Document Type

Article

Abstract

Despite growing evidence that the recession has ended and the economic recovery has started, over 50 percent of fast-food workers have to rely on government assistance in order to survive. This is influenced by several factors: a stagnant minimum wage, a workforce that is both older and more skilled than before, and the low-wage employers’ reliance on a flawed system in order to bring more profit. Reviewing research both before (1970 to 2007) and after (2009 to October 2013) the recession of 2008 has yielded two different views of the low-wage industries, and despite some obvious differences, both data sets agree that the minimum wage is not enough to support a family alone. I will be discussing several theories presented in my research on how to help the “working poor” attain a satisfying “living wage,” including “indexing” the minimum wage, wage as a percentage of average wage, and the use of a program known as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).

Publication Date

2-1-2017

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