Oprah: Living on Minimum Wage

Don't look now, between this and the Debt Diet, I feel like I'm becoming an Oprah fan!  As long as I can honestly say that I never saw the show with Tom Cruise jumping on the couches proclaiming his love for Katie Holmes, I think I'll be alright.

In all seriousness, this was a very interesting show.  Much of the show (too much, in my opinion) spotlighted Morgan Spurlock and his girlfriend who lived on minimum wage for 30 days.  Morgan is the same guy who made the documentary, Supersize Me, in which he ate nothing but McDonalds for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 30 days.  He also the creator of the f/x show, 30 days, which challenges people to live outside their comfort zone for 30 days.

The road rules for Morgan and his girlfriend were that they could only begin with one week's salary (assuming minimum wage), had to find an affordable apartment, get minimum wage jobs, and all of their normal resources, such as credit cards and health insurance, were frozen.

Things I learned:  Federal minimum wage is only $5.15/hour.  working 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year, that is an annual income of $10,712.  That's pre-tax.  Living in California, I assumed the minimum wage was higher.  In California, it is $6.75 and hasn't been as low as $5.15 since 1998.  In San Francisco, it's $8.50.  Not that you could live, let alone raise a family or save any money, at those rates either.

Health insurance is the biggest problem for most of these families.  Few, if any, low wage workers receive any health insurance.  Among the real low wage families (not just 30 days) that they profiles, most of them faced homelessness after some sort of medical issue.  One was as simple as breaking her wrist after a fall on her bicycle.  She was unable to work, and the medical costs wiped them out.  She and her daughter lived in a shelter for months.

At the end of Morgan's 30 days, they were $1200 over budget, due largely to some medical expenses incurred.  He explains that it would have taken them another three months to get back on track, assuming nothing else went wrong.  That's a pretty big assumption.

Oprah also had Beth Shulman, author of The Betrayal of Work:  How Low Wage Jobs Fail 30 Million Americans.  She urged everyone to politically support an increase in the minimum wage, and to encourage all employers to offer health insurance.

What a tough issue.  I don't disagree with the message.  Minimum wage, or anything close to it, is not enough to support an adult, and especially not enough to raise a family.  I support medical coverage for all.  However, I also know someone who owns a Burger King Franchise, and he is barely keeping his head above water because of the increases in California minimum wage.  After the increase in pay, and the resulting increase in payroll taxes, it ate up any profit margins he once had.

Wal-Mart could pay more, and not be forced to reduce staff or close their doors.  Same for Starbucks, Exxon-Mobile, and Denny's.  But we are always told that the lifeblood of the American Economy is the small business owner.  I believe it to be true.  These are the ones who may struggle if there is an increase in minimum wage and mandatory health coverage.

I don't want this to become political, but I'll state my views.  I support universal health care more than a minimum wage increase.  I know that Hillary failed in bringing health care to everyone, but I think it needs to be done on the Federal level rather than forced upon employers big and small.  I don't mind paying more taxes for this to be done (within reason, of course).

What do you think?

Comments

[Cap]

you don't fix wage issue by simply raising minimum wage, and to even consider universal health coverage, we'll have to take a look at the current medical care practices.

yeah these issues won't go away anytime soon. heh. along with many many others.

[financial freedumb]

universal health care is something i'd support...of course tons of details to work out, but i do want our country to move forward...we haven't improved anything in awhile...we're just kind of stagnant...

and about being an oprah fan, i've been watching some episodes recently too lol. i watched the episode on education with the gates...it was a good one. i think health care, education, and the tax system are 3 areas i'd like to see our country improve.

[FreeTheCow]

None of the society can get away from having low wage jobs. It's just the reality. The issue is how to help people to advance from low minimum wage jobs to a slightly higher positions that pay a bit more, and how to increase their earning powers throughout the years.

It's OK for a high school kid to make 6 bucks an hour to supplement his/her weekly allowance and learn a few social skills.. But it is sad to see a 45 year old with 2 kids flipping hamburgers.

[Amanda]

Universal healthcare is something that other countries have managed to work into their systems for quite some time. We are definately behind the times in getting accessible healthcare to every citizen in this country, not to mention paying living wages.

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