A higher cost of living requires a higer minimum wage

A higher cost of living requires a higer minimum wage

By Ralph Hardin

OK, Micheál, first things first… Arkansas voters passed Issue 5, the ballot measure that will eventually set an $11.00/hour minimum wage in the state. That really should be the end of it.

This is pretty typical of the average Arkansas legislator — trying to go against the will of the people through any means necessary. How many times did voters make it clear they were in favor of bringing in casino wagering before it finally made the ballot? Didn’t the lawyers and politicians just make sure that two other measures (ones limiting the power of lawyers and politicians) got knocked off the ballot at the last minute when polls suggested TORT reform and term limits were things that the voters actually wanted?

If this ridiculous idea to exempt certain workers from the new minimum wage comes to pass, it will be just another example of bureaucrats telling us, the taxpaying voters of this state, that we’re too stupid to decide what we want for ourselves. Just like they’ve done in the past, with trying to make certain judicial positions appointed posts rather than having the will of the people decide in fair, reasonable elections. Just like they did time and time again in keeping the medical marijuana proposal off the ballot. Well, supporters of that measure (I was not one of them) finally jumped through enough hoops to get it on the ballot, and guess what? The voters overwhemlingly supported it.

And you know what, Michael? They overwhelmingly supported the higher minimum wage. Surely that came as no surprise. Just like it comes to no surprise that some lawmakers want to amend that now… just like the powers that be have dragged their feet as long as humanly possible to keep the medical marijuana program from starting up. It’s been almost two-and-a-half years since voters approved that measure, and they are just now beginning to really get the ball rolling on that.

Sure, a higher minimum wage is going to put a crunch on some businesses, but that’s just how economics works. Currently, Washington, Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia have higher minimum wage rates than $11/ hour. Even San Francisco and Seattle have a $ 15/hour minimum wage, and other cities around the U.S. have higher than $11/hour minimum wage laws.

Now, I will admit that the cost of living in Arkansas is significantly lower than the other places I just rattled off, but I will also add that this past November, Missouri, our neighbor to the north, passed a $ 12/hour minimum wage law.

But let’s talk about what, exactly, $ 11/hour gets you.

Assuming a full-time work week, $ ll/hour translates to $440/week or about $23,000/year (before taxes). Just so we all know, the federal poverty level in the United States for a family of four is $25,100. That’s a man, a woman and two children. So even at $11/hour, a family of four in a single-income household is still living in poverty.

So, both parents should work, right? That gets us up to about $46,000/year (before taxes). I did a little digging.

The average cost of child care (so both parents can work) is between $4,000 and $7,000 per year. So, with a couple of kids, one of the parents is basically working just to pay for the child care they only have to pay because they are working.

Will a higher minimum wage put some small businesses out of business? Yes, but in the age of Walmart and Amazon, the writing is already on the wall. The Arkansas workforce will adapt and evolve and ultimately, we’ll have fewer people in the state living in poverty.

And shouldn’t that be the goal?