Profile of a Minimum Wage Earner
The AFL-CIO and ACORN, with the help of Roseanne Barr, are profiling minimum wage earners to prove their point that it is "immoral" for companies to pay such low wages.
In this video, they interview "Erin". She actually earns more than the minimum wage, but not much more. She says she is single, has no kids, and lives with her parents. And she works loooong hours, almost 40 hours a week! Every week!
But cheer up if you feel sorry for Erin. She doesn't know what she wants to do right now, job-wise or school-wise, but she says she'll probably go and get a 2-year degree so that she can get a better job, one that pays more than the minimum wage. She expressed interest in being a pharmacy tech.
As Roseanne Barr says after the interview, "Pretty depressing, huh?"
Okay, without the sarcasm, I hate to make light of Erin's situation. If she's really having problems, I don't mean to gang up on her. But from what she said in the video, I think she's just a young kid who's working hard to improve her lot in life. And she's moving in the right direction. Go Erin!
UPDATE: Tim Chapman adds:
I am all for helping people like Erin. But it is not the federal government’s job to do that by passing terrible legislation. And to be certain, a misguided, silly liberal policy like raising the minimum wage will hurt rather than help.
