Myths(Lies) About The Minimum Wage

The Republicans like to tout my own home state of Texas as being an "economic miracle". They would like for Americans to believe that the recession didn't hit Texas as hard as other states, and that is because of the corporate-friendly Republican leadership in the state. That's simply not true. Texas was hit hard by the recession, and at least half of the states in this country have a lower unemployment figure than Texas.

Another fact that's commonly overlooked by the Republicans is that Texas also has the largest number of minimum wage jobs in the country -- both in number of minimum wage jobs and in the percentage of the state's jobs that pay minimum wage. And as the chart above shows, that means Texas has more full-time workers than any other state that are living below the poverty line.

The minimum wage needs to be raised -- both in Texas and nationwide. But the Republicans are not only opposed to raising it -- they would like to abolish the minimum wage completely, and let employers abuse their workers as much as they want. And to accomplish that, they are spreading a lot of myths (actually lies) about the minimum wage. Let's examine some of those myths:

The minimum wage is higher than ever.
On the surface, that looks true. In 1968, the minimum wage was $1.60 an hour. Today it is $7.25 an hour. But the problem comes when you consider the buying power of the minimum wage. The 1968 minimum wage would be the equivalent in buying power of a wage of $10.27 today. That means the current minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is really a drop of 29.41% in buying power. In other words, the minimum wage is really about 30% lower today than it was in 1968.

Working a minimum wage job can pull a person out of poverty.
This has never been true, although it was a lot closer to being true in the past than today. In 1968, a minimum wage salary meant the worker was earning about 90% of the amount defined as the poverty level. By 2006, it had dropped to only 50% of the poverty level. Even with the recent rise in the minimum wage, a worker earning it only comes up to about 60% of the poverty level.

Raising the minimum wage costs jobs because it increases layoffs.
Right-wingers point to a couple of early studies that seem to show this, but those studies have been found to be flawed. These studies did not account for other economic influences, and the truth is that the layoffs they listed would have happened even if the minimum wage had not been raised. Many more, better studies show that raising the minimum wage does not cost jobs. The decade following the minimum wage increases of 1996-97 ushered in one of the strongest periods of job growth in decades. Additionally, other studies have shown that states with a higher minimum wage than the federally-mandated wage actually had stronger job growth between 1998 and 2003 than states with the federal level. A 2011 study shows this is true even during times of recession and high unemployment.

Raising the minimum wage during a recession would harm the economy.
This is the opposite of what is true. Raising the minimum wage would actually boost the economy, because the extra money would go to people who would need to spend it -- and that extra spending would circulate more money throughout the economy, giving it a boost and helping the very businesses the right-wingers claim would be hurt. Raising the minimum wage doesn't just help the workers earning it. It also boosts the wages of those making just a bit above it, it boosts the economy, and it helps businesses.

Small Businesses paying minimum wage would be put at a disadvantage by raising it.
Again, this is simply not true. Raising the wage would let them keep their workers longer, thereby increasing worker productivity. And they would not be disadvantaged because all of their competitors would have to pay the same wage.

Raising the minimum wage would only affect teenagers.
The truth is that the minimum wage is attached to the job -- not to the age of the person holding the job. And in these current hard economic times, far more adults are filling these minimum wage jobs (because there are no other jobs to be had). The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that over 75% of minimum wage jobs are held by adults over the age of 20. An example of this would be home health care workers, where the median age is about 40.

When the minimum wage was signed into law in 1938 it had two stated purposes -- to keep workers out of poverty and to stimulate the economy (by increasing consumer purchasing power). Those same goals are a valid reason for raising the minimum wage today. It should be raised to at least $10.00 an hour -- and then it should be tied to the rate of inflation (so it doesn't lose purchasing power year after year due to political inaction).

Minimum wage workers are not unimportant strangers that it's OK to abuse. They are family, friends, neighbors, and fellow citizens -- and they are hard-working and productive. They deserve a decent and livable wage, just like all Americans. Raising the minimum wage is the right thing to do, and it would benefit everyone in this country.