To the Editor:
I find it hard to stomach arguments opposing a raise in the minimum wage. Most of them are predicated on the idea that unskilled labor is the work of teenagers who should be expected to move on and up. That’s just not the case. The overwhelming majority of minimum wage workers are women over the age of 35 who support a family. They don’t have the resources to continue their education because they are trying to raise their children, often alone and not due to their own choices. These women and their families deserve our support, not our condemnation.
Since 1988 Congress has raised its own salary 15 times, to reflect the rising costs of living. In that same time period the minimum wage was only raised three times. Not only is this unfair and immoral, it is bad business. Raising the minimum wage lifts people out of poverty, and pumps cash into our economy.
