How much is enough?

 How much is enough?      

 

The current federal minimum wage for typical people is $7.25 an hour.  Most states have minimum wages much higher than that but a significant minority stick to the federal minimum.  HOWEVER, under a law dating back to 1938, employers are able to receive special 14(c) certificates from the U.S. Department of Labor allowing them to pay individuals with disabilities much less than the federal minimum wage.

Disability advocates have been pushing for years to end this practice.  A few states and cities have already banned it.  As a candidate, Biden pledged to support a phase out of this exception for individuals with disabilities.

President Biden is making good on his promise.  He is proposing a new federal minimum hourly wage of $15 and eliminating the subminimum wage for those with disabilities.  

There is some pushback to this plan.  A minimum wage means an employee receives that amount whether or not he/she earns that amount with labor skill  and contributes that amount to the bottom line of the business.   Some advocates are suggesting that if employers were required to pay people with disabilities the same minimum wage as the non-disabled, employers would be much more slow to hire those with disabilities.  The unemployment rate for people with disabilities for 2019 was double that for the non-disabled.   The pandemic has dramatically increased that discrepancy since people with disabilities are more susceptible to most viruses and may be at home in an abundance of caution regarding their health.  

To be fair, most people earning the minimum wage are among the lower skilled workers with or without disabilities.  And the argument that employers will not hire people in these low skilled jobs at a higher minimum wage is regularly advanced every time any effort is made to raise the minimum wage for anyone.   So far, every time the minimum wage has been raised, employment dips for a short time, then moves back to its previous levels.   Would this same situation occur for people with disabilities?

As with most things in life, the glass is both half full and half empty.  Is it better to have fewer people employed but with a higher wage or to have more people employed with a lower wage. And there is no guarantee that the lower wage would result in higher employment rates once the pandemic is over.   Should people be paid what they earn or what they need to live on?  How much is enough- that’s a question for society and the taxpayer to answer.