Locals weigh in on what a minimum-wage hike would mean in this economy

Delaware Online by Beth Miller

View Original Article HERE

It's only one American dollar, just $1, but those dollars can add up fast, as everyone who pays the bills -- or can't pay the bills -- knows well enough.

And that's the argument from all sides of the "should-we-raise-the-minimum-wage?" debate now unfolding in Dover, where Delaware lawmakers are considering whether to increase the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $8.25 an hour.
Senate Bill 163, sponsored by Sen. Robert Marshall, D-Wilmington West, would raise the rate by 50 cents a year for the next two years -- the first raise since 2009. That raise -- from $7.15 to $7.25 -- was done because the federal rate rose to $7.25 and the state had to match it.
Business owners warned that the proposal would have a chilling effect on hiring and could force some businesses to close, but S.B. 163 cleared the Senate Thursday by a grudging 12-9 vote and now moves to the House for consideration.
It's a tough call, said Michael McGuigan, who just graduated from Wesley College with a degree in elementary education and now works part time in member services at The Village Gym, a Middletown fitness center.
McGuigan said the job helps him pay the rent, buy gas and cover cellphone costs. Many high school athletes get jobs at the gym, too, he said, jobs that help them save for college. The extra dollar would help them.
But, he said, the gym expanded to a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week schedule in November to accommodate members who work all sorts of shifts, including those in law enforcement. That expansion requires a significant investment, he said, and a wage increase could have ripple effects.
"I wouldn't be surprised if everything went up," he said.
With almost 32,000 people out of work in Delaware -- about 7.4 percent of the state's workforce -- elected officials are looking for ways to boost Delaware's job market. They don't want to make things worse for business owners -- the ones who do the hiring.
But with the cost of gasoline stuck near $3.50 a gallon and higher costs for almost everything, those making low wages in Delaware often are shut out. Literally.
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A person working full time at Delaware's minimum wage -- $7.25 -- cannot pay for even basic housing, according to a 2011 report by the Delaware Housing Coalition.
To afford an efficiency apartment -- with no separate bedrooms -- would require an average of at least $14.23 an hour, a bit less in Sussex ($11.90) and Kent ($12.96), a bit more in New Castle County ($15.17).
At minimum wage, paying the rent for a "modest, two-bedroom" apartment would require working more than 104 hours per week -- 2.6 full-time jobs -- the report said.
Thousands in Delaware cannot reach that high.
"Times are hard, and $7.25 is not a lot," said Robert Jacobs, a stay-at-home dad working on a master's degree in information systems. "I don't know many who could survive on that. I know we couldn't."
"I see both ends of it," said Tonette Mollohan, a Middletown-based regional sales leader for Justice girls clothing. "For workers, it's a good thing. For businesses, it's a little tougher. You want to pay the workers. But overall, I think it's probably a good thing. At the end of the day, workers stay longer, and they're happier. Young kids will move [to another job] for 25 cents more an hour."
After the nation's economic crisis, Marlene Litton said her 70-year-old husband had to go back to work. He had a great career before his retirement, she said, and now he works for minimum wage to help pay the bills. She favors the wage increase -- not just for him, but for students just entering the job force, others who struggle to pay for basics and for the little 4-year-old girl at her side.
"She's the one I worry about with the future," said Litton, nodding toward her granddaughter, Giovanna. They had just attended a reading event together at the Appoquinimink Free Library in Middletown.
"Gasoline is as high as it has ever been -- and this is sustained," she said. "It would be good for everybody. Businesses are making enough."
A part-time job at McDonald's helps 19-year-old Connor McCarthy pay for school at Delaware Technical Community College, which he hopes will lead to work as a mechanical engineer.
"I would love an extra dollar to go toward books and the gas to get to college," he said.
But there are even better reasons to boost that pay, he said.
"If you increase workers' pay, they have more incentive to work, and it will give the economy a boost," he said. "I'm all about small business and expansion of small business. If you have an idea and someone is willing to pursue that idea with you -- I'd pay them extra."
Those concerns are shared by many, even those who would love to see bigger paychecks.
Ryan Ashkenase, 19, fits in that category right now. He makes minimum wage in his job at a Middletown insurance company, but -- as a Delaware Tech student studying ad design -- he is considering the bigger picture, too.
"An extra $1 would be awesome," he said, "but I don't want to screw up the whole economy."