March 8, 2021 • 10 mins
What would it mean for women if the minimum wage was raised? Anney and Samantha discuss.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Annie and Samantha, and welcome to Steph.
I've never told your production of I Heart Radio. All right, Annie,
I have to ask you a question. You infer my question.
Have you ever had a minimum wage job? Yes? Yes,
(00:28):
what was it? I think I talked about this before.
I kind of worked in blond Care for a while.
It wasn't super on the up and up, but I
made a minimum wage there. And then when I was
at Georgia Tech, I worked in the fancy boxes and
I stored the food and so much alcohol. Whoa, And
then I got anything people needed, and then I cleaned
(00:49):
the box that I made sure no one went home,
no one drove drunk. And that was a minimum wage job. Okay,
that's nice. Yeah. So my first job was the minimum
age job, and I was fourteen. I think I've talked
about this before. On the cusp of being in fifteen,
I definitely had to have it signed off. And I
worked at Dairy Queen. So I was very excited. I've
(01:09):
worked a majority of my you know life, essentially, so
I got that. I worked at the Pickli Wiggly, Yes
I did, and I was working there for minimum wage.
And then as I was about to quit because I
was going to go cheerlead. Oh yes, yes, so many,
so many things. They bumped my pay like a dollar
(01:31):
twenty to try to see me because that was that good,
y'all that just at the Piggy Wiggly. I was killing
it at the Pickli Wiggly. And then I moved on
to doing daycare, which wasn't minimum wage but close to.
And then yeah, in college, I worked at a bookstore
and that was minimal wage, but I did it because
you had discounts on books, yes, and that was the cave.
(01:52):
But yeah, so if you can't tell, we are talking
about the minimum wage. So if you've been watching the
news and like many people in the US, have been
waiting for someone to do something in regards to the
stimulus package. And though there's so many things that are
happening with all the details of the package and the
continue negotiations between the different parts of the government, the
package has passed from the House onto the Senate as
(02:15):
a today. So we're still waiting March for putting a
date on this because you know, when this releases, who knows,
who knows? And within this this whole large conversation, one
thing has been a contentious issue, and that is the
raising of the minimum wage or the Raise the Wage Act,
which has been introduced before and as of today it
(02:38):
has been taken out of the package as it has
been sent the Senate for even more negotiations. But we
will definitely be seeing more debate over it as officials
from Congress like Bernie Sanders and AOC are continuing to
fight for it. So you may be asking why are
we talking about this specifically, Well, we've recently covered how
the loss of jobs and overall impact of employment has
(02:58):
affected mainly women, and no surprise, raising minimum wage it
would also impact women more as well. Ding ding ding.
But before we talk about these specifics, we wanted to
break down some facts and figures. And y'all, when I
say facts and figures, I mean as much information as
we could get. But they're all very contradictory and they're
(03:19):
all a little different is according to who's saying it
or who's showing it or who's doing the study. Just
to put that there, that little caveat there as well.
But in regards to the minimum wage standards in the US, yes,
and I will say I went to college for among
other things, international affairs, and I had to take like
macro micro economics classes, and it really does depend like
(03:41):
it is a fiercely like economic theoretical thought experiment a
lot of times and very political and depending on like
what theory you you believe in, it can absolutely get
very very confusing and messy. But okay. So, the current
federal minimum wage in the US is seven dollars and
(04:02):
twenty five cents, which was raised from six dollars and
fifty five cents in two thousand nine. And if you
were like a quick calculation of when that wasn't was
twelve years ago. It feels like much longer, but twelve years. However,
at least twenty nine states have already increased their minimum wage,
including Washington, d c. Which raised there's been won wages
this year to fifteen dollars, and for some more examples,
Washington State which is just increased their minimum wage from
(04:24):
twelve dollars to thirteen fifty and say it's like New York,
which are working to increase every year until it hits
fifteen dollars, and it would not be an overnight fix,
but a slow increase as many of the states have
done with it. Finally, hitting the fifteen dollar mark, and
also just a reminder, it calls for an increase for
tipped workers as well, who were paid two dollars in
(04:45):
thirteen Oh I forgot to Yeah I had that job
too for two weeks and then I broke my ankle
and then they never paid and they never fired me.
So maybe I'm still working at the Longhorn in Dawson Pool, Georgia.
Oh yeah, I guess orpheus. I was technic making minimum wage,
but my tips always were so good that it it
didn't didn't. I didn't think about it that way, but yeah, right, yes,
(05:07):
So these workers, tip workers who are paid two dollars
in thirteen cents unless they don't meet the minimum wage
amount after those tips, right, so they'll increase it to
the actual minimum wage because they're required to by law.
But some larger corporations have also moved forward with raising
minimum wage as well, including Target Costco At Starbucks, and
even Amazon. But don't get it started with all the
(05:28):
other issues of these companies. Will save those for a
different episode, maybe if you want us to. I mean,
of course, big business will less likely be affected in
raising the wages for their workers, as many of them. Specifically,
the ones we previously mentioned are racking up billions of
dollars and profits. However, many are arguing that the smaller
businesses will be the ones that are affected and may
(05:48):
not be able to remain open if wages weren't increased.
But again, there's a lot of back and forth about
what those numbers could actually be rights. Some research says
that the private sector could cost over teen thousand jobs,
while another study says that it could increase job growth
and that past increases of the minimum wage have made
no real difference and did not result in job projection.
(06:10):
So to say that the research seems to vary by
the people are entities or corporations or whatever are presenting
it is not wrong. But how does this specifically affect
women in the United States? Well, As we talked about previously,
a majority of what are considered essential workers, including teachers, caregivers,
hospital workers, and service industry workers are mainly made up
(06:32):
of women, and if the minimum wage was increased, it
would affect up to nineteen million women, which makes up
to six the workers affected, and not surprisingly, Black and
Latina women make up a majority of those workers. And
then when we look at the tipped workers women make
up at least two thirds of those workers. And again,
not surprisingly, Latina women within the tipped workers group make
(06:53):
less than white non Hispanic men and te p less
than white non Hispanic women, and increasing minimum wage for
them would make a massive difference for these marginalized communities,
literally over raise for that community. And that's a significant
amount of money. Yes, and not only would it allow
for essential workers to have a little more financial freedom,
and by the way, we mean just a little, because
(07:14):
we also know that the cost of living is different
for many due to location, family size, or even just
overall situation, and the fifteen dollars is not a living
wage for some. Just that put that out there, but
it would help actually narrow the gender gap as well.
The mere ability to bring up the lower paying job
as well as tipping jobs would allow for a closure
of that ginger gap, which has been a giant wage
(07:36):
gap as we know, whether due to the type of
job offered or the type of starting pay. Yes, um,
and we've done past episodes on that if you want
to check those out right. Overall, though, we are still seeing, yes,
this kind of back and forth with what would help
or what may hurt the economy. There are a lot
of positives to this whole thing, including that it could
pull up to one point three million households above the
(07:57):
pottery line and stimulate the economy your increased spending. It
could even help with satisfaction and h oppertainment, which could
help individual companies save money as well. Right, and also
we've forgot to mention that this would actually help people
with disabilities who are in that workfield, in essential work
field as well, because it would actually be able to
close some of the wage gap for them as well.
And and we haven't talked about that as specifically, but
(08:19):
it is pretty significant um and they are definitely a
part of that marginalized communities that are heavily affected and
would be affected if there was an increase in a
positive way. But of course, with this being pulled out
of the current stimulus packet, there is more work and
debate to be had, and it's going to be many
organizations are still pushing for the Senate to add an
amendment or for the VP to use our power to
(08:39):
push the amendment. However, as we know, things are not
cut and dry and more complicated than it would seem
on the surface. No, there's a lot of debate about
what can be down with what can't be done. We
know that even the Democrats hold the majority, some of
the Democrats are opposed to raising the minimum wage as well,
so that does not help in getting those numbers. Um
(09:02):
and this has been a big conversation, and I know,
any you're not talking about the fact that there's definite
organizations talking about protesting, yeah, and or actually making some
kind of action to show that they are overwhelmingly supporting
the rays. And according to one study, at least I said,
I think over of the Republicans who are surveyed actually
was in favor of raising the minimum wage as well. Yeah,
(09:26):
it seems to have high public support, pretty high public support.
So we shall see. We shall see what happens in
the meantime. Listeners, please email us any topics you think
that we should cover. We always live hearing from you.
Our email is Stuff Media, Mom Stuff at I Heart
media dot com. You can also find us on Instagram
(09:47):
at Stuff I've Never Told You are on Twitter at
mom Stuff Podcast Things. As always to a super producer, Christina,
Thank you Christine, and thanks to you for listening. Steff
I never told you Protective I Heard Radio. For more
podcast from I Hear Radio, visit that Heart, renew app
Apple podcast all wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
(10:17):
H
Hey, this is Annie and Samantha, and welcome to Steph.
I've never told your production of I Heart Radio. All right, Annie,
I have to ask you a question. You infer my question.
Have you ever had a minimum wage job? Yes? Yes,
(00:28):
what was it? I think I talked about this before.
I kind of worked in blond Care for a while.
It wasn't super on the up and up, but I
made a minimum wage there. And then when I was
at Georgia Tech, I worked in the fancy boxes and
I stored the food and so much alcohol. Whoa, And
then I got anything people needed, and then I cleaned
(00:49):
the box that I made sure no one went home,
no one drove drunk. And that was a minimum wage job. Okay,
that's nice. Yeah. So my first job was the minimum
age job, and I was fourteen. I think I've talked
about this before. On the cusp of being in fifteen,
I definitely had to have it signed off. And I
worked at Dairy Queen. So I was very excited. I've
(01:09):
worked a majority of my you know life, essentially, so
I got that. I worked at the Pickli Wiggly, Yes
I did, and I was working there for minimum wage.
And then as I was about to quit because I
was going to go cheerlead. Oh yes, yes, so many,
so many things. They bumped my pay like a dollar
(01:31):
twenty to try to see me because that was that good,
y'all that just at the Piggy Wiggly. I was killing
it at the Pickli Wiggly. And then I moved on
to doing daycare, which wasn't minimum wage but close to.
And then yeah, in college, I worked at a bookstore
and that was minimal wage, but I did it because
you had discounts on books, yes, and that was the cave.
(01:52):
But yeah, so if you can't tell, we are talking
about the minimum wage. So if you've been watching the
news and like many people in the US, have been
waiting for someone to do something in regards to the
stimulus package. And though there's so many things that are
happening with all the details of the package and the
continue negotiations between the different parts of the government, the
package has passed from the House onto the Senate as
(02:15):
a today. So we're still waiting March for putting a
date on this because you know, when this releases, who knows,
who knows? And within this this whole large conversation, one
thing has been a contentious issue, and that is the
raising of the minimum wage or the Raise the Wage Act,
which has been introduced before and as of today it
(02:38):
has been taken out of the package as it has
been sent the Senate for even more negotiations. But we
will definitely be seeing more debate over it as officials
from Congress like Bernie Sanders and AOC are continuing to
fight for it. So you may be asking why are
we talking about this specifically, Well, we've recently covered how
the loss of jobs and overall impact of employment has
(02:58):
affected mainly women, and no surprise, raising minimum wage it
would also impact women more as well. Ding ding ding.
But before we talk about these specifics, we wanted to
break down some facts and figures. And y'all, when I
say facts and figures, I mean as much information as
we could get. But they're all very contradictory and they're
(03:19):
all a little different is according to who's saying it
or who's showing it or who's doing the study. Just
to put that there, that little caveat there as well.
But in regards to the minimum wage standards in the US, yes,
and I will say I went to college for among
other things, international affairs, and I had to take like
macro micro economics classes, and it really does depend like
(03:41):
it is a fiercely like economic theoretical thought experiment a
lot of times and very political and depending on like
what theory you you believe in, it can absolutely get
very very confusing and messy. But okay. So, the current
federal minimum wage in the US is seven dollars and
(04:02):
twenty five cents, which was raised from six dollars and
fifty five cents in two thousand nine. And if you
were like a quick calculation of when that wasn't was
twelve years ago. It feels like much longer, but twelve years. However,
at least twenty nine states have already increased their minimum wage,
including Washington, d c. Which raised there's been won wages
this year to fifteen dollars, and for some more examples,
Washington State which is just increased their minimum wage from
(04:24):
twelve dollars to thirteen fifty and say it's like New York,
which are working to increase every year until it hits
fifteen dollars, and it would not be an overnight fix,
but a slow increase as many of the states have
done with it. Finally, hitting the fifteen dollar mark, and
also just a reminder, it calls for an increase for
tipped workers as well, who were paid two dollars in
(04:45):
thirteen Oh I forgot to Yeah I had that job
too for two weeks and then I broke my ankle
and then they never paid and they never fired me.
So maybe I'm still working at the Longhorn in Dawson Pool, Georgia.
Oh yeah, I guess orpheus. I was technic making minimum wage,
but my tips always were so good that it it
didn't didn't. I didn't think about it that way, but yeah, right, yes,
(05:07):
So these workers, tip workers who are paid two dollars
in thirteen cents unless they don't meet the minimum wage
amount after those tips, right, so they'll increase it to
the actual minimum wage because they're required to by law.
But some larger corporations have also moved forward with raising
minimum wage as well, including Target Costco At Starbucks, and
even Amazon. But don't get it started with all the
(05:28):
other issues of these companies. Will save those for a
different episode, maybe if you want us to. I mean,
of course, big business will less likely be affected in
raising the wages for their workers, as many of them. Specifically,
the ones we previously mentioned are racking up billions of
dollars and profits. However, many are arguing that the smaller
businesses will be the ones that are affected and may
(05:48):
not be able to remain open if wages weren't increased.
But again, there's a lot of back and forth about
what those numbers could actually be rights. Some research says
that the private sector could cost over teen thousand jobs,
while another study says that it could increase job growth
and that past increases of the minimum wage have made
no real difference and did not result in job projection.
(06:10):
So to say that the research seems to vary by
the people are entities or corporations or whatever are presenting
it is not wrong. But how does this specifically affect
women in the United States? Well, As we talked about previously,
a majority of what are considered essential workers, including teachers, caregivers,
hospital workers, and service industry workers are mainly made up
(06:32):
of women, and if the minimum wage was increased, it
would affect up to nineteen million women, which makes up
to six the workers affected, and not surprisingly, Black and
Latina women make up a majority of those workers. And
then when we look at the tipped workers women make
up at least two thirds of those workers. And again,
not surprisingly, Latina women within the tipped workers group make
(06:53):
less than white non Hispanic men and te p less
than white non Hispanic women, and increasing minimum wage for
them would make a massive difference for these marginalized communities,
literally over raise for that community. And that's a significant
amount of money. Yes, and not only would it allow
for essential workers to have a little more financial freedom,
and by the way, we mean just a little, because
(07:14):
we also know that the cost of living is different
for many due to location, family size, or even just
overall situation, and the fifteen dollars is not a living
wage for some. Just that put that out there, but
it would help actually narrow the gender gap as well.
The mere ability to bring up the lower paying job
as well as tipping jobs would allow for a closure
of that ginger gap, which has been a giant wage
(07:36):
gap as we know, whether due to the type of
job offered or the type of starting pay. Yes, um,
and we've done past episodes on that if you want
to check those out right. Overall, though, we are still seeing, yes,
this kind of back and forth with what would help
or what may hurt the economy. There are a lot
of positives to this whole thing, including that it could
pull up to one point three million households above the
(07:57):
pottery line and stimulate the economy your increased spending. It
could even help with satisfaction and h oppertainment, which could
help individual companies save money as well. Right, and also
we've forgot to mention that this would actually help people
with disabilities who are in that workfield, in essential work
field as well, because it would actually be able to
close some of the wage gap for them as well.
And and we haven't talked about that as specifically, but
(08:19):
it is pretty significant um and they are definitely a
part of that marginalized communities that are heavily affected and
would be affected if there was an increase in a
positive way. But of course, with this being pulled out
of the current stimulus packet, there is more work and
debate to be had, and it's going to be many
organizations are still pushing for the Senate to add an
amendment or for the VP to use our power to
(08:39):
push the amendment. However, as we know, things are not
cut and dry and more complicated than it would seem
on the surface. No, there's a lot of debate about
what can be down with what can't be done. We
know that even the Democrats hold the majority, some of
the Democrats are opposed to raising the minimum wage as well,
so that does not help in getting those numbers. Um
(09:02):
and this has been a big conversation, and I know,
any you're not talking about the fact that there's definite
organizations talking about protesting, yeah, and or actually making some
kind of action to show that they are overwhelmingly supporting
the rays. And according to one study, at least I said,
I think over of the Republicans who are surveyed actually
was in favor of raising the minimum wage as well. Yeah,
(09:26):
it seems to have high public support, pretty high public support.
So we shall see. We shall see what happens in
the meantime. Listeners, please email us any topics you think
that we should cover. We always live hearing from you.
Our email is Stuff Media, Mom Stuff at I Heart
media dot com. You can also find us on Instagram
(09:47):
at Stuff I've Never Told You are on Twitter at
mom Stuff Podcast Things. As always to a super producer, Christina,
Thank you Christine, and thanks to you for listening. Steff
I never told you Protective I Heard Radio. For more
podcast from I Hear Radio, visit that Heart, renew app
Apple podcast all wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
(10:17):
H
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