May 16, 2013 by David K. Sutton
America’s Low Bar Expectations Of Poverty And Minimum Wage
Apparently we demand more from others than we do of ourselves. Those of us who are fortunate enough to have good paying jobs need to do a lot less critiquing of those who work low paying – and necessary — service jobs.
Conservatives, Republicans and other people who display general disdain towards fellow human beings can tell people to “get a job,” or “get a better job” but the reality is simple. There is NOT a good paying job for every American who wants one. When we face that reality, we acknowledge there are adults in America who work laborious full-time jobs and still rely on government assistance just to put food on the table for their family. Just to get by. Just to live.
Daily Kos — When a worker is on food stamps, that’s an employer that is relying on taxpayers to augment wages, to bring workers up to the bare minimum they need to survive. Full-time work at $8.25 an hour—a full dollar above the federal minimum wage—still leaves a family of three below the poverty level.
Think about that the next time you hear about striking fast food workers, or striking Walmart workers, or any workers who work jobs that pay minimum wage. Think about that the next time you hear a Republican politician say raising the minimum wage will result in fewer jobs. — Fewer jobs? Fewer jobs paying minimum wage? Fewer jobs paying less than what’s necessary to support a family? I’m glad we’ve raised the bar so high in America.
