Courtney Muenchow | Staff Writer
There’s a saying somewhere that money makes the world go round. While that may or not be true depending on your perspective, it certainly is a huge player in our everyday lives. We work to earn it, save it, spend it, give it as a gift, stress about not having enough… Money is on the mind almost constantly for the average college student, especially after looking at the price of tuition, yikes! It’s no surprise that raising the minimum wage of Iowa is a hot topic among so many. The question is: should it be left alone, or should it be raised?
If the minimum wage stays at $7.25, Iowa could be left behind. Three of the six states bordering Iowa have a minimum wage higher than this state’s. Think about it, people in Minnesota, Illinois, and Missouri are making more than Iowans at the level of minimum wage. They have more funds at their disposal and can theoretically live a better life than those living here because of it. Stuck in the middle of these three over-achieving wage states, Iowa could be considered one of the “poor” states.
On the other hand, the cost of living is much cheaper in Iowa as compared to those states with the rising minimum wage. Talk to anyone living around Chicago, and they’ll tell you that gas is at least a dollar more expensive per gallon there as compared to little Storm Lake, Iowa. We have it made here, with gas dipping under three dollars for a while. Sure, Illinois has a minimum wage of $8.25, a whole dollar more than Iowa, but they pay for it in gas prices.
The problem with raising minimum wage is that the cost of living follows suit. Prices go up because people can afford more expensive things than they previously could. After the first few months of grace period where prices remain stable and wages increase, the two begin to even out with products becoming more expensive, sucking away more of that well-earned minimum wage increase.
It’s also not right to keep the wages so low that the people living off of such meager earnings cannot afford the inflating prices of necessities around them. Someone has to work those jobs that pay the least, and it’s completely unfair if prices are blown far out of their reach on things that they need. In that respect, the better option seems obvious: raise that minimum wage!
In the end, raising the minimum wage might look like the better option, but it too has its downfalls. From the perspective of a student who has little to no knowledge of how the world of money works outside of collecting hard-earned paychecks, raising the minimum wage in Iowa seems like the best option. Now, it’s just a matter of the politicians in charge to agree.
Graphic by Justice Gage
