In January 2009, the minimum wage in Washington will increase from $8.07 an hour to $8.55 an hour. This change will affect many students working on campus who are understandably happy about it. Most on-campus jobs start out paying the state’s minimum wage.
“I’m really glad the minimum wage is going up here. I’d definitely appreciate the extra money. This is the first job on campus I’ve had and it’s been great,” said sophomore Wayne Lichty, who works for WCTS.
Nationwide, Washington has the highest minimum wage, with California and Massachusetts coming in second at $8.00 an hour. Wyoming comes in last at $5.15 an hour, because its minimum wage is not tied to the federal mandated wage of $6.55 an hour. Certain states have their minimum wage set to the federal one but some, such as Washington, have a minimum wage that is tied to a cost of living index.
When inflation, the average price of many household goods and services, increases, the cost of living increases too. That’s why $100 in 1995 buys a lot more than $100 in 2008. As a result, Washington state’s minimum wage has been increasing steadily since voters approved adding cost of living adjustments into calculating the state’s minimum wage in 1998.
However, not everybody thinks raising the minimum wage is a good idea. In fact, most economists believe that the minimum wage is too high, or that it shouldn’t even exist. While many students and minimum wage workers across the country disagree, economists and economic professors vastly agree that the federal and state minimum wages shouldn’t exist.
The laws of supply and demand indicate that they will inevitably agree on a wage that keeps the most people hired for the highest wage. For instance, if McDonald’s offers too low of a wage, workers can work for Burger King; so Mcdonald’s has to raise their wage. Workers cannot demand too much pay or else employers will be unable to hire them. A minimum wage sets a certain earned amount for every employee, so companies may have to hire fewer employees because they can’t afford the higher wage. Many economists believe this leads to higher unemployment. Also, companies forced to pay a higher minimum wage simply pass the cost to consumers.
Politically, people are divided over the minimum wage. Many business groups such as the Chamber of Commerce oppose it, while labor unions demand a higher one. In the Washington governor’s race, Republican candidate Dino Rossi publicly calls for reducing the minimum wage.
“When the minimum wage gets so high that that job isn’t worth that much to the employer, you don’t get that first job,” he told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Democrat Governor Chris Gregoire disagreed.
“There are plenty [of] folks who are in those minimum wage jobs, who have families to support, and I want to stand with them,” Gregoire was quoted as saying by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Clearly, minimum wage represents a clear divide between conservatives and liberals, Republicans and Democrats. At Whitman, however, students generally are happy about the increase, especially those with on-campus jobs.
“I’m probably going to be an economics major, but I’m not going to tell my boss to pay me less,” said Lichty.
