California Should Raise the Minimum Wage

“Raising the minimum wage would be a mistake, it would make it more expensive to hire young people . . . and price a lot of poor kids out of jobs . . . which they badly need . . . because their parents only make the minimum wage.” This was well put in Wasserman’s cartoon (Editorial Pages, Jan. 29).

A whole sector of the fully employed work force is living in poverty--those working at the minimum wage, $3.35 per hour. Full-time employment at the minimum wage produces an annual income of only $6,968.

The minimum wage has not increased since 1981. A recent UCLA study found that in Los Angeles, 8% of the city’s homeless population work full time at or near the minimum wage but cannot afford shelter.

The minimum wage in California is set by the Legislature, which has always followed the recommendation of the Industrial Welfare Commission. But the Industrial Welfare Commission has ignored the recommendation of its own staff to increase the minimum wage two times since 1981.

The California statute states that the minimum wage should be set at a level “adequate to supply the necessary cost of proper living to, and maintain the health and welfare of employees in this state.”

The Industrial Welfare Commission of California is not fulfilling its mandate. The minimum wage does not begin to cover even the basic living expenses, and as a result tens of thousands of minimum-wage workers and their families are suffering.

We can and must do better. Democracy cannot be built on the backs of the poor. Only by speaking out in favor of an increased minimum wage will we see a change. Contact your state representatives today.

MARY BRENT WEHRLI

Los Angeles