Module 15 Discussion

Stresses and Strains on the Women and Their Families Due To Underemployment

The detrimental of unemployment are not restricted to unemployed individuals but spread out the effects to their families. Unemployed women, particularly single parents, face tough choices of working several jobs a day to feed the family with no adequate time to spend with their children. Working in more than one job for the unemployed and low-income earners with kids to take care as evidence in the video, is linked to risks of depression and healthy lifestyles, particularly among single parents. Depression due to work stress, working many hours, and unhealthy lifestyles due to economic and time constraints lead to obesity, as evidence in the video.

The women captured in the video are overweight. Economic pressures and time constraints force families to reduce food costs, cutting on fruits vital for healthy living. Most of the meals prepared in the video lacked fruits as part of the content, but rather more calorie contents. Time constraints also reduce meal preparation duration resulting in a surge in the consumption of pre-packaged convenience diets, which are in excess of fat and calories. Less time for a workout is another challenge faced by these families hence the cause for obesity.

Strategies These Women Use To Ensure That Their Families Can Survive

One of the strategies used by unemployed or women with low-income earnings is working more jobs a day to increase their income and feed their families. Across all those interviewed, most of them work two or three jobs a day. As apparent in the video, some unemployed or low-income-earning women, particularly single parents, cost-share rooms to cut on some expenses such as rent and help each other take care of children, and balance the tight work schedules working more than one job. Some are also pushing for campaigns to have the minimum wage raised to $15 across the industries.

Arguments against Raising the Minimum Wage to $15

Encomiasts argue that raising the minimum wage to $15 will decrease jobs overall (Greenhouse, 2015).  The argument put forth is that higher wages lead to a decline in the labor demanded, which causes unemployment, as John Phelan explains in figure 1 below on the minimum wage labor market effects.

Figure 1: Labor Market Effect of a Minimum Wage 

Source: (Phelan, 2019).

The economic theorist argues that the price floors decrease the quantity of labor demand in the market, as shown in figure 1. The labor supply meets the demand at the “market-clearing wage rate (Wc),” leading to labor quantity (Ec). However, when the minimum wage policy is in place, companies are forced to raise their minimum wage to Wm. The amount of employment demand declines from Ec to Em. Economists believe that raising the minimum wage to $15 will have negative ramifications on youth employment and even to adults as the number of jobs available will decline (Phelan 2019).

Employers are also likely to raise entry-level job qualifications and skills, affecting fresh graduates looking for employment. Researchers also maintain that small businesses with less than 50 workers would find it harder to stay in business if the $15 minimum wage policy is implemented (Leigh, 2019). Instead, economists propose the “Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)” as the best model to caution the economic needs of lower-income earners (Phelan 2019).

References

Greenhouse, S. (2015). How to Get Low-Wage Workers Into the Middle Class. https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/08/fifteen-dollars-minimum-wage/401540/

Leigh, J. P. (2019). Arguments for and Against the $15 Minimum Wage for Health Care Workers.

Phelan, J. (2019). Reasons Raising the Minimum Wage Is Bad Public Policy. https://fee.org/articles/5-reasons-raising-the-minimum-wage-is-bad-public-policy/