Raising the minimum wage is an issue that affects all Americans -- even those currently making more than the minimum wage (because it would put an upward pressure on all wages). But it is especially important for the women of this country. As the graphic above points out, women make up a majority of those working for minimum wage. And many times, those women working for minimum wage are single mothers -- which means they live well below the poverty line.Most Americans understand that the minimum wage needs to be raised to a more decent level, and several polls have shown that they support raising it to at least $10 an hour. Why won't Congress do that? The only reason I can think of is that most in Congress have sold out to the giant corporations and Wall Street. They still cling to the failed belief that whatever is good for Wall Street is also good for Main Street (which is the kind of thinking that got us into this current economic mess).
No one who works full-time should be paid a salary that puts them below the poverty line. Capitalists do make make money just off their own efforts. They make that money off the labor of others -- and those laborers should be fairly paid. The rich deserve a decent return on their investment, but workers also deserve to be paid decently for their work -- because neither can exist without the other (and compensating either labor or investors unfairly is a prescription for economic disaster).
Raising the minimum wage does not punish investors. It just levels the economic playing field (and actually would help the economy by creating more demand -- which would increase business profits and create new jobs). Opposing a raise in the minimum wage is the worst kind of short-term economic thinking -- putting today's profit and stock prices above what is good for business, workers, and the economy over the long-term.
Raising the minimum wage is the single most important thing that could be done to put our economy back on the right track. It is also incredibly important for the women of America, because it would lift millions of them out of poverty and allow them (and their children) to achieve the American Dream through their hard work.
