In her new best-selling book, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, author Barbara Ehrenreich writes about her experience with trying to get by on very little. Ehrenreich, a successful woman who in real life lives in a comfortable home and is financially successful, took on the persona of a woman who was getting off welfare and trying to support herself.
Getting off welfare is supposed to lead to a better life for all concerned. Everyone should strive to live the “American Dream” which is being independent, living in a safe home and getting enough to eat. How do women, especially single mothers, do this with low-paying jobs? Low paying jobs are all that some people are qualified to do and you have to start somewhere. But how low should low-paying jobs be?
If I were designing the required reading list for those running for office Nickel and Dimed – along with Nashville Woman, would be on such a reading list. Ehrenreich gets a series of jobs in several states as a Wal-Mart associate, a nursing home aide, a hotel maid and a cleaning woman. Her character could be a homemaker who has been living on welfare who is trying to reenter the work force. Although portions of the book are funny, most of it reflects true to life poignancy.
According to the United States Department of Labor – Employment Standards Administration Wage and Hour Division – www.dol.gov/esa – the last increase in the federal minimum wage was on September 1, 1997 from $4.25 to $5.15 an hour. Some states have a required minimum wage in addition to the federal requirement; the state of Tennessee does not.
The difference in what Barbara Ehrenreich experienced in her Nickel and Dimed is that she worked for jobs paying more than minimum wage. She earned the grand figure of $6.00 to $7.50 an hour and lived in appalling places. Imagine how much harder it would have been to have lived alone or raised a family alone on an hourly salary of $5.15
As I said earlier, we all have to start somewhere and minimum wage is called what it is for a reason. It is for jobs that are at the bottom of the working totem pole. When I was in high school, I started my career as a sales clerk at the Ben Franklin Store.That was more than 30 years ago. I was thrilled to be paid minimum wage but at the end of the day I went home to my parents home and ate their food. I was to save the money I earned for college as my room and board was provided by very generous parents.
Politicians who support an increase in the minimum wage are often trying to keep up with the poverty line – usually $6.50 to $7.50 an hour. Some of these jobs include health benefits, some do not. The costs of providing benefits is high which is why many groups oppose increasing the minimum wage – these groups say some companies will go out of business if they are forced to raise their minimum wage and absorb the cost of benefits.
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) has a lengthy explanation of why they are opposed to increases in the minimum wage. I am a small businesswoman and my store (which pays double the minimum wage) is surrounded by other small businesses. So I was curious about why the NFIB is consistently opposed to raising the minimum wage. They, the NFIB, spell out their reasons on their web site at www.nfib.com. Go to the page marked Minimum Wage: Introduction and you will read “Therefore, NFIB members consistently oppose legislation to raise the minimum wage. NFIB members are not cold-hearted – quite the opposite as many small business owners employ family, friends and neighbors. Small business opposition to minimum wage hikes comes from the simple fact that raising the minimum wage is poor economic policy and often jerks the engine driving our nation’s economy- small business-into reverse.”
The same web site also shares a synopsis of Congressional legislation that is pending that might raise the minimum wage and ways to voice concerns to your local representatives if you oppose an increase. That’s the great thing about being an American, we can still voice our opinions with our representatives.
I spend a lot of my volunteer time working with organizations whose goals are to help women, especially single parents, become self sufficient. Not since I was a graduate student has my salary been below the poverty line and then I had student loans to fall back on which I certainly used and paid back. What bothers me about the debate on minimum wage is that we as a society wink when some people in Corporate America get caught being too greedy – making money really fast in ways that are not ethical. Some of these Corporate Moguls are successful because they employ thousands of minimum wage workers. The workers making minimum wage barely get by while some of the folks at the top are crooks. Because Corporate America gives big bucks to politicians, these rich crooks are often not punished.
Imagine how the workers at Enron feel who no longer have health insurance because of greed at the top. If the crooks at Enron are arrested and found guilty, wouldn’t it be great instead of being sentenced to country club prison if they were sentenced to work at jobs that pay $5.15 an hour. These crooks would also have to pay for food, clothing, benefits and shelter out of these minimum wages.
I have come to the conclusion that the debate about minimum wage is really all about greed. Our country can certainly enforce a federal minimum wage but each business owner and CEO must live with his or her own conscience. Every company leader has to decide how to distribute the wealth within their company. Perhaps if they did like Barbara Ehrenreich and actually tried to live on the wages of a low paying job they would decide for themselves to pay people more. It does seem like the Democrats own the issue of pushing for reform on legislation that will raise the minimum wage. The NFIB has endorsed Van Hilleary for the Governor and Lamar Alexander for the U.S. Senate because these men agree with the platform of the NFIB in opposing a wage increase. Whether or not that matters in the election process remains to be seen.
Saralee Terry Woods is President of BookMan/BookWoman Used Books, an author and President of bookmanbookwoman.com. Her email is saraleewoods@bookmanbookwoman.com
