Illinois New Raise in Minimum Wage Is Not Enough to Lift Low-Wage Workers Out of Poverty

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker

            Single mothers struggle daily trying to keep a roof over their family’s head, food on the table and provide the basic essentials. Some can barely afford school supplies, clothes and shoes for their children. Young adults are either homeless or living with parents, living with someone they know, or renting a room from a stranger because they are not making two to three times the rent or don’t have a co-signer. Parents can’t afford daycare or to enroll their children in after school or summer programs due to high costs. Minimum wage should at least be $12.00 an hour starting now for all workers to assure stability, once low-wage workers make it out of poverty.

            According to PayScale statistics, Illinois cost of living is 23% higher than the national average, with 56% higher in housing, 10% lower in utilities, 8% higher in groceries, 27% higher in transportation, and 1% higher in health. As reported by Smart Asset, the cost of rent runs from $927 for a studio to $1,618 for a three-bedroom apartment, utilities with the internet $191, transportation $105, and 6.25% in state taxes and 4% in local taxes. Not to mention restaurant food and additional taxes, as well as, miscellaneous expenses such as car notes and health insurance. Based on these statistics the average worker is spending $2,964 at the most and $1,977 at the minimum for rent/mortgage, utilities, transportation, cable/internet, miscellaneous, and taxes.

As part of ‘The Lifting Up Illinois’ Working Families Act’, on February 19, 2019 Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a new law to increase Illinois minimum wage from $8.25 to $9.25 for regular workers. The Illinois minimum wage rates will increase in a series of seven adjustments beginning on July 1, 2020 when the rates will increase to $10 for regular worker but remain at $8.00 for underage workers. It won’t be until January 2021 minimum wage will increase for underage workers from $8.00 to $8.50 and regular workers receive $11.00, Following that year the minimum wage will increase by $1 until it reaches $15 in 2025. By then a young worker can earn $13 an hour. Pritzker told reporters that anyone who puts in a hard day’s work should be able to afford to put a roof over their head and food on the table. He also stated that raising the minimum wage would lift low-wage workers out of poverty, according to AP News.

Earning $10 an hour the average low-wage worker is only taking home $1600 a month before taxes, and the underage worker takes an estimate of $1280, depending on the hours. A single mother with one child would have to work two jobs just to make ends meet. A father who is the breadwinner for his family would have to put in overtime and workdays off jus to provide for his family. Underage workers who are underpaid should receive the same minimum wage as regular workers. Although the numbers in teen parents have declined, the teen pregnancy rate was at 17.4 in 2019. There was an estimate of 2,018 teen mothers in Illinois between the ages of 15-17. Some teen parents have their parents and other relatives to assist them, but they still must provide for their child. Those who don’t have a support system have to work much harder to take care of themselves and their child.

For the first time in 10 years Illinois raised the minimum wage but is it enough to low-wage workers to lift themselves out of poverty? Of course not, the cost of living in Illinois is even higher now than it was a decade ago. In order to get out of poverty, taxes need to decrease, and the minimum wage rate should be where all Illinois workers can not just sustain but maintain.

Tamara M. Anderson

@mahoganymagazin