Since 2019, Congress has been in disagreement about the federal minimum wage increase to $15 an hour.
First thought, this might seem ridiculous and you are probably wondering, what could possibly be wrong with increasing the poorest peoplesâ salaries in the richest country?
But at the same time, with everything in government, it is much more complicated than it needs to be.
Letâs say youâre currently earning the current minimum wage working at a fast food chain fo $7.25 an hour since 2009 when it was last increased.
With an increase, you would be able to better support yourself and possibly give up less of your time in exchange for money, but for businesses and employers, $15 per person is a hefty amount especially for small Mom and Pap shops during the pandemic when staying afloat paying the minimum amount is difficult in itself.
Unfortunately most brick and mortar stores, except for Costco who pay their employees a generous $21 an hour, have no incentive to boost the wage because they need cheap labor. The more workers they can get, the better. No wonder why Apple produces most of its phones in China and customer service lines are directed to India. They can live off a few cents per day. Americans are expensive.
These trillion dollar mega cap giants arenât focused on providing insurance benefits, an exciting job environment or good pay because with over 575,700 employees at Amazon, boosting each paycheck to $15 an hour for a 12 hour shift will result in $8.6 million extra dollars Amazon has to set aside.
Now compared to its market cap as a trillion dollar company, that might seem like a drop in the bucket but overtime, it adds up quick. Employees are also offered medical and insurance benefits with paid leave, 401k, overtime shifts, gear and transportation that must be paid for.
In 2019, the proposed $15 Minimum Wage Act died in the Senate and they declined to vote on the legislation.
As with the new administration, although Bidenâs goal was to have it passed ASAP, luck ran out. Luckily, the $1.9 trillion dollar stimulus package was approved by the House last night and is now onto the Senate but minimum wage at $15 cannot be included in the package voted by Republicans.
Is there still hope?
Why would Republicans not want their fellow citizens on the brink of homelessness and poverty to come out alive?
Pros and Cons of $15 + Per Hour
Cons:
-Higher earnings = improve overall standard of living for minuum wage workers
-More appropriate income level for Americans
-Reduce wealth inequality
-Boost spending, income rise, more disposable income=higher net worth, boost for economy and stock market = healthy amount of inflation
-Less instability in the job market especially raising a family working more than 2 minimum wage jobs to stay afloat
-Reduce unemployment and job dissatisfaction
-Costs rise each year due to inflation, must keep up
-Large number of individuals and families will move out of poverty if they earned a bit more
-Better moral for companies and employees=encouragement to go to work
-Increased employee retention
-Reduced hiring and training costs
-Employees more inclined to stay witha company longer=benefit from greater advancement for company and overall reduction in job related relocation expenses and insecurity
As with everything, letâs discuss the cons because in this case, the pros are hard to beat.
Cons:
-Consequence of businesses increases prices, limiting amount of employees
-Wages and salaries increasing across board-substantially increasing operating expenses for companies that would then need ot increase the price of products and services to cover increased labor costs
-Quality > quantity, less help pay those more who really deserve it
-Increase prices = general increase in cost of living =negate nay advantage gained by workers having more dollars in pockets for cash or disposable income
-Potential job losses
-Jobs become ore expensive for businesses, especially mom and pap stores on Main Street to stay open
-Competition for minimum wage jobs
-Overqualified workers taking minimum wage positions instead when normally these jobs would go to young or inexperienced workers as their first pay check to pay check jobs
The 2019 CBO report estimates that raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025 would result in the loss of approximately 1.3 million jobs.
Raising the minimum wage to $15 is no easy task and cannot be reversed once amended. Increasing the minimum wage is certainly beneficial on many fronts in helping spur economic growth, lift people out of poverty and improve work ethic yet as weâve uncovered, raising wages means everything else is more expensive and more employees must go to keep up with the rising prices.
For now, it doesnât seem like anytime soon the Senate will vote âyayâ for an increase in wages so instead of fretting, I would advice for those hoping to earn more, stick to saving more. Saving is easier than earning. Saving $300 = Earning $300.
Why Working a Minimum Wage Job Is Best To Keep Your Ego At Bay
At 14, I landed my first part-time job as a tennis coach. I still have no idea how I actually got the position because I was never certified to teach tennis, I just played quite well with old men at a country club and the word went out to other clubs around the neighborhood that Iâm very âgentleâ, âcomfortableâ and easy going with the tennis ball.
This may or may not be a good thing especially since this is a sport that is intense not a cocktail party but nevertheless, high end beach and country clubs wanted that laid back energy and asked if I could lend them a hand, or shall I say racquet.
I started coaching which just meant throwing balls to the player as a human made automated machine thrower and played a couple rounds with everyone from kids to adults after school and mostly on weekends.
This was when I also started earning real dough. It wasât the first paycheck I had made since I had been selling lemonade, teaching English, modeling, walking dogs and and babysitting for a few years then, but this was my first real stable income that I could finally invest into my Roth IRA.
From each lesson, I made roughly $75 for a 45 minute class and a juicy tip of about $50 or a free dinner with the playerâs family. I was lucky to coach the 1% which allowed me to get by with this nice salary before HS started but it also made me very clueless and quite spoiled.
When youâre around businessmen, people you admire and wealthy people who got their money from doing shady business, you tend to take things for granted in your life.
As a coach, along with a bonus and generous salary, I also got major perks just hanging out with these folks which meant I started spending more than I ever thought was possible on junk from food to accessories. To them it was pennies down the drain but living this lifestyle throughout my childhood, I started to forget what was really important as a kid.
I became fascinated with the creation and abundance of money. I neglected making friends, being a teenager, school work and just wanted to work 24/7. Now donât get me wrong, coaching elites but amateur tennis players taught me vital skills such as networking because connections are everything, work ethic, how to be diplomatic and make someone feel they are always superior since the customer (player) is always right but living life wasnât part of the agenda anymore and I knew I wanted to get back to reality again before I grow up.
I decided not to quit entirely because this was my only hope in building up that nest egg so I could eventually live up to my dream of purchasing my first rental property with my own money in NYC as a college student one day. Fortunately, I was able to do so during the low interest rate environment last year at the start of the pandemic.
I needed a better purpose now working 4 hours instead of 10 on the courts and that started with a low paying job.
The Desire for Money and Presteigne Is Ruining Your Life
Although I lived the upper class lifestyle, I never displayed, advertised or showed it because for one, I was around other rich kids who were at the same level as me and second, I knew it doesnât make anyone feel good, including myself when I try to show off something that is mainly junk such as luxury brands or a cool toy.
I adopted the frugal, minimalist stealth wealth lifestyle instead early on, right after learning what working at a country club really made me and Iâve never looked back.
But as any rich kid, you start becoming clueless and spoiled at times in your own bubble and Iâm more than grateful I took it upon myself to work at the local grocery store for 75% of the pay.
Reality Check
Sometimes we take our life for granted. The more you have, the more you want and the more you see coming your way while neglecting what is really important in your life that you started with.
Your health, family, safety and mental sanity can never be replaced, everything else in life from that car to house can.
Working at a grocery store at age 17, a few years after quitting the highest paying job I had ever had on my own terms made me grounded again.
I didnât wear fancy Ralf Lauren polos monogrammed with my instructor name or have a locker with luke warm towels waiting to unclog my pores after the session, I wore a red vest with a gum stain that a previous employee wore. The grocery store didnât have the budget at the time to buy any more clean suited vests and that person happened to be a size small in womenâs so I choose to wear it now as an official employee.
As with any low paying job, it makes you angry you donât earn more and you know there are better opportunities out there for you, but sometimes you have to work for something that you donât deserve to make sure you stay deserving of what you already have.
I did everything that I never knew needed to be done and the funny part is, all of these things are house hold chores I seemingly forgot about! From mopping the floors to stocking shelves, cleaning up spills from the tasting bar to organizing the shopping cars and putting them back into their respected lanes in 100 degree parking lot. I did basic tasks that were grueling and annoying for $7 an hour but without them, I wouldnât have been this humble or who I am today.
As I look back and pretend to imagine myself still teaching tennis at golf clubs on Long Island and in Westchester for the past 6 years, I cannot imagine how much of a brat I wouldâve been.
Even if I was paid $15 an hour at the grocery store instead of $7, I still wouldâve been a different person compared to working in an elite environment that only made my wallet and ego fatter.
Minimum wage service jobs are nothing to be ashamed of.
People Are People
To tell if someone is a good person, see how they treat minimum wage workers such as waitresses or delivery people. If they expect something in return or get their anger out at them because theyâre an easy target, you know they arenât for you.
Money messes with our brains. We become entitled and clueless to whatâs important. I was truly the happiest when I came home from my 4 hour shift doing mundane dirty chores at the store because I knew it made the store a better, healthier and cleaner place for customers as opposed to feeling superior and wealthier teaching a hedge fund manager how to hit a backhand.
These times are tough and we have a lot to complain about and your feeling are validated. However, you should also spend this time to be appreciative of what you have because someone in Nigeria has it worse.
Your trash = someone elseâs treasure.
Eventually, this pandemic will come to an end and we will get back to a new normal. Before we get to that point, will you strive to become a better person who is chasing for character or an entitled brat looking for the next lucrative gig?
Salaries and titles are enticing but after a certain point, if you donât work minimum wage, many opportunities will be lost. Most importantly your dignity and future.