Opinion: Congress Democrats Need to Aid Struggling Americans Immediately
With the impeachment trial and second Covid-19 relief package finished, Congress Democrats need to move on with their legislative agenda. A way to directly give back and aid Americans during this time of crisis is to forgive student debt and raise the minimum wage.
We need to forgive student debt. As of now, student loan debt has reached 1.7 trillion dollars. Student loan payments are on hold due to the pandemic. According to CNBC, almost 90% of those who owe student loans have taken advantage of the hold, showing just how much people are struggling to pay them. Furthermore, they disproportionately affect people of color, who often have to take out larger student loans than their white counterparts.
As part of his campaign promises, President Biden vowed to forgive $10,000 of student debt per student. However, many think this is not enough, calling on Biden to forgive more than $10,000, possibly through an executive order. Now in office, Biden is holding back from what is seen as a radical liberal policy, but Congress Democrats keep pushing him, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer saying “All you need is the flick of a pen…You don’t need Congress,” in December. An executive order would be quick, and does not need to be approved by the other branches — however, with Democrats now in the majority in both chambers, a bill forgiving student debt would likely pass.
Among constituents, in addition to conservatives who don’t support the act, some liberals don’t either. The objection comes mainly from older generations, citing that they were able to pay their way through college, and that Millennials and Gen Z, the majority of those paying student loans, should be able to do the same. However, taking a closer look at the numbers explains why these situations aren’t the same, and therefore call for different measures. Tuition rates increase at about twice the rate as inflation, with tuition rates increasing at about 7.4%, and the inflation rate being about 3.7%. Additionally, the rate of minimum wage increase has not matched that of inflation since 1968, meaning that while not only is college more expensive than ever, it’s also harder to pay for. The money and cost of college older generations experienced simply is not the same as today.
That brings me to the next thing Democrats need to do: raise the federal minimum wage. The rate the minimum wage is raised at does not match that of inflation, meaning even as the wage has increased its value has overall decreased since 1968, as previously stated. This is a humongous issue. It used to be that the minimum wage was a livable wage, and that those without a college degree could still live comfortable middle class lives while making it. This is far from the case today. If you made $7.25 an hour — the federal minimum wage — as a person in a family of four, your family would be below the poverty line. This is simply unacceptable. Not only would raising the minimum wage benefit millions of Americans, but also make it so college would be more affordable and accessible to people who would be otherwise swamped in student loans. In combination with forgiving student debt, raising the minimum wage would advance the US closer to other first world countries, who have free or inexpensive college, and therefore rare student debt.
With little to no student debt, individuals could flourish financially right after college, which has become the modern American Dream.
