Women, the Economy, and a $15 minimum wage

There is a problem with United States’ workforce. The wage gap, both Gender and Labor, highlights the plight of average Americans struggling to work for an income that allows for economic mobility. This struggle ensures that millions of U.S. families are unable to save money for emergencies or their children’s education. It ensures that the anxiety and stress of paying off debt and bills, will continue to wear on the employee’s health. The ability for the U.S. citizen to attain the necessary wages for a comfortable living has diminished. Two distinct cultural factors are enforcing the economic struggle of millions of hard working American’s. The Gender wage gap is the system that ensures unequal pay for women. Moreover, it has a correlation with the Labor wage gap between CEO’s and the U.S. employee as a whole. This uneven distribution of capital is predicated through the Right to Work legal framework that allows for corporations to neutralize the ability for unions to work for employee rights.

The Gender wage gap is rooted in the historic maltreatment of half of the population. We need only look at the history of women’s civil rights to note the systematic denial of economic advancement. This structure continues to impact women through their earning power. An alarming example, 40% of US households feature the mother as the the primary or sole source of income. This statistic in context to the Gender gap highlights nearly 31 million workers who are unable to earn an equal, much less equitable living. The 2012 American Community Survey reports “For every $1 made by a father with children under 18, mothers earn 74.7 cents. The gap for all women is 82.1 cents compared to all men.” The Gender wage gap is further compounded by the fact that nearly 70% of the tipped labor force (wage’s based on tip’s from customers) are women.

The tipped minimum wage that was established by the 1966 Fair Labor Standards act has not risen from $2.13 since 1996. The Economic Policy Institute writes “Customers’ tips pay the $5.12 difference between the federal tipped minimum wage and the federal regular minimum wage. Thus, customers provide a subsidy to employers of tipped workers worth more than twice the wage these employers are required to pay their tipped staff.” This translates to the median wage of tipped workers at $10.25 compared to the total U.S. worker average of $16.48. Not only is the American employee underpaid, they are expected to pay the wage of those who fall under the tip based economic structure.

It is interesting to note this government initiative when observing the Gender wage gap. Currently, there is a debate about the need for a minimum wage hike. Some are calling for a rate of $15/hour. Most who are critical of the minimum wage hike, specifically the $15 standard, argue corporations would suffer an inequitable burden at the expense of the benefit for employees. The logic of this argument is ironic in light of the Gender wage gap. It is further undermined by the reality that CEO’s salaries have risen to nearly 350x that of the average U.S. worker. A tragicomic examples is the CEO who makes 1000x the average company employee. This is further highlighted by the continual decrease in corporate taxes. These statistics are a bleak assessment of the U.S. labor force, they verify long held assumption of economic inequality. The inability to implement economic reform for an effective distribution of our nation’s earning power is written into state and federal statutes.

The concept of Right to Work was first enacted in Southern states during the 1940’s (Arkansas and Florida in 1944). It makes sense that the South would seek to dissolve the effects of Unions. Jim Crow was the ruling order of governance. The ability to prevent citizens from organizing maintained the supremacist power structure within these states. Especially, with the prospect of Black American’s returning from their service defending the nation during WW II. The Jim Crow elite held memories of the Black U.S. soldier returning from their service in WW I with the audacity to demand economic equity. In fact, the immediate years following the First World War were a pivotal time for the Black American. The Harlem Renaissance was merely the tip of the iceberg. Since 1944, with the exception of 1997–2000, the unemployment rate has steadily risen. During this time, 26 states have ratified Right to Work legal framework.

The primary rational behind the Right to Work structure is preventing unions from enforcing membership as terms of employment. This is not an undebatable stance. Few would argue that Unions are impervious to the corruption of their counterparts in law enforcement, politics, or the judiciary at large. The major issue with this structure is that it solely benefits the corporations and business at large. The employee is left with no legal framework to effect meaningful economic change for a living wage. It is in the ability to form a consensus through the collective, that those who work for both salary and wage, have been able to create opportunities for economic advancement. In a way, even the corporate process requires the collectivization of distinct working populations to form a cohesive entity. There is power in numbers, unfortunately for the American worker, this is a moot point. Those same companies that benefit from the Right to Work structure donate hundreds of millions each year to ensure that the politician maintains this status quo. These same industries bar the solicitation of unions for membership while taking advantage of unequitable pay structures that have no legal regulation. Just look at the recent case of Walmart and its practice of hiring private detectives to spy on its employees.

The most ironic aspect of this problematic economic situation is the reality that we can actually change this system. If the nation decided that mothers should make as much as fathers, women as much as men, it could begin with the distribution of our earnings. In addition to campaign finance reform, we could set the minimum wage at $15/hour to provide the capital for those who will not only spend, but spend towards the industries that actually spur economic growth. Rather than 1% of a the population maintaining an inordinate amount of wealth that goes towards off-shore savings accounts and exotic foreign goods — we would have hundreds of million of American’s spending capital towards Domestic goods and services. This cycle of economic exchange would naturally beget the growth that the current Trickle Down economic outlook can only conjure through smoke and mirrors.