|
Comment on this article |
View comments |
Email this Article
|
|
News :: Miscellaneous |
|
It Just Doesn't Add Up This Labor Day For Minimum Wage Workers |
Current rating: 0 |
by Ms. Foundation for Women
(No verified email address) |
30 Aug 2001
Modified: 08:15:44 PM |
New Book Shows What People Need to Make Ends Meet; Calls For $8 Minimum
NEW YORK - August 28 - "RAISE THE FLOOR sends a clear message to America that the minimum wage should lift people out of poverty, not perpetuate it. That's been our history and we should rediscover it." --Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro |
"RAISE THE FLOOR: Wages and Policies That Work for All of Us," a groundbreaking new book published by the Ms. Foundation for Women, deftly blends the latest data and real-life stories to illustrate how an annual minimum wage income of $10,712 a year just doesn't add up. It shows what it takes to make ends meet in today's America.
A mom and dad with two children would have to work a combined 3.3 full-time minimum wage jobs to make ends meet. That's 132 hours a week. Minimum wage workers earn 35 percent less than their counterparts did in 1968--adjusting for inflation.
"People work hard full time, year round, and yet their families go without," says Marie C. Wilson, president of the Ms. Foundation and author of the book's afterword. "They take care of our children and seniors. They care for us in hospitals and harvest our food. Our country depends upon their hard work. Yet they can't buy adequate housing, health care and food. Surely we, the richest of nations, can do better."
Most Americans believe a job should keep you out of poverty, not keep you in it. "Raise The Floor" authors Holly Sklar, Laryssa Mykyta and Susan Wefald show us how we can translate that belief into reality.
"Raise The Floor" recommends raising the minimum wage to $8. That's what a single worker needs to meet their minimum needs working full time. That's what it takes just to match the minimum wage of 1968, adjusting for inflation. "Raise The Floor" spotlights businesses, large and small, that demonstrate how good wages are good business.
"I've been in the restaurant business for almost 30 years and know firsthand how raising entry-level wages is good for business as well as workers, " says Judy Wicks, owner of the White Dog Café in Philadelphia. "RAISE THE FLOOR cuts through the myths and shows us how we can solve some of our biggest problems."
To assure that all working families can meet their basic needs, "Raise The Floor" explains how we can supplement a higher minimum wage with improved child care, health care, housing and Earned Income Tax Credit policies, and other practical solutions.
RAISE THE FLOOR ISBN 0-9710822-0-0 $9.95 Visit us at www.raisethefloor.org |
See also:
http://www.ms.foundation.org/index.html
|
|
Elanor Supports A Higher Minimum |
by ML
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
30 Aug 2001
|
 |
|
Nothing surprising here. My grandmother could've told you that! |
