Chances are you've had to hash it out working at a fast food restaurant, as a server, or delivering pizzas at some point in your life (if you aren't doing so currently, that is). At the time, the minimum, or near-minimum, wage you were probably earning might have seemed adequate to your needs - a weekend at the movies, buying a new CD, whatever.
Remember those older people you worked with, though? The ones who were there either to pay bills, raise a family or both? Well, some Democrats in the Michigan Legislature have a plan proposed to help those people out. They are calling for a bill to raise the current minimum hourly wage of $5.15 by $2.
Sounds good, right? An extra $2 per hour at a 40-hour-a-week job could put an additional $80-a-week in workers' pockets. That extra money can spell a lot of change for a person who's struggling to get by. It could be an additional bill paid or, in a worst-case scenario, an additional child fed.
The last time the minimum wage was raised was by $1.80 in September of 1997. Since then, the economic boom of the '90s has gone and been followed by an ugly recession. People are hurting.
Largely, it's agreed that it's impossible for a person supporting someone else to get by on minimum wage. Numerous studies and books such as "Nickel and Dimed" have taught us that. With Michigan inflation rising at 3.3 percent, it's time for minimum wage to fall in line.
But, before we celebrate the salvation of the less fortunate from the murky maw of despair, there is some opposition. Many Republicans are opposed to a minimum wage raise on the grounds they believe it will cut the amount of people hired for entry-level jobs. They say given Michigan's disappointing economy, we need to help small businesses so those who are out of work can find jobs. Michigan currently has an unemployment rate of 7.3 percent - almost 2 percent higher than the national average.
With Republican control of the Michigan Legislature, it seems unlikely minimum wage paychecks will see a boost anytime soon. Fortunately, the issue could be put on a ballot initiative for the 2006 election if voters petition for it.
If Republicans have looked around this big mitten lately, they hopefully noticed small business isn't doing so hot in the current climate.
The Democrats who support a wage increase say roughly 464,000 people in Michigan would be positively affected. If you didn't sleep through economics class, it's not hard to see those people will be able to reinvest that money back into local business and the community. Because, let's be honest, if you are making minimum wage it isn't being stowed away into savings accounts and retirement plans. That money is being used to pay for the basic necessities of life.
We might be simplifying the complexity of our economic situation, but sometimes looking at the big picture is the best way to gain a grasp on what's going on. In this nation, the economy is starting to crawl out of recession and companies are regaining their confidence to hire because people are beginning to spend again.
Give people money, and they will spend it.
