The problem with today’s wage

Throughout high school and college, many people have worked a job. Whether the job is in retail or working for a restaurant, most have had experience working in these kinds of jobs. For some people, working in retail or being a server is their full time job. However, these people are not compensated enough for being considered full time. In the documentary titled, Surviving an unlivable wage, the speaker discussed the extremely low wage that a group of restaurant workers faced. The documentary mentioned that the wage for restaurant workers can be as low as $2.13 an hour. Currently, the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. However, restaurants can use tips as an excuse to pay their workers so little. Even if the restaurant workers made $7.25 an hour, $7.25 is not nearly enough to survive in today’s economy. Some companies, specifically in retail, have been hiring more part time workers so that they do not have to spend as much money on employees. Part time employees do not receive the same benefits as full time employees, so it is better from the company’s perspective to fill up their jobs with part time workers to save some money. The way that these kinds of jobs are set up leaves many people struggling to make ends meet in their day to day life. The article, The Gig Economy, touches on this topic. The author states that “A system that manufactures unemployment; it is a necessary outcome of the accumulation of wealth, and a tool used to perpetuate the existence of the system by pitting employed and unemployed workers, and US-born and immigrant workers against one another, making them compete for a limited amount of jobs.” This quote touches on the fact that the current system is set up for people to fail and feel pitted against others. How can we reform the current system of minimum wage jobs to facilitate a more survivable wage for those who work these jobs?