, that happens frequently in our society, and there is no reason for it, other than disregard for the dignity of others on the part of the elite.
That a minimum wage should be a living wage goes without saying. San Francisco has a living wage; why doesn't the state of California? Yes, it would burden smaller companies to have to pay more, but again, it simply should not be possible for an American to work full time and not have their fundamental needs taken care of. Shame on whomever is responsible for this shameful gap.
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