Feb 14, 2019 4 min read

Many folks who have always lived comfortable lives and earned a good living really have little concept of how difficult life can be for those on the lower end of the economic scale.

Scraping together enough money to pay the rent, keep the heat on and buy some groceries is often a struggle for people who earn minimum wage, even if they are working a couple of jobs. Any unexpected expense or setback can be disastrous.

Finding affordable housing is a major challenge. Last year’s annual report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition found that there was not a single county in the country where someone working full time at a minimum-wage job could afford to rent an average two-bedroom apartment. The outlook wasn’t much better for a one-bedroom apartment. In only 22 counties across the country could a minimum-wage earner afford a one-bedroom place to live, and all of those locales have a higher wage floor than the national minimum of $7.25 an hour.

And where is Pennsylvania in all this? Sitting at the national minimum, lower than all of the states that surround it.

The other day, Gov. Tom Wolf and others held a rally in support of raising Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to $12 an hour this year. The figure hasn’t risen in a decade, and people here have been falling further and further behind people in states that have raised their minimums.

“Let’s be clear about the people who we’re going to help by raising the minimum wage,” state Sen. Christine Tartaglione of Philadelphia said at the rally. “It’s not just the teenagers who work at fast-food restaurants, convenience stores and other part-time, entry-level jobs. The overwhelming majority of those who would see their paychecks get bigger – 90 percent, in fact – are in their 20s or older. And half of them are full-time workers. On average, these folks earn more than half of their family’s total income. Raising the minimum wage to $12 this year would benefit more than one million Pennsylvania workers and their families.”

State Rep. Jason Dawkins, also of Philadelphia, noted that his city is dealing with a 26 percent poverty rate, and the wage increase “would enable thousands of working-class and poor families to transition out of poverty.”

And the thing about the working poor is that when they see an increase in their income – unlike, perhaps, a millionaire who gets a tax break – they spend the money, stimulating the economy.

The governor’s proposal calls for the minimum wage to rise to $12 an hour on July 1, with gradual 50-cent increases until it reaches $15 an hour in 2025. He noted that neighboring New Jersey recently became the fourth state headed toward a $15 minimum wage, and pointed out other benefits of a higher wage. At $12 an hour, the governor said, nearly 17,000 adults would transition out of the Medicaid program next year, with another 51,000 leaving the program the following year. That would be a savings to the Medicaid program of $36 million next year and $119 million the year after that.

The governor also would like to raise the amount paid to tipped workers, who now receive just $2.83 an hour, plus tips. The governor’s office said tipped workers are twice as likely as those in the overall workforce to live in poverty, and nearly half receive public assistance.

“Raising the minimum wage lets people afford the basics, like food, rent and transportation, and saves each of us who are currently paying for their public benefits because their employers don’t pay them enough,” said Wolf. “Raising Pennsylvania’s minimum wage is the right thing to do.”

Though there certainly can be some debate about what level of increase is appropriate, it’s clear that Pennsylvania needs to join other states that are raising the minimum wage.