A Jan. 4 Washington Post article reports raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour would reduce by 4.6 million the number of people living in poverty, boosting the incomes of those in the 10th percentile by $1,700.
Business and conservative groups have voiced opposition to the minimum annual wage since President Roosevelt first proposed it during the Great Depression, with dire forecasts of massive unemployment. However, each time terrible consequences are predicted, they never occur. This has been true historically, and is even more of a reality today.
We just have to look to where a majority of minimum wage jobs are located for the answer as to why the predictions are bogus. Most service jobs — nursing home aides, fast food workers, hotel employees, retail clerks, many earning so little as to qualify for food stamps — cannot be sent overseas. Any raise in income equates to more money to spend in their local communities. Note that these areas are where the greatest increases in jobs have been in recent years. But do not expect the facts to keep the usual parties from complaining each time a raise is proposed. Often, even when getting out of a rut is in their best interest, moaners and groaners refuse to think differently than they always have.
Marjorie Casswell
Vancouver
