Christina Cann – 1/29/06

This page was last updated on January 29, 2006.

Minimum wage hike needed; Christina Cann; Beaver County Times; January 29, 2006.

An editor’s note asserts, “The writer is an intern with the Women’s Law Project in Pittsburgh.”

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“In response of Wednesday’s editorial on raising the minimum wage in Pennsylvania:

“Unfortunately, it’s true that the debate over raising the minimum wage is more about politics than economics.”

[RWC] What a shock! Another liberal group claiming “the debate over raising the minimum wage is more about politics than economics” because economics doesn’t support the liberal position.

“If those opposed to raising the minimum wage would step back and look at the reality of people struggling to survive on $5.15 per hour, they would have a much harder time justifying their opposition to the increase.

“The federal Department of Health and Human Services puts the poverty level for a family of three at $16,090; a minimum-wage worker will only earn $10,712 annually, assuming he or she works 40 hours a week every single week of the year.”

[RWC] What responsible person earning the minimum wage decides raising a family is the right thing to do? We can’t enable people making wrong choices.

“Nineteen states already have minimum wages higher than the federal minimum. Some states, such as Florida, Washington and Oregon, even adjust their minimum wages each year to account for inflation.”

[RWC] This reminds me of the question my parents would ask: “If your friends jumped off a bridge, would you follow them?”

“This is similar to Gov. Ed Rendell’s plan to increase the minimum wage to $7.15 by 2007 and adjust it to reflect cost-of-living increases thereafter.

“The group that would be most impacted by a wage increase is women. Women account for 60 percent of the minimum-wage earning workforce and are twice as likely to earn the federal minimum wage as men, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“Closer to home, a study conducted by the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Social and Urban Research found that part-time women workers in the Pittsburgh region, which includes Beaver County, are the lowest paid of the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the country.

“These are women who are single mothers trying to raise their children. They are women struggling to take care of elderly parents. They are our neighbors, friends, family members. Don’t they deserve a chance to succeed?”

[RWC] When will people like Ms. Cann understand that welfare doesn’t provide “a chance to succeed?”