Impatience with wages

Impatience is at the heart of the debate regarding Bloomington's new "living wage" ordinance. \nThere's impatience over the stagnant federal minimum wage, which has clunked along at $5.15 an hour since 1997. \nThere's impatience over whether the market, left to its own accord, will ever bring the lowest wage-earners to or above the poverty level, as minimum-wage jobs yield salaries thousands of dollars below the national poverty level.\nThere's impatience over the costs of implementing the new ordinance, which will set a "living wage" at $10 an hour -- or $8.50 an hour if health insurance benefits are included -- for only the employees of the city and the employees of businesses who work with the city. Bloomington Common Council members seem to agree the actual costs will not be known until we are knee-deep in the proposal.\nAnd there's a loitering impatience for a lot of people, including us, who believe the living wage ordinance never should have been approved.\nNo later than the beginning of 2006, Bloomington will join more than 100 U.S. cities and counties that have implemented a living wage. But the reality is the ordinance will affect only a fraction of those in the community, and measuring its success beyond mere monetary cost ratios will always be difficult given its small sample of recipients.\nA number of community voices have shouted that the living wage could cause more harm than good. By lifting the most impoverished out of one tax bracket and into another higher one, workers could find themselves ineligible for a number of benefits and services upon which they have come to rely -- a more regressive than helpful result. \nThe economics and politics of wage increases will always vary. Debates about whether the government has a place enforcing wages on businesses will always be fiery (the middle, most compromising ground will always be safest, too). The old adage "lies, damned lies and statistics" will always continue to ring true, as diehards fight for and against mandatory wage increases with reams of evidence they claim proves their case is airtight. \nBoth sides of the living wage debate commend Bloomington city leaders for bringing the issue of poverty to the forefront. We can't see any fault in that, and indeed, we believe it is essential to seriously address poverty in our community. \nBut at what cost are we highlighting the problems of poverty when we implement a living wage that will affect only a fraction of the community? Our efforts should be devoted to improving the conditions of everyone. \nIt's high time the state of Indiana or the federal government moves to increase the minimum wage, which carries buying power that is paltry compared to the past. The living wage, if but a roundabout way of addressing the issue, was not the answer.