Bumper Sticker's Are No Way to Fight Poverty

I must admit, the title of the editorial I selected is really what drew me in: "Bumper-sticker policy no way to fight poverty." I believe the author intended this article to be read by those living in lower to middle income households. After reading through the information provided by the editorial board of the Statesman I was somewhat shocked. I, myself come from a middle-lower income household based on the standards listed in this article. As I related this article to my current situation and those of many friends and family things become a little clearer. I had always gone under the assumption that the reason for my financial stress was simply that I needed to be more financial savvy, more frugal. I think those things are key factors in making a financial situation better, however, after reading this article I have to agree that some of the solution should be coming from our government. If we are going to continue increasing the prices of our base necessities, wages should also be increased. Unfortunately, I do not know of many business owners that will happily pay their minimum wage employees an extra dollar an hour because they see gas prices rise. It has been my experience that rising costs of goods adversely affect the average American worker. Business owners are also feeling the tightening of the purse strings when prices increase. Their minds become more consumed with how they can reduce expenses, not increasing employee wages.

In the article it talks of the government poverty line being $22,000 for a family of four. Travis County has 19.2% of its population not hitting that mark. Knowing these figures motivated me to do a little research. There was an article in the NY Times that stated "though [minimum wage] rose to $7.25 an hour in 2009... the minimum wage is still lower than it was 30 years ago, after accounting for inflation. Today's minimum wage amounts to about $1.50 an hour less than it did in 1968. I was shocked to read that. Many of the minimum wage jobs are so necessary to our everyday lives. The fact that we are paying our employees less than 30 years ago is absolutely disheartening. It is no wonder that our country is in such a recession. If people can barely afford to eat, they surely won't be spending money they don't have to. Money not spent in our consumer market just makes our economic plight worse. I think this article put it very clear, a bumper sticker saying "I fight poverty, I work" is no way to really fight poverty.