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Tag: Income

  • Minimum Wage Hike: Will There Be More Jobs or Less?

    According to a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted by Langer Research Associates, two-thirds of the United States populace supports an increase in minimum wage. Many claim that basic livelihood necessities cannot be met with the current payment structure in place. In fact, 48 percent of those polled are “strongly” supportive of an increase while only 20 percent are “strongly” against an increase in minimum wage.

    For example, Pennsylvania Representative Mark Cohen (D) has been vocal about supporting an increase in minimum wage within his state. “The employer community would prefer tax cuts, but we’ve already had massive business tax cuts in Pennsylvania. That’s one reason we’re in such poor financial shape. We can’t afford all the subsidies, starting with Medicaid, that go to low-income workers. If we raise the minimum wage, we encourage spending among low-income people. That creates jobs and reduces welfare spending.” Cohen said before adding, “Obviously, at some point there’s an increase in prices, but there’s also an increase in purchases. A store can’t unilaterally announce it’s raising salaries, but if all the other stores have to do it,” collective pressure would change the ending result to increased spending from a higher-paid workforce.

    However, there are critiques to raising minimum wage. One argument asserts that businesses will be forced to make significant layoffs in order to remain financially healthy. By increasing the amount each employee will receive the total amount of employees will decrease in order to maintain the bottom line. Still this mentality appears to be the minority as evidenced by results from the recent poll where 64 percent claimed that present policies support the wealthy.

    The federal minimum wage is currently set at $7.25 and has been since July 24, 2009. Some states have already opted to offer higher minimum wages. There are 24 states that currently operate under the federal minimum wage guidelines. These states are as follows: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

    Image Via Wikimedia Commons

  • $11.50 Minimum Wage: Sound Nice?

    Community leaders in Seattle have vocalized desires to raise minimum wage, and now leaders in Maryland have instigated the process to implement policies that increase wages. Presently, the federal minimum wage is set at $7.25 per hour though some states have set the level higher. On December 17, 2013, a representative from Prince George’s County signed a document to increase minimum wage in the area to $11.50 by 2017. Likewise, another county in Maryland (Montgomery County) signed documents to also increase minimum wage.

    Economic Policy Institute analyst David Cooper said, “We estimate that only about 10 percent of the workers earning less than $12 per hour in Montgomery County are teens.”

    According to the president and CEO of the chamber of commerce for Prince George’s County, David Harrington, there needs to be a balance between satisfying the needs of employees and determining the functioning level of viability for employers. “Clearly there’s a need for an increase, but what is the level to which businesses can still create jobs even while paying a higher wage,” Harrington said in an interview with CNNMoney.

    The city council for Washington D.C. also approved increasing the minimum wage to $11.50 an hour on Tuesday. The bill will now be sent to Mayor Vincent Gray who has been outspoken against raising the minimum wage to an amount as high as $11.50. Mayor Gray had previously proposed increasing the minimum wage to $10 an hour in order to determine how an increase would influence the labor market. While Mayor Gray has the potential to veto this bill, the council could then opt to override the veto.

    Council member Tommy Wells spoke about his support for this legislation. , “I had the leadership to get nine votes…I led the first bill to show I could get this done. I promised I’d get this done, and I’m getting it done today,” Wells said.

    Council member Vincent B. Orange said, “This is legislation introduced by me.” Orange added that the underlying support behind this process is “not leaving people behind” in the midst of the present economic climate.

    Image Via Wikimedia Commons

  • Study: Money Doesn’t Protect People From Toxicants, Just Changes Them

    It’s a simple assumption that those with greater means will be able to live cleaner, healthier lives away from pollution with access to better foods. A new study, however, shows that even the rich are not immune to toxicants that build up in the body.

    The study, published in the journal Environment International, shows that harmful chemicals can affect the bodies of everyone, from any socioeconomic background. Researchers at the University of Exeter Medical School looked at data from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to determine this.

    Though money was not a factor in the build-up of toxicants in humans, the types of toxicants seen did change with economic status. For example, people with high incomes were found to have more mercury, arsenic, caesium, and thallium in their bodies. The study’s authors suggest that diet, specifically the consumption of fish and shellfish could play a role in the build up of such chemicals. The use of sunscreen was also linked to the build-up of benzophenone-3 in people with higher incomes.

    “We’ve found that as people become better off, changes in their lifestyle alter the types of chemicals in their bodies, rather than reducing the overall amount,” said Dr. Jessica Tyrrell, the lead author of the study and an epidemiologist at the European Center For Environment & Human Health. “This realisation has a profound impact on the way we treat chemical build ups, suggesting we should move to dealing with groups based on lifestyle, rather than earnings.”

    Those with lower incomes were found to have more lead, cadmium, antimony, and bisphenol A build-up in their bodies. Tyrrell and her colleagues linked smoking and poor diets to the build-up of cadmium and lead.

    “Long term exposure to chemicals, even in very small quantities, can lead to a number of adverse health effects such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease,” said Tyrrell. “This study has produced a robust analysis of how the accumulation of these chemicals relates to socioeconomic status, giving us an important understanding that will help to inform strategies aimed at improving health” Dr Tyrrell concludes.

    Analysing the build of chemicals in people’s bodies from ECEHH on Vimeo.

  • Poor Planning Skills Could Hold People Back, Shows Study

    While the grades gap between children from rich and poor families has been attributed to a variety of factors over the years, a new study shows that poor planning skills could be a major factor in the so-called income-achievement gap.

    Researchers at Cornell University looked at data on around 1,500 U.S. children that were part of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. The kids were diverse in ethnicity, socioeconomic background, and geographical location. The study found that a child’s planning skill assessment in the 3rd grade could predict that same child’s classroom performance in the 5th grade, regardless of IQ scores. The research has been published in the journal Child Development.

    “Low-income children appear to have more difficulty accomplishing planning tasks efficiently, and this, in turn, partially explains the income-achievement gap,” said Gary Evans, a co-author of the study and a professor of human ecology at Cornell University. “Efforts to enhance the academic performance of low-income children need to consider multiple aspects of their development, including the ability to plan in a goal-oriented manner.”

    Evans and his colleagues gave multiple suggestions for why poor planning might be associated with lower income. Children with a low-income background could have greater disruptive forces in their lives, such as moving homes, moving schools, family drama, “crowded and noisy environments,” and less structure to their daily routines. Another suggestion is that low-income parents could themselves be less skilled at planning.

  • Poorest State in America Revealed by the U.S. Census Bureau

    The U.S. Census Bureau recently released estimates from its 2011 American Community Survey showing that Mississippi is the poorest state in the U.S., with a median household income of only $36,919. Last month it was revealed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control that Mississippi is also the fattest state in the U.S.

    West Virginia and Arkansas round out the top 3 poorest states, with $38,482 and $38,758 median household incomes respectively.

    On the other end of the spectrum, the survey shows that Maryland has the highest median household income at $70,004. Alaska and New Jersey come next, with $67,825 and $67,458 medians respectively.

    Overall, the the median for the U.S. is estimated at $50,502, down from before 2008. In fact, no state in the U.S. except for Vermont saw an increase in median household income last year. The median declined in 18 states, including Ohio and Nevada.

    A correlation with these medians is found in the poverty statistics, which the American Community Survey also tracks. Mississippi, of course, has the highest poverty rate with 22.6% if its households living below the poverty line. New Hampshire has the lowest poverty rate, at 8,8%.

    Health insurance rates among young adults are the third statistic released recently by the Census Bureau. The uninsured rate of young adults aged 19 to 25 actually increased to 71.8% in 2011, up from 68.3% in 2009. However, the rate for those age 26 to 29 declined from 71.1% in 2009 to 70.3% in 2011. Part of the reason for these seemingly conflicting statistics could be the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) in 2010, which allows young adult dependents to remain on their parents’ health insurance plan until they are 26.

    “The American Community Survey provides reliable, local statistics about our nation’s people, housing and economy that are indispensable to anyone who has to make decisions about the future,” said Census Bureau Acting Director Thomas Mesenbourg.