Living on minimum wage

by INeedSleep on December 14, 2017 - 8:29pm

This article talks about something that touches millions of people across North America; the poverty trap that is minimum wage.  The authors believe that minimum wage should be brought up to at least fifteen dollars an hour in order to allow people to actually be able to use their money. They talk about Bill 33, which would raise the minimum wage by fifteen cents. With such a low increase rate if this bill had been put in place our minimum wage would be much less than it is now. They then go on and talk about how many of the minimum wage workers in Manitoba are women with children. These are workers who work inn retail or at restaurants and even with their job struggle to make ends meet. Research has shown the damaging effect of poverty on mental health de to all the stress. It also has a negative affect on physical health, exposing our bodies to a constantly stressful environment can lead to high blood pressure and weight gain. They also say that a person’s income is their social determinant of health as it provides food, shelter, recreational activities and acceptance into society.  Having a low income limits a person’s options, because they cannot escape poverty while trying to survive on poverty wages. This creates a cycle that few can get out of. It is in those situations that people end up taking up multiple jobs in order to bring home a better income. They then talk about the hypothesis that if the minimum wage was increases there would be a decrease in jobs. After the study done by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives where they looked at all the provincial minimum wages and employment changes from 1983 to 2012. They found no consistent evidence that minimum wage affects employment levels. Having a higher minimum wage does not only benefit the employee but also the local economy. Since the person now has more money they can buy extra stuff around town that they normally would not have purchased before. The authors then talk about how living with minimum wage practically dismisses the thought of owning a house, putting money away in a retirement fund and from pursuing an education. I agree with the authors of this article and their belief that minimum wage should be raised. Not only does it benefit the employee but the local economy. I see it as a win-win opportunity. I have read countless articles and seen post on social media of mother, and teens working multiple jobs just in order to get by. They work long hours a week and sometimes much more than they should to bring back enough money. As someone who works in retail having a minimum wage job leaves a weird feeling because on one side your happy to be getting money and on the other you just end up feeling numb and depressed. The work environment people work in is not always the best and can be quite stressful. So why hasn’t minimum wage been addressed? In order to get results should it be decided by the population by vote?


Brandon, Josh, and Molly McCracken. "Workers Trapped in Poverty by Low Minimum Wage." Winnipeg Free Press, Jun 06, 2017, Canadian Major Dailies,

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