Minimum wage has been a hot topic in recent news. With new laws passing the increase of minimum wage has had positive and negative effects. For most it is seen beneficial, as those who work will be able to sustain themselves with the increase. As of January 1, 2020 the minimum rose from 7 dollars an hour to 9 dollars an hour. The difference in money not only will affect the economy but as well as the cultural and social aspects of the state. The increase of minimum wage will create more opportunities for those who need them especially those who are culturally and socially diverse.
New Mexico is a state of socially and culturally diverse citizens. Most commonly found here would be Hispanics and Native Americans. Statistic show the 48% of New Mexicos population is hispanic. The minimum wage affects these cultural groups as they are the ones who struggle as opposed to non-Hispanics and non-Native Americans. The average amount made by both of Hispanics and Native Americans would approximately be 36 thousand dollars. Both of these groups make up the majority of New Mexicos population and would greatly benefit as those who do not belong in those social groups are averaging with 57 thousand dollars per year.
As they are the groups who are not as fortunate the increase in minimum wage will help them create a sustainable lifestyle as opposed to what they had previously. Hispanics and Native Americans are the social groups who tend to make up the majority of jobs. As their salary would increase their quality of life would also increase. They would be able to maintain their children with ease as they will not have to go through difficult nights. Families of 4 or 5 tend to need more sustenance than families of 3. Families are expensive to maintain as the more mouths you have to feed the more money that is coming out of your pocket. As we know how much hispanics and native As it is the incomes they have now has proven that it is not enough to raise a family and will come with many hardships. However the increase would make for the possibility for entire families and better way of life physically, mentally, and as well as beneficial to their health.
A common problem in New Mexico would be that families simply do not have enough to raise their kids leaving them in poverty. A positive benefit of the minimum wage increase would be a potential rise in bringing kids out of poverty. Research shows “ one in five New Mexicans lives in poverty” Making it a total 100,596 kids who have parents who have low income and live in poverty. Clearly the solution would be to make the increase and have positivity come out of it. In order for the kids to be the future they must live in safe and stable environments. This will more than definitely create stability over the state and up the average to a decent number.
As the factors of poverty and being less fortunate than the average New Mexican it is more than likely that their quality of life isn’t as good as it should be. A consequence of not being able to .Their health care isn’t the best because of how expensive it turns out to be. Some Mexicans and Natives have pre-existing conditions that may be way too costly to treat. For example diabetes is common pre-existing condition that is very expensive to treat. Reason being is that insulin, the medicine used to treat diabetes, is so expensive is because of the demand. In a public press conference about “Public Health Professionals & Diabetic Patients Share Their Stories at Press Conference”, they state that “accidentally dropping a vial of insulin because it’s like $300 shattering on the ground.” This expensive cost may be too much for those who are not buy this expensive. Another consequence to not being able to these treatments would be a shortened life span which a difference in sustainability would help increase life expectancy.
With the economy moving steadily, the wage for jobs will only create more opportunities. Those opportunities will help those who are less fortunate creating a higher income having positive outcomes. This will create a sense of stability not only for those in a low social class but those who tend to be more fortunate. This will not only help everyone working as it an entire system. Greatly impacting the hours being worked. Through research we see that low wage workers tend to work more than 20 hours a week and balance 2 jobs. With the payout of jobs being increased it will reduce stress caused by the overload of jobs as well as risks of mental illness because they can commonly be found in low wage earners.
Education always comes in as a factor when it comes to annual salary. It is common that those with a high degree will more than likely have a higher than average salary or even an average. For those who cannot pay for college but have high school degrees are still likely to have low wages. Since hispanics and natives have low salaries then there is no way to pay for a higher education. Although the majority of these groups have their high school diplomas they can never really afford a college degree because of how expensive it is. The benefit of the minimum wage increasing could be the opportunity in getting a higher level of education boosting their credentials after high school, creating a better future for them as well as their family.
Overall, the benefits of minimum wage going up outweigh the negatives as it is much more beneficial to Native Americans and Hispanics. The potential of store good going up in price is a down fall yes, however with the economy being boosted with said rise of wage going up it will bump the flow of the economy higher than it was previously outweighing the prices. As evidence shoes the increase of minimum wage will create a healthier life style, creating more educational opportunities, as well as relieving those in poverty.
Works Cited
- “Haaland Releases New Report on Impacts of High Drug Cost on New Mexico Diabetes Patients.” Representative Debra Haaland, 29 June 2019, haaland.house.gov/media/press-releases/haaland-releases-new-report-impacts-high-drug-cost-new-mexico-diabetes-patients.
- Kirkham, Elyssa. “NM among Five Most Expensive States to Raise a Family.” Albuquerque Journal, www.abqjournal.com/674543/nm-among-five-most-expensive-states-to-raise-a-family.html.
- “New Mexicans Are Worth More: Raising the State’s Minimum Wage.” New Mexico Voices for Children, 28 Nov. 2018, www.nmvoices.org/archives/11933.
