☆ Constant: Personal and family perspectives on the value of minimum wage jobs
Image by Nicholas Eckhart
SJ CM Peter Ortiz raised more than a few eyebrows last week when he wondered aloud if businesses that provide minimum wage jobs "shouldn't be in business." Former CM and Professor of Public Policy Pete Constant differs, and tells of his own--and his family's--lived experiences on the value of minimum wage employment. An Opp Now exclusive.
Minimum wage jobs are low skill jobs that don’t just benefit the employer. These jobs benefit low skilled workers as well, providing them an avenue to build job skills and develop themselves personally. These employees can then use the learned skills to move up to higher skill/higher wage jobs with their employer or in the broader job market.
Minimum wage jobs have never been intended for sole wage earners to fully support themselves, their families, or afford rent on their own
Personally, I started working at below minimum wage and part time at a young age. When I moved up to full time employment, it was still at minimum wage – and yes, I worked two jobs to support myself. But I learned skills, built a strong work ethic, and developed myself so that I could progress through a number of higher paying jobs. I didn’t live alone.
Once I moved out of the family home I rented with multiple others, then bought a house with someone else because I couldn’t afford one on my own. This helped me develop new skills; how to get along with others who were vastly different from me.
I learned a lot through these growth years. They provided me a multi-faceted education across various job sectors with many different types of people. This all combined to make me a better person, a better employee, and, eventually, a better employer to others.
And many hourly and annual wages have increased virtually every year since then.
This isn’t simply a “back in my day” story. I have five children, aged 17 to 23. All of them have started work during their high school years, and continue to work through college and into young adulthood. Each one of them began their journey with a part time, minimum wage job. Over the years they have not only been trained in various aspects of gardening, home maintenance, car repair, fence building, coffee making, sales, and food service, they also developed strong work ethics, personal finance skills, the value of saving, and now the basics of investing their hard earned dollars.
Along the way, their new skills and hard work have paid off. I’ve shared their joy as they received raises, more hours, good evaluations, promotions, and new job offers. Watching them negotiate and purchase their first car on their own is exhilarating. All five of them, even my 17 year old high school senior, were able to work up beyond minimum wage.
In all honesty, I personally believe that a truly free market would do much more for workers’ wages in the broadest sense. If employers had to truly compete for employees, wages would rise – so would the aggregate skill level of all workers. Competition would incentivize employers to pay more, while motivating workers to learn more and increase their marketability.
Artificial market and wage manipulation by the government works against these ideals.
Related:
Understanding the economics of the minimum wage: trade-offs abound
Surging minimum wage harms SJ's less wealthy residents, says expert
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