In today’s busy Silicon Valley society a wage earner needs to earn approximately $16 to pay the rent, put food on the table and pay for the very bare necessities of life. We know that for every high tech job that we produce in the valley that four (4) service jobs are created. Service jobs include fast food workers, people at the cleaners, the landscape worker, people who clean your house and the folks that serve you dinner at the restaurant. The vast majority of employed people in the area that make more than the minimum wage go home to their families. They drive cars in good repair. They can afford a good medical insurance plan. They don’t necessarily worry about putting food on the table.
The minimum wage of $8 per hour produces $320 a 40 hour week or approximately $1,280 before taxes and deductions. That does not come close to paying the average $1,600 a month for a small 2 bedroom apartment. It does not count towards gasoline for the car to get the worker to work. It doesn’t touch buying food for a family. It doesn’t touch the cost of proper dental care for the children.
What is the answer for the minimum wage earner? It means at least 2 minimum wage jobs. Three jobs if there are 2 bread winners in the family. That only brings in $960 a week or $3,840 a month. That is achieved if the employee makes it to work each and every day. There is no pay if you don’t work.
What are the other tolls on the family? Children don’t have a parent home to help them with reading, math or other homework. The child falls behind their counterparts. They are embarrassed in front of their peers because they are not keeping up. This results is acting out in school. The more they fall behind the more the child feels left out and the bigger the behavior problems become. They lose hope and drop out of school before graduation.
If $2 more per hour can lessen the number of hours that a parent has to work we can make a big difference in a family. If a mother or father has an hour that they can read to their children we can go a long way to solving a problem and saving a life.
San Jose raised the minimum wage to $10 per hour last year. It did not result in higher unemployment. The San Jose economy is stronger and more small businesses have opened in this last year. Business owners have said that the cost of doing business has only increase 3%. Isn’t it worth it to build a better community?
The Sunnyvale City Council will be taking up the issue of the minimum wage on Tuesday May 20. The Council may pass an ordinance establishing a minimum wage of $10 per hour and the wage will be tied to the Consumer Price Index. Let’s hope the Council is brave enough to take the step. (Council Report 14-0280)
Jim Davis is Vice Mayor of Sunnyvale
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