…a year is not nearly enough. Today’s Examiner newspaper totes a story about the increase in federal minimum wage to take effect tomorrow. It will rise from $5.15 to $5.85; an increase of a mere $0.70. Where do I begin to talk about the problem with this scenario?

            First, an increase that amounts to less than $1, while still an improvement for those making minimum wage, is not suffice. It’s not even close to suffice. Federal wages set the standard for states. With such a meager increase from the federal government, it is likely that state governments will feel they have been given permission to follow that same sorry example.

            Second, this is the first increase in a decade. That’s ten years for those who hike up their eyebrow when you see that word. Ten year wait should not equal seventy cents. Come on, that’s a mess. In the article, all the officials quoted said they knew the increase wasn’t enough. So, if everyone is aware that this “boost” a bit less than a lift, why can’t more be done about it?

            The federal poverty line is marked at approximately $10,000 for a single-person income. With the new wage increase, that would pull full-time workers making $5.85 out of the poverty basement with an annual income of about $12,000 a year before taxes.

            As a person who is a stones throw away above the poverty line, I know that more should be done in this area, and on the heels of  this “win” I hope that I can be apart of a downward snowball effect to continue the improvement of the situation. It also makes me really grateful that I work in a pretty progressive state on wages, which stays a couple of dollars ahead of the federal minimum (Calif.)

            One really important note to make is that the seventy cent increase is a rolling one, occurring every summer for the next two years ending in 2009. At the end of the rolling increase, the federal minimum will be a reasonable $7.25, getting closer to decent.

            Author and former union VP Beth Shulman recommends her book, The Betrayal of Work: How Low-Wage Jobs Fail 30 million Americans . It sounds really interesting. But retail priced at $25.95, it would take me, a minimum wage earner five hours to make enough to buy it, so I’ll pass.