Published: July 24, 2008 08:43 pm      

Minimum wage hike not enough

Extra money barely covers cost of gas and food

ASHLAND — Joe Henry says he and his wife will appreciate the 70-cent per hour increase in the federal minimum wage, although it won’t be enough to keep up with the increase for their weekly gasoline costs to get to work.

“If you think about it, that’s only $7 more for every 10 hours I work,” he said while pumping gas Thursday. “Before they start taking taxes and stuff out, that’s only $28 a week. My gasoline bill has gone up more than that in just the last couple of months.”

Henry said he, his wife and their only child have applied to receive government benefits to help with living expenses, and laughed with a hint of sarcasm as he reported they barely qualify for such help, “because together we apparently make too much money.”

“The increases in groceries and gas and everything else is so much more than the increase in minimum wage and it always will be. Minimum wage has always been behind the cost of living,” he said. “People who make a decent wage don’t seem to understand what it’s like for the rest of us who don’t.”

The Johnson County man may have had a point, as several people at different locations around Ashland were uncertain of the rate for minimum wage workers, which officially jumped to $6.55 per hour Thursday.

Kay Sexton, owner of Kay’s Hair Corner, said she knows several people who survive with minimum wage jobs.

“They just make it by the skin of their teeth. You don’t get extras working for minimum wage,” Sexton said, noting recent increases in gas, utilities and garbage collection fees.

The shop owner said one of her renters who earns minimum wage recently applied for food stamps and was told he qualifies for $10.65 in assistance each month. “A gallon of milk, some bread and baloney — that’s what that would buy and that wouldn’t last them a month.”

Sexton said the federal minimum wage needs to start at around $8 per hour to be a more realistic income.

Carol Allen, a retired University of Ohio Southern employee from Ironton, said minimum wage jobs have provided excellent income for the university’s student aid workers, although the wage increase will ultimately cut hours for many.

“They have a certain amount of money for that and that’s all they get. As the wage goes up they will have to cut some things,” Allen said.

“Two people working for minimum wage don’t make enough to live on and it also interferes with their insurance and other benefits,” said Juanita Southers, also of Ironton. “You can’t raise a family even with two people working full time at minimum wage.”

Southers said she also feels strongly that minimum wage requirements are unfair for many, especially single mothers working in the food service industry and relying upon customer tips to earn the nation’s lowest legal wages.

Allen and Southers agreed $10 per hour might be a realistic minimum wage for new employees.

For small business owners and restaurant operators, the minimum wage increase will boost some employee’s paychecks, although many already make more per hour.

“No one here makes minimum wage,” said Chick-fil-A owner Shaine Miles, who said most of their full-time employees are paid between $7 and $9 per hour.

“Some of our newer kids will get a bump (with the minimum wage increase),” Miles added.

The restaurant owner said he feels minimum wage is an appropriate rate for some employees, but not all.

“Obviously a high school kid who is worried about gas money or date money isn’t as concerned as an adult who is paying rent and supporting a family,” he said.

TIM PRESTON can be reached at tpreston@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2651.