Florida’s minimum wage should be higher

Alia Bennett / Contributing Writer

Seattle shocked the country when legislators decided to raise its minimum wage to $15 per hour.  Los Angeles just made a similar decision and became the largest city to raise its hourly minimum wage to $15 by 2020.

A move like that makes you wonder when our lovely legislators in Tallahassee might think of doing the same, or if they’ve even considered it.  

As many as 20 states have raised their minimum wage this year, some tremendously and others not so much. Florida’s minimum wage raised only 12 cents making it $8.05.  

Let’s see, for a typical college student working 20 hours a week, this 12 cents raise would equal an additional $2.40 on their paycheck.  This small amount isn’t really discernable.

We know that the gap between the rich and poor keeps getting wider despite the government’s efforts to make things more equal. The assets of the rich seem to keep amassing value while the wealth of those who are middle or lower class remains stagnant at best.  

Democrats in Congress have tried to raise the federal minimum wage but those efforts have not been too successful. Bottom line, it’s becoming harder and harder to survive off of minimum wage, especially for a family of 4.

Now it is necessary to take into account that the minimum wage is not indexed with the cost of living.  Not sure why this is so, since it makes the minimum wage seem like a purely random meaningless number.  

As of now there are 15 states who index their minimum wage to rise as the cost of living rises based on information given by Raise the Minimum Wage, a project of the National Employment Law Project. This means they use the cost of living as a way to figure out how much workers should be paid so purchasing power is not lost.  

However, Florida is not one of the 15 states despite being a state that is notorious for having an unreasonably high cost of living.  Miami alone is among the most expensive cities to live in the nation. According to a real-estate website called Zillow via Bloomberg News, Miami is the “most expensive city in America for millennials to rent.”

While some areas have higher minimum wages than others, most of the time it is still too little for the average person or family. The country is still in a battle between what to do and state legislators aren’t showing much promise either.

That’s why it’s up to the cities to set the precedent when nobody else will. Although Florida did raise its minimum wage, it is not enough. Therefore, cities should at least consider taking some sort of action of their own.

People also don’t take into account that minimum wage workers vary in age.  They have this idea that minimum wage workers are all 16 year old teens who just want something to do.

There are over 3 million workers who were at or below federal minimum wage as of 2013 according to data collected by the Current Population Survey.  A large chunk of these workers are between the ages of 16 to 24. While a lot may not have an extensive education, they are deserving of a paycheck that allows them to live above poverty.  

Then there are the often forgotten college students who have to worry about everything an adult worries about in addition to school.

Imagine the stress it puts on us college students who may or may not be fully independent or established yet.  We are told to make good grades and establish lifelong connections, all while going to work for very long hours.

As with many other things, tuition levels have spiked over the years and if your financial aid doesn’t cover it, you will have to supplement your income one way or another. This can put a strain on a person who now must be a full time worker on top of being a full time student.  

If you throw extracurricular activities into the mix, a way that one could make such revered “lifelong” connections, things can get pretty tricky.  My head is throbbing just thinking about it.  

So what do we do? We make it known to those whom we’ve voted to represent our interest in Tallahassee to do just that – represent our interest.  

Get busy because that 12 cents won’t go far.

[Image from Flickr]