By Olivia Cushman
As of January 1, 2021, Massachusetts minimum wage is now $13.50 per hour, up 75 cents from the 2020 minimum wage of $12.75 per hour. Lawmakers in Massachusetts are currently putting forth efforts to make minimum wage $15 per hour by January 2023. This is all good news, but you may be wondering, why does every state have a different set minimum wage? What are the laws in each state to determine minimum wage?
According to a federal law in the United States, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour; meaning by law, no worker can get paid less than $7.25 per hour worked in all 50 states — this is ridiculously low, and most state minimum wages are much higher pay per hour anyways. If you’re lucky enough to score yourself an on-campus work study job, you’re guaranteed to make at least federal minimum wage per hour. Usually, graduate students also need to be paid at least federal minimum wage if they are working a job on or off campus from where they go to school until the time they graduate.
There has been much debate over whether federal minimum wage should be raised or not. You might think it’s fair that minimum wage should be raised because of our 30% federal tax law, which causes workers in all 50 states to have to pay 30% of their income to the federal government quarterly, on average. So why not raise the minimum wage, right? You make more money, and so does the government.
Another argument toward raising the federal minimum wage is that money doesn’t have as much purchasing power as it once did, and the general prices of things essential to supporting yourself financially has gone up. This is a economical phenomenon known as inflation. For example, having several thousands of dollars in your bank account now versus, say, in 1970 meant that money had much more purchasing power 50 years ago than it does now.
The Coronavirus Pandemic Relief Bill recently passed by the House of Representatives would raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour in steps, reaching the $15 per hour goal by 2025. The Senate, however, does not plan on debating this bill anytime soon, leaving the Federal minimum wage at $7.25 per hour, the way it has been since 2009.
But, with the productivity of the US Economy in recent decades, from both a moral and practical standpoint, this should translate into roughly $24 per hour, and by 2025, almost $30 per hour. So, why would we be making only half as much as we should be four years from now in terms of minimum wage? You’d be right to think that this simply doesn’t make sense.
With all of the economical factors taken into consideration here, it’s safe to say that much of what you are making in terms of your income is being paid to the federal government, and this simply isn’t fair if you live in a state that only pays $7.25 per hour.
So, if you’re a student employee, listen up.
You are likely much more entitled to be earning at least $15 per hour nowadays. You don’t have to be stuck earning the federally-mandated $7.25 per hour. If you’re living alone, you should at least be able to pay your bills and support your life financially otherwise; but that’s just the way I see it. Others argue that no one should be making minimum wage because no one is entitled to make a certain amount of money per hour, especially if you’re not a good worker.
But most people who make less than the state minimum wage, in other words, federal minimum wage, are working their asses off to make sure that they can simply live. This simply shouldn’t be. Even if you don’t work, you can still see how unjust this is and you can still use your voice. I hope the federal minimum wage is increased soon, and hopefully with that, we’ll see the US poverty rate decrease.
