Minimum wage issue doesn’t just affect kids

opinion@dailylobo.com

I have written a number of times about the minimum wage increase that is going to be on the ballot in November. This is because I feel this is a very important issue that will affect not only many UNM students, but also many struggling individuals and families in Albuquerque.

Again, this increase would raise the minimum wage from $7.50 an hour to $8.50, make tipped minimum wage at least 45 percent of regular minimum wage, and, most importantly, this would index the minimum wage with the rising cost of living so Albuquerque will never be stuck in a situation in which the cost of living is much higher than the minimum wage.

A few weeks ago I discussed this increase and said it would help families and individuals who are struggling and living in poverty.

One response appeared in a Daily Lobo column the following week, mockingly suggesting that struggling families would not be affected by this increase because most minimum wage workers are not adults working to support families. However, a recent report put out by New Mexico’s Voices for Children tells a very different story.

The report says that this increase would, directly and indirectly, affect 40,000 Albuquerque workers, or 14.3 percent of the total Albuquerque workforce. In addition, it dispels the notion that those who would benefit from the minimum wage are primarily younger members of the workforce who work part time and have other support at home. It shows that 84 percent of the workers who would be affected work more than part time, and most are adults who have a part in supporting a family.

This increase would also greatly benefit women and Hispanics, because 53 percent and 55 percent, respectively, of those workers who would be affected by the increase are women or Hispanic. Thus, this increase would not only help the stereotypical teenager flipping hamburgers — often portrayed as the only worker making minimum wage — but would benefit hard-working adults who work more than part time.

The report also shows that this increase, despite what some have said, would also help stimulate the economy. This is because when the minimum wage stays the same, while prices go up due to inflation, the buying power of a dollar goes down. Indeed, the report examines how the $7.50 minimum wage, if not adjusted with inflation, will only have the buying power of $6 by 2020. So if the minimum wage increases and is indexed with prices, then consumers and workers will have more buying power and will spend more money. Specifically, minimum wage earners would have $712 more per year in their pockets. The report estimates that this would inject $18 million into the local economy. Indeed, a number of local business owners including Travis Parkins, co-founder of Guerrilla Graphix; David Edwards, who co-founded the New Mexico Tea Co.; and Nancy Rogers, co-founder of the Daily Grind, have all pledged support for increasing the minimum wage because they know it will benefit the economy as well as workers.

If you would like to know more about the impacts the minimum wage increase would have on Albuquerque, you can attend a panel discussion on the issue today at 7 p.m. in the SUB Ballroom A.

Also, if you would like to see the economic report discussed above, you can go to NMVoices.org. However, whether or not you feel that the minimum wage increase would be good for Albuquerque, I would urge everyone to make their voice heard and get out and vote, and vote early.