BFTP: Minimum wage and education
Tuesday, April 28, 2020 at 09:45AM Warning to anyone under 50: This starts as one of those old fart's "when I was a kid we walked to school uphill both ways" stories. But it does eventually make a point about today's educational system...
I was a beneficiary of minimum wage laws. When I was earning my undergraduate degree from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley from 1972 to 1976, I was also earning about $1.65 to $1.90 an hour as a laundry worker. In addition to taking 12-14 hours of classes, I would work from 2pm to 9pm, six days a week either driving a van that picked up dirty linen from nursing homes up and down the Front Range - or stuffing that laundry in 400 pound capacity washing machines. For a year, I was also the assistant manager of an apartment complex, vacuuming hallways on the weekends, getting my apartment rent-free.
As I remember, my after-tax take home pay 40 years ago was about $75-$85 a week. Not only did my stay-at-home-mother wife and I live on it, we paid my full tuition, books, and fees; paid off the doctor ($600) and hospital ($600) bills for my daughter's Caesarean birth, and even had about $1000 in savings when I graduated.
Yes, we were very frugal. Our apartments were small, uncarpeted, and unair-conditioned. We drove a $400 used car. The only time we saw the inside of a restaurant was when a relative took us out for supper. There were no cell phones, Internet, Netflix, or cable bills. But we did not starve, go naked, or feel deprived - at least that I remember. Why?
- Apartment rent was $80 a month, including utilities.
- Groceries ran about $20 a week.
- Full tuition was $140 a quarter. (Thank you taxpayers of Colorado for subsidizing me.)
- In the 70s a new car was $3000 and new house was $10,000. Gas was $.30 a gallon.
- We had no health insurance, but could afford to pay doctor visits and dentist appointments upfront.
- Seems like chewing gum, candy bars and small bags of potato chips were all about a dime.
- I bought a new b&w 19" TV for $80 and a stereo turntable/receiver-amplifier/speakers for $300 (Big fight over that one, but boy, did Maria Muldaur singing "Midnight at the Oasis" sound good!)
So here is my point: I estimate that the cost of living has gone up by 1000% since my days in college. Today's apartment rents are $800, cars $30,000 and candy bars $1.00.
Yet the minimum wage is nowhere close to $16.50 or $19.00 an hour.
I don't think anyone doubts the correlation between poverty and poor performance in schools. And while politicians love to tell stories of "welfare Cadillac mothers," the reality is that most of our parents can be counted among the "working poor" who often work multiple part-time jobs still unable to make ends meet. (Even worse now during the Corona pandemic.)
This is why, that if one truly believes in improving education, one needs to be knowledgeable and active in political issues beyond school. Whether you believe the solution to poverty is a higher minimum wage, fewer welfare "benefits," better job training programs, or something else, believe that poverty needs to be addressed - and work at it politically.
And maybe we'd see more kids be able to put themselves through college again as well.
Reader Comments (2)
I don't believe I was a subscriber back in 2014, so I don't remember this post.
First, thank you for re-posting your "historical gems".
Second, I appreciate your suggestion to get involved regardless of what the issue is or what the solution could be. My hope is that during this pandemic we all can see what our politicians do (since it is on the news all the time) and realize that "we the people" must remain vigilant and stay (or get) involved..
Thanks, Kenn, I needed that!
I've been going through old posts, collecting and organizing those I think may have some legs to them. Something to leave the grandchildren - not that they would ever read it!
It would be great if this pandemic resulted in a lot of long over due changes, including the one you mention. Hope for better health care for all, sick leave, critical thinking, etc. One has to hope.
Doug