In today’s “Room for Debate” on the NY Times’ Opinion Pages, LISC CEO Maurice Jones discusses how higher minimum wages, while absolutely imperative, are not enough to lift people out of poverty when earnings are stymied by poor credit and lack of skills. Job training, financial education and income supports—all the services offered by our Financial Opportunity Centers—combine to make work pay. And that’s good for the whole economy.
Originally published in The New York Times:
Effects of Minimum Wage Increases Extend Beyond the Law’s Reach
It’s too early to show empirically, but in my field we’re convinced that minimum wage increases will reveal their value over time as workers’ incomes rise.
What we do know now is that higher wages in the retail sector have already been a boon to the economy and to low-skilled workers, who make up most of low-income America.
This is particularly critical as manufacturing jobs evaporate and more workers turn to employment in retail and service industries. Some of the gains we’re starting to see come thanks to higher minimum wages for people who don’t yet have the training to advance in a job.
The national conversation about low wages, in and of itself, has brought about a shift in the economic zeitgeist, too: Even in states that aren’t rolling out minimum wage hikes, some giant employers, like Target and Walmart, have anted up (both increased their minimum wages by 10 percent — about a dollar an hour — in the past year).
Nevertheless, for many low-income families, a job alone is not enough. When employed people cannot meet their basic expenses (which sadly often include payments to predatory lenders), they can’t build assets, either. And assets are a cornerstone of financial stability, in addition to steady, living wage jobs. Continued[+]...