Being a college student and living off an $8 an hour job is nearly impossible, especially when most of us are expected to pay for rent, food, textbooks and other bills on our own. Thankfully the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013 has been approved by both the Senate and the Assembly. If passed, The bill will raise the minimum to $10 an hour, hopefully raising California’s minimum wage by 2016. This bill will help not just college students struggling to pay for things, but also the working class families that are also struggling.
Gov. Jerry Brown indicated that when the bill comes across his desk he has the intentions of signing it, especially since it would help working-class families.
Raising the minimum wage will greatly improve college students’ lives. For one, it will allow them to better pay for their necessities. In addition, it would leave possibility of having a bit of cash left over for fun things like seeing a movie or going to a concert — which would in turn benefit the economy.
Low-wage workers benefiting from an increase in the minimum wage are more likely to be 20 years old or older. 88 percent of those that work on the current minimum wage are of this age group, according to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Personally, having the minimum wage raised to $10 an hour would really help me out since I’m currently working at a job where I get paid $8 an hour. This raise would definitely help with my rent, food and textbooks since that’s what most of my money goes toward. On top of having to pay for these, I usually try to save money so that I can use it for other things that I may need later on, like laundry money or bathroom essentials.
Aside from raising the minimum wage this bill would also adjust accordingly to keep up with the rising costs of living. Workers who earn tips will be given up to 70 percent of the full minimum wage, according to the Raise the Minimum Wage website.
Although some argue that the bill will negatively impact both the economy and those who are working minimum wage jobs, it will actually help anyone who is out of work and needing a job, especially those who have families. It would also generate more money into the economy, which is a definite plus.
“The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013 would generate more than $32 billion in new economic activity, translating to 140,000 new full-time jobs as higher sales lead businesses to hire more employees, according to estimates by the Economic Policy Institute,” according to the Raise the Minimum Wage website.
Another positive brought by the bill is the fact that more than 30 million working people would receive the minimum wage raise. Also, 71 percent of tipped workers getting raises would be women, a key step for women’s pay equality, according to the Raise the Minimum’s website.
Whether you believe raising the minimum wage is good or bad, it’s pretty much a given that it should happen since it would help so many people out. It could even help you out if you ever start to struggle financially.
Tara Miller can be reached at [email protected] or @chicojournalist on Twitter.
