Introduction
Barbara Ehrenreich in her book, “Nickel and Dimed,” covers some problems that are faced by low-wage workers. Albeit she is not truly a low-wage worker, Ehrenreich while serving in Florida, scrubbing in Maine, and selling in Minnesota actually becomes first hand eyewitness to the poor workers whose lives in fact are desperate due to their financial situations. She learns the application process of low job that involve numerous multiple choice questions as well as urine test. She uncovers special costs, which the poor encounter. She continues to investigate various problems that low-wage workers face.
The problems that poor workers face are due to meager wages that are offered to them by their employers despite the poor working conditions. This is where the debate about whether raising the minimum wage for the low-wage workers to solve some of their problems becomes crucial. The opposing viewpoints database presents different views about the issue of minimum wage. Those who are for increasing the minimum wage rate argue that this helps the full-time workers to live above poverty line on minimum wage salary. On the other hand, those who are against increasing minimum wage argue that this will have negative effects on the economy hence it will make things even tougher for everyone including the lowly paid.
In the “state and local laws” section of opposing viewpoints database, I already knew that state and local governments had passed laws which established higher minimum wage for the workers. These laws proposed that United States workers are entitled to be compensated no less than statutory minimum wage. In addition, I already knew that in those states where federal and states laws differ, a worker is essentially entitled to the higher wage. I got this information from the media and internet sources after there was a heated debate about raising minimum wage.
After carefully reading this section there are some things that I learned. First, I learned that in early 2010, District of Colombia and 30 states had a minimum wage that was higher than $ 7.25, which is the federal minimum wage. Additionally, I also learned that minimum wage laws existed in the District of Columbia and 45 states in early same year. Moreover, it was interesting to learn that workers in some cities and counties could benefit from the minimum wages that might have been set even higher in these counties and cities. It was also worth to learn that $ 8.55 per hour that was the minimum wage in Washington State was highest of all states. Finally, after going through this section, I was happy to learn that a number of localities have passed the “living wage” rules, which mandate the hourly pays higher than the minimum pay for the employees doing businesses with city government.
There are some questions that I still have regarding the “state and local laws” section. First I would like to know whether the passed laws by the local and state governments fully establish higher minimum wage. Additionally, I would like to know whether indeed workers get wages that is higher in the states where federal and state laws differ. Furthermore, I would like to know if other states have increased their minimum wage up to 8.55 U.S. dollars per hour like Washington State. Last but not least, I would like to know whether the “living wage” rules passed by some localities are useful in helping to raise the minimum wages.
Works cited
Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed: On (not) Getting by in America. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2001.
