By Tylar Pomroy
Staff Writer

Seven dollars and twenty-five cents an hour: the amount that many people in this country have to live off of. Is it really possible to make a living in this country off of minimum wage?

The minimum wage hasn’t been raised since 2009. If it had been steadily raising and kept in pace with inflation, the wage would be around $10.77. Now compare that to how much income is made in a week by working 30 hours, $217.50 to $323.10: a huge difference. If the federal minimum was to be raised to $9.80 by Summer 2014, more than 28 million workers lives would be affected. The move would push many of the working poor out of poverty. It would generate a positive impact on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of this country by spending their income. A positive impact on GDP leads to job creation and employment growth.

Fortunately for those in favor, the leader of this country, Barack Obama, has hopes of raising the minimum wage. According to thedailybeast.com, President Obama, has the intention of raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour over the next two years. When asked if he thought that wage increases lead to unemployment, he replied that he is aware of all the arguments made against a higher minimum wage. “`Some say it actually hurts low-wage workers—businesses will be less likely to hire them. But there’s no solid evidence that a higher minimum wage costs jobs…`” said Obama. This statement can relate to more low-wage Americans working for large corporations rather than small businesses, large corporations that earn strong profits today and can afford higher wages.

Some people believe that it’s only teenagers beingaffected by the low minimum wage but don’t realize that in all 50 states, there is not one where someone working 40 hours a week can afford a two bedroom apartment from working a minimum wage job.

So how do adults survive from receiving minimum wage? Well it’s not easy; they have to apply for other jobs that consume their lives, hoping that they will be hired. Then they have the option of receiving government help: food stamps, Medicaid, subsidized housing, etc. These programs sound like good solutions but are not effective. People that need them either do not qualify for them, are too embarrassed to utilize them, or still can’t take care of their lives because the program doesn’t provide enough. Situations like this can deeply hurt families that have guardians receiving minimum wage –how is someone supposed to be able to take care of a family when they barely make enough to take care of themselves? It’s simple, they can’t.
Several states have made smart decisions to take action on raising their minimum wage above the federal level. The most significant raise being the state of Washington’s to $9.19 an hour.

The federal raise would not only help economic recovery but it will help many Americans already in debt. After paying off the debt they owe, those in debt will be able to eventually rise into a revitalized middle-class.
America’s lowest paid workers are falling behind and it’s time for this nation to take action.