Queen Smith

Graduation Project Research Essay

May 3rd 2018

Southern Americans need a fair living wage

Did you know that the average CEO make 993 times more than a full time minimum

wage worker? According to the Labor Law Center, as of 2017, almost all of the southern states

of America have a minimum wage that is less than $7.50. The outstanding rate of poverty in

North Carolina is higher than before the recession and worse than the national average. If there

were to be an increase in the states working wage budget, it would create economic prosperity

and put more money into the pockets of hard working Americans.​ Even though some people

think that raising minimum wage would increase the cost of living, this action would not only

help families living in poverty, but also decrease the need of government assistance and help

college students become more stable.

Currently minimum wage is not keeping up with inflation. This makes it difficult for

people to afford things which is negatively affecting the economy. As you should know, when

prices are too high, people will buy cheap things that are made somewhere else which stimulates

a different country's economy. Supporters of increasing the minimum wage suggest that such a

move would act as an economic stimulus. When low income households earn more money they

are more likely to spend it, pouring more money into the economy. In fact a recent study by the

Federal Reserve Bank Of Chicago concluded that, following an increase in the minimum wage,

spending by households with at least 1 minimum wage worker increased by $700 per quarter.

Our minimum wage starter at this moment would in fact lock low income workers into poverty
for the indefinite future. The Nonpartisan Congressional budget office states that raising the

minimum wage to $10.10 would help 900,000 people out of poverty. This type of action would

greatly help a struggling family of 3. Leaving millions of children more secure.

(This representation is not current but we still have the same minimum wage that we had

in 2007 and the poverty line had increased according to the Fed Web graph below).
A minimum wage is considered a temporary teenage condition for many American workers. An

employee working a 40-hour week at the federal minimum wage in all southern states would

earn $15,080 per year. This income would leave a 2 person household, say a single parent with

one child, just below the federal poverty threshold of $15,130. About 70% of minimum wage

workers however, work fewer than 35 hours per week and thus earn proportionately less

according to Federal Labor Statistics. Which means that working Americans do not make enough

to buy basic necessities like food, hygiene products, shelter etc.

Our living wage is not only extremely low but unrealistic in supporting an entire family.

It makes it nearly impossible to pay bills and have basic necessities. If minimum wage was

raised to $10 an hour, the average family of 3 could afford to not only pay bills but buy life

sustaining supplies. The cost of living is extremely high in North Carolina especially compared

to our minimum wage of $7.25. To rent a 2 bedroom apartment for a single parent with one child

would be an average of $933 per month, while a minimum wage worker working 40 hours a

week only makes $1,160 a month. This only leaves $227 to pay utilities, buy hygiene and health

necessities, buy food etc. If it was raised it would help the actual global economic crisis in all

living and prosperous aspects for the whole world, especially to our citizens of the United States.

We are expected to move out from our parents home and provide for ourselves once we

become adults. The only problem is minimum wage doesn’t allow for many of us to. When one

moves out of their mom’s basement, they should have enough money to hold their own

financially. However you can’t support yourself nowadays with minimum wage because ends

will never meet. You will not be able to rent a place, furnish it, buy food, pay on a car, insurance,

and still have money for general necessities. Taking care of yourself is not cheap and in all of the
southern states it seems that we can’t afford both a place to live and basic necessities. Millions of

Southern Americans, known as the “working poor”, are unable to lift themselves above the

poverty line despite working full time minimum wage jobs.

Raising minimum wage will not only help the citizens but it will also help the

government. Cap study found that getting people off of supplemental nutrition assistance

program would save the government 7.6 billion dollars in a year. It would sweep benefits for the

low income families. More than 1.7 million Americans would no longer have to rely on public

assistance programs. Currently half of all wage earners earning under $10.10 per hour, receive

some form of means-tested benefits from the government like medicaid, food stamps, public

transportation, and others. Workers in the bottom 20% of wage earners receive over 14.5 billion

dollars in government assistance each year. We can cut the use of these assisted programs by a

lot if minimum wage would be raised.

Raising the minimum wage is one long overdue step towards rebalancing the social

contract so that the private and public sectors are more equal participants in improving living

standards for American workers. Safety net programs save 24 cents for every additional dollar in

wages paid to workers affected by a minimum wage increase. Every year that the minimum wage

is not raised, inflation slowly erodes its real value. Which means that minimum wage workers

cannot afford to buy as much as much as they could in the previous years. This only further hurts

our nation as a whole.

 (These graphs shows the federal enrollment of government assistance and the amount

that the government spends on working families from 2009-2011).

People that have not gotten degrees because they could not afford them or have had

families early and don’t have the resources to go to school can not get a job that pays over

minimum wage most of the time. It is important to raise minimum wage because parents that do

not have degrees can not afford to support their families without government help because they
simply do not make enough money. Raising it would help these people afford to support their

families on their own. As well as help those who desire degrees but can not afford it.

College students will benefit the most from a $10 minimum wage. The reason is that they

make up most of the labor force earning minimum wage or near it. Not only is there tuition that

needs to be paid but they have to eat, pay for books and other expenses without taking out

student loans or borrowing money. The raise would help us compensate for rising tuition and the

college debt crisis hurting many of students across the country. Not all student have scholarships

or even enough from the scholarship to pay for school. Also student loans have to be paid back

and not all students jump right into their career after school. They have to find work. College

tuition has gone up 1,120 % since 1978 forcing students to borrow more money than any other

previous generation to go to college. When you start adding on the prices of books, room and

board, dining, clothing, car maintenance, gas and other expenses the next thing you know it

becomes nearly impossible to attain a college education.

When students don’t make enough they try to work extra hours to pay for tuition but end

up failing from lack of sleep and studying time. If they were to make $10 an hour instead of $7,

they can work less and get more done. Richard Wolff, an economist and a professor of the

subject at University of Massachusetts Amherst, says this move would be an enormous help to

students struggling with college costs.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, DOE (​college costs​); Department of
Labor (​minimum wage​)

(This graph shows how many hours do minimum wage students have to work to

afford college in 1970-2010. The one below shows how much college tuition has

increased since then. Meanwhile minimum wage hasn’t changed since 2007).
 SOURCES: College Board, Annual Survey of Colleges; NCES, IPEDS Fall Enrollment data.

“We live in a society where the American Dream cannot be achieved unless you work

your rear end off and borrow like there is no tomorrow,” says Wolff. “Even then, it is nearly

impossible.” Wolff says that raising the minimum wage would help ease the pressure on working

students by allowing them to work fewer hours and make a larger salary. “The benefits are

incalculable,” he says. “It would help so many students.” If the rate increased, Wolff says he

believes more students would be able to enroll in college, as financing it would be more

achievable. This could certainly better benefit our economy.

I work 45 hours a week but still can not afford a car, buying holiday gifts, or new clothes.

This is very discouraging and tiresome. I have also decided to hold off on college because at this

point I just can not afford it, nor can I afford to live on my own. It is time we earned a decent

wage for a decent days work.

 Some people may argue that raising minimum wage would increase the cost of living,

that would only be the case if it was raised drastically. A 3 or 4 dollar raise would not hurt the

economy. Southern Americans need a fair living wage to reduce poverty in families because they

do not make nearly enough to sustain a household. The increase of minimum wage would also

help government expenses by taking 1.7 million Americans off of the qualification list of

government assistance. With the governments help, a $10 minimum wage would also lower

college student debt by helping them pay off all of their loans and tuition.

The raising of minimum wage to $10 is needed desperately.

 WORK CITED

Dayen, David. "A Higher Minimum Wage Won't Bankrupt Businesses." Los Angeles Times, 07

Jan, 2018, pp. A.18. SIRS Issues Researcher, ​https://sks-sirs-com.proxy141.nclive.org​.

Hiltzik, Michael. "Does a Higher Minimum Wage Pay Off?" Los Angeles Times, 28 Jun, 2017,

pp. C.1. SIRS Issues Researcher, https://sks-sirs-com.proxy141.nclive.org.

Lanzinger, Irene. "Fair Wages are Critical to a Strong Economy." Vancouver Sun, 25 Nov, 2017,

pp. G.2. SIRS Issues Researcher, ​https://sks-sirs-com.proxy141.nclive.org​.

Murray, Ed. "$15 Minimum Raises Incomes." USA TODAY, 06 Jul, 2017, pp. A.7. SIRS Issues

Researcher, ​https://sks-sirs-com.proxy141.nclive.org​.

“Raising Minimum Wage Would Reduce Public Assistance Spending.” National Low Income

Housing Coalition, 16 Feb. 2016,

nlihc.org/article/raising-minimum-wage-would-reduce-public-assistance-spending.