Ten cent wage increase leaves much to be desired By Bethany J.

Royer Originally published in the Piqua Daily Call January 3, 201

PIQUA The powers that be have given hourly wage workers a ten cent raise as of Wednesday, not that !"#$ an hour fro% !"&$ is anything to celebrate" As %any %ini%u% wage earners %ust continue to rely on public assistance to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table" 'This is not nearly enough to achieve a livable wage for %any workers but any and all upward pressure on wages is better than the stagnant wages we have seen,( said )hio A*+,-I) .The A%erican *ederation of +abor and -ongress of Industrial )rgani/ations0 President Ti% 1urga in a press release on the %eager increase going into 2345" While 1urga states there is an econo%ic benefit to the increase, given wage earners will spend directly into our co%%unities and local econo%ies, too %any workers are still being forced to rely on ta6payer,funded public assistance progra%s" 7uch individuals are not being paid enough to %ake ends %eet and to %ake %atter worse, %any of the working poor or long,ter% une%ployed have been further pinched on several fronts" *irst to feel the blow were those dependent on the 8%ergency Une%ploy%ent -o%pensation .8U-0 progra% which was not e6tended by -ongress before taking a holiday break" This left thousands in the state of )hio alone to wonder what they will do ne6t" This transpired on the heels of the 7upple%ental 9utrition Assistance Progra% .79AP0 being cut in 9ove%ber which looks to be cut again" 1ad news when )hio ranks in the top ten for food insecurity rates above the national average" +ook to a future Daily Call for %ore on food insecurity" As provided by the A*+,-I), %ini%u% wage was established as part of the *air +abor 7tandards Act of 4#:&" Its purpose was to prevent %arket forces fro% driving down the wages of the lowest earners in the labor force" ;esearch shows that an increase in the %ini%u% wage spurs e%ployers to increase wages for other low,wage workers" <owever, %ini%u% wage reached its peak value .1uying power0 in 4#=&, since then it has failed to keep up with the increase in consu%er prices" >eaning, the real value or purchasing power of %ini%u% wage and those earning not far above it leaves %uch to be desired" This is according to a -ongressional ;esearch 7ervice report .Prepared for %e%bers and co%%ittees of -ongress0 on inflation and the real %ini%u% wage released in 7epte%ber 234:" -ontinues 1urga, '-orporations like Wal%art and >c?onald@s enAoy record profits and their -8)s are paid obscenely large salaries all while the workers at these co%panies suffer and )hio@s ta6payers are sBuee/ed"( The eBuating of co%pany profit to the low wages they pay as ta6payer@s subsidi/ing -8) paychecks %ade headlines throughout 234: with %any hourly workers taking to the streets in a de%and for a living wage" Whether 2345 will look any different for those seeking a wage to %ake ends %eet such as the working poor .There were 43"5 %illion individuals in 2344 defined as the working poor in the

United 7tates by the 1ureau of +abor 7tatistics0 and those dependent on aid re%ains to be seen"