Work Harder?

There’s a scene in the 1960s science fiction film When Worlds Collide in which those attempting to save humanity from Earth’s impending destruction are exhorted to work harder!  One can make a case that the Trump Administration’s recent happy-talk regarding our economy is of the same ilk.

The Administration has noted correctly that:

• more than 155,000 jobs were added in June 2018 
•  unemployment is at an historic low of about 3.9%
• tax cuts are available to many of us

Unfortunately, it’s also the case that: 

•  wages are flat, having failed to grow significantly for years
• the small amount of wage growth that has taken place - about 2.7% - has been outdistanced by the increase in the cost of living - at least 2.9%
•  only a small handful of states offer a minimum wage adequate to supporting an individual, let alone a family

Be grateful you don’t live in any of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, or Tennessee.  None of these states even have a minimum wage.  Nor are residents of Georgia or Wyoming much better off; their minimum wage clocks in at $5.15.   In Pennsylvania, as in 12 other states, the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.  That means that an individual working full time would net, after taxes, only about $1,700.00 per month.

Our hypothetical minimum-wage earner would therefore have a hard time covering the expenses below, typical in Delaware County, PA:

Rent (one-bedroom apartment)	$900.00
Utilities (electric, phone, cable)	$250.00
Food (without eating out)	$300.00
Car expenses (including gas, insurance)	$150.00
Health care	$200.00
	$1800.00

All of which leads me to agree with MSNBC’s financial journalist Ali Velshi, who noted recently “We don’t need more jobs; we need better-paying jobs.”  If one also factors in the job- and wage-busting effects already being produced by the Trump tariffs, working faster and harder may be the only alternative available.