Ten years in, the movement to raise the minimum wage is gaining momentum across the country.
by Sharon Johnson, The Progressive
Kimberly Baker did everything right. She was at the top of her high school class and began working at the age of seventeen in a grocery store in Lincoln, Nebraska. She completed a degree in foreign languages while working full time in the insurance industry. But despite her skills and perseverance, the thirty-eight-year-old single mother earns only $13.26 an hour, too little to rent a modest apartment.
“I get by because my sixteen-year-old son and I live with my parents, retired nurses who own their home,” Baker says. “Although I supplement my earnings in the insurance industry by working as a tutor of Latin and a translator of French, it is impossible for me to take vacations or to save for my son’s college education or a master’s degree that would enable me to land a job in a better-paying industry.”
Baker’s experience is common, says Ben Zipperer, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a think tank that studies the impact of economic trends on workers.
“Unfortunately, low wages are widespread throughout the labor market,” he tells The Progressive. “It is not just a problem of a teenager working after school to earn spending money, but an enormous burden for adults working two or three jobs for substandard wages that barely keep food on the table.”
Recent Posts
Internationally Beloved Academic, Poet, And Activist Dr. Refaat Alareer Killed By Israel
Take Action Now The professor at University of Gaza and co-founder of “We are Not Numbers” refused to evacuate northern Gaza as demanded by Israelis…
Nikki Haley’s Fake Moderation Should Fool No One
Take Action Now The favorite of plutocrats and the mainstream media is running a deeply deceptive campaign. By Jeet Heer, The Nation The fourth GOP…
People Aren’t Crazy For Thinking The Biden Economy Is Bad
Take Action Now There are many good reasons to be unhappy with the economy today: by conventional social democratic metrics like union density,…
China Hysteria Is Driving Our Bloated Military Budget
Take Action Now Washington wants you to believe we’re being outpaced in budget and weapons. That’s not true. by William Hartung,…