The minimum wage has become a controversial topic over the last couple of years, however, the question remains whether or not Chicago should raise the minimum wage even higher. What is interesting about this ongoing city-wide conversation is that the minimum wage was increased recently. “In Chicago, the minimum wage on July 1, 2022, for non-tipped workers rose from $15 to $15.40 for large businesses that employ 21 or more workers, and for $14.50 for smaller businesses. And for tipped workers, the rates increased to $9.24 for large employers and $8.70 for smaller businesses,” according to NBC Chicago. Yet even though the minimum wage was raised it still isn’t a living wage. A living wage is a wage that allows someone to satisfy the bare necessities.
Chicago’s Living Wage
MIT, one of America’s most prestigious universities, created a website that calculates the minimum wage of every county in America. Cook county’s estimation was around $19. For the people in Cook county, there is a $4 difference between the minimum wage and the living wage. However, it must be addressed that cook county is a very large area that has a complex socio-economic layout. Within Cook County, both North Lawndale, and Lakeview exist. So the severity of the gap may not be the same across different neighborhoods. However, for certain neighborhoods like West Garfield Park, North Lawndale, or Englewood, the difference may not be the same. With all that in mind, the purpose of a minimum wage is to make sure that the working class can survive. Sometimes people forget that there wouldn’t be any rich people with working-class people.
What is meant by this is that the working class makes the world go round. There can be no business without workers, even if they are mechanical, there is labor involved. The minimum wage makes sure that those who own businesses give back a fair share of the profits they made back into the hands that labored to create it. The thing is, people can’t survive if they don’t make enough money. This is a fact about our current economic system. Unfortunately, this means that when a large portion of the population is struggling with this issue, they can’t do much about it.
Liabilities
Furthermore, the only real thing they can do is avoid having any liabilities like medical, college, or general debt and get another job. This results in people that spend their entire lives overworking themselves, just so they can survive. Raising the minimum wage could alleviate this pressure in society. People could spend more time with their friends and family. People could be doing so much more than working two or three jobs to survive. raising the minimum wage to a living wage in every area of Chicago could increase the quality of life for the people that need it the most. There is no reason why Lake View looks the way it does, while North Lawndale looks the way it does.
The previously mentioned calculated minimum wage of 19, was only for a person with no financial dependents. there are so many people within the city of Chicago that have children or otherwise mouths to feed. It isn’t just the fact that these people are literally struggling to survive. As a consequence of a number of socio-economic factors, the people that are struggling with this inherently class-based issue tend to come from identities of marginalization as well. Black and Brown people are being hit by this class issue the hardest. It is these same black and brown people that stand to gain from the establishment of a higher minimum wage. So many people stand to gain from the minimum wage, however, like with every great policy there are detractors. Let’s go through one of the major arguments against a raise in the minimum wage.
The Inflation Argument
One of the primary arguments against an increase in the minimum wage is the inflation argument. The raise detractor retort that inflation would simply get worse if the minimum wage is raised. However, what they miss is that inflation is already bad. Whether it is rent prices or food prices, the argument is the same. Everything will simply just match up and then everyone will be back where they started. However, there are policies that can prevent that.
Even if this were an issue a government could simply restrict the price hikes on specific goods and services. What is most important is that things like insulin, a drug that many Americans need to live, aren’t allowed to keep rising in price in the way that it is currently. The reason why is that because many don’t make enough money, there are people that are rationing life-saving drugs because they simply don’t have enough money or resources. The money-hungry and patent-hoarding pharmaceutical companies continue to raise their prices.
The Minimum Wage Could Keep Up With Inflation
So if these prices are going to raise anyway, the minimum wage could keep up with inflation. More than that, it maybe should always keep up with inflation. The reason why is that if a person doesn’t get a raise that is consistent with inflation, they actually lose money. Since money becomes less valuable every year, if the minimum wage doesn’t keep up with inflation, people will fall even deeper into poverty over time. This is the problem with the wage system. The owners of businesses decide who lives a life of poverty-stricken pain and suffering, and who gets to slave away making money for someone else.
At the end of the day, the minimum wage is there to protect the working class from exploitation. Yet, it hasn’t been updated in a while. Inflation is chewed through the gains of the working class. Politicians have the audacity to gloat about how they made the $15.40 an hour happen. What they miss is that this slaps the Chicagoan working class in the face when they say this. Chicago is still suffering, and $15.40 an hour is a small band-aid, for what has become a hollow-tip gunshot wound. The people of Chicago need a higher minimum wage. the Black and brown people of Chicago need a living wage. It is up to the state legislatures whether or not the working class of Chicago needs two jobs or one.
Written by Kenneth Mazerat
Sources
NBC Chicago: Illinois’ Minimum Wage Set to Rise Again in 2023
Living Wage Mit: Living Wage Calculation for Cook County, Illinois
MinimumWage: Is the Fight for $15 Becoming the Fight for $20, or $30?
CNBC: Many Americans who can’t afford a $400 emergency blame debt by Annie Nova
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First Inset Image Courtesy of Taki Steve’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Second Inset Image Courtesy of JJBers Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
