The Tech College Blog

Minimum Wage

8/7/2009 3:06:00 PM

I was thinking the other day about a song by the quirky duo They Might Be Giants. The tune has one simple verse: “Minimum wage,” which is then followed by the sharp crack of a whip.

The song popped into my head when I read the Federal minimum wage increased from $6.55 to $7.25 per hour on July 24th. The Wisconsin minimum wage increased from $6.50 to $7.25 per hour the same day.

There are an estimated 4.5 million minimum wage workers in the United States. Those working a 2,000 hour work year will now earn about $14,500 annually, slightly below the 2009 federal poverty level for a family of two.

Despite the recent increase, the inflation-adjusted value of the minimum wage is still lower than it was 30 years ago. In today’s dollars, the real value of the 1979 minimum wage rate is about $8.00 per hour. Only seven states (including Illinois) have state minimum wages of $8.00 per hour or more. Several more states now index their minimum wage rates to keep pace with inflation, meaning that the state mandated minimum wage increases annually with the cost of living. Wisconsin does not, despite efforts by some lawmakers. Read more from the Center on Wisconsin Strategy.

It’s also important to remember that in addition to earning poverty wages, low-wage workers are much less likely to have employer-sponsored health care. According to the Economic Policy Institute, only about one-in-five individuals in households in the bottom 20% of the income scale had employer-provided health insurance. Read more from EPI, or see their minimum wage resource page.

The path out of low-wage employment seems clear – building skills through education and training. The Center on Wisconsin Strategy reports that Wisconsin workers with occupational associate degrees earn an average of $18.18 per hour. Technical college faculty and staff know that many graduates can earn significantly more.

But while it is easy to point to education and training as a solution, it’s much more difficult for low-wage workers to attain the skills that will lead them to family supporting employment. For many, it’s simply too difficult to juggle work, family care, transportation, financial barriers and numerous other factors that stand in the way of their education. That’s a major reason why so many workers remain mired in low-wage jobs for their entire working lives.

There are, however, thousands of success stories out there. Most faculty and staff can point to students that have clawed their way out of dire conditions to earn a technical college degree.

What is it about these individuals or their circumstances that have led to their success? Are there common threads that could lead to broader programs or policies changes? Please comment.

Comments 3

Xena Crystal Li-chin Huang 8/12/2009
Dear editor and manager,

I appreciate your hard work to provide Tech College Blog for us to express our opinions and ideas.

I apologized for my getting lost and have to post my questions here. After you have read my questions, please delete it.

I am wondering if I missed some steps to do better navigation or threading work. For example, it is not very clear to me in finding the specific thread topics and sequences.

Also, if there any ways for bloggers to edit or delete their own blogs when mistakes were made?

Thanks.

Crystal
Li-chin Crystal Huang 8/11/2009

I agree to the author's "...But while it is easy to point to education and training as a solution, it’s much more difficult for low-wage workers to attain the skills that will lead them to family supporting employment."

I would like to go back President Eisenhower’s 3 old principles on the philosophy of labor.

The first principles – he states, “the ultimate values of mankind are spiritual; these values include liberty, human dignity, opportunity and equal rights and justice.”

The second principle, he speaks of the economic interest of the employer and employee being a mutual prosperity.

It is the last principle that we have seen a great skepticism as well as modification . He stated: “labor relations will be managed best when worked out in honest negotiation between employers and unions, ‘without Government’s unwarranted interference’.” History tells us that Improving the lives of workers through education, job training, and consciousness raising can never be enough.

Capitalism has been spearheading a double-edged -sword with its blessing and curse in the U.S. for more than a century, while other countries such as England, France, Germany, Australia , and countries in the Scandinavian regions have historically developed strong Labor Parties , Socialist Parties, and various kind of third parties that played a prominent role in strengthening the unions and general well being of their citizens. Two party system – is not the norm, which may take on unicameral traditions.

Though labor union laws vary from country to country, immersing in a broader International framework could provide a mirror to reflect on the accolades and criticisms of unions.
Ginny Leith 8/10/2009

Many students’ faces flashed through my brain as I pondered your question. Students living in poverty, particularly first-generation college students living in poverty, have a very difficult track to a technical college degree. Sometimes seemingly minor issues cause their college dreams to derail -- a child with a persistent ear infection, a blown tire on a car, an employer who is two days late with payroll. Sometimes the issues are not so minor: a boyfriend who is threatened by his girlfriend's potential college success, an educational background inadequate for college, a landlord who evicts the student and his or her children, the illness of a close relative who lacks insurance.

What causes one student to earn a degree and another to fail or drop out? Certainly, a strong support system can make the difference. This support can come from family, friends, agency staff members, college faculty and other staff, and others. The support can be in so many forms: money, an offer of childcare, a timely referral for tutoring, transportation to college, words of encouragement, extra help after class, and so on. According to research that I’ve read, the most successful programs offer “wrap-around” support services, a term that refers to a coordinated and continuous effort to address the issues likely to derail the student. These wrap-around programs have a high initial cost, but that expenditure is truly an investment in the future of not only the student, but also society as a whole.

Breaking the cycle of poverty is not easy, but we educators know it is possible because we’ve seen it happen. We’ve seen the transformation that education can bring to students who reach their destination of a college degree.

(Many other factors also contribute to student success, but I’ll let others write about those!)