The Elephant in the Room

We are often told that a worker making the minimum wage can’t afford the rent for an apartment. As an example, a website covering housing issues in Massachusetts tells us that a minimum wage employee must work 104 hours in order to afford a studio apartment. Whether a particular article supports a higher minimum wage, rent control, or both, these articles invariably ignore the elephant in the room.

Before we can objectively evaluate statistics like those cited above, we must consider the full context. An important part of the context is why individuals are earning the minimum wage and what they are doing to change that. That information is never provided because doing so might place some responsibility on the minimum wage worker.

Instead, these stories want us to feel sympathy for low-wage workers and wrath towards greedy landlords and business owners. After all, landlords insist on raising rents above what minimum wage employees can afford. And business owners refuse to pay a “living wage.” It isn’t the fault of the low-income individual that he can’t afford an apartment. Others are to blame.

With few exceptions, minimum wage jobs are entry level positions. They require few job skills and minimal training. One doesn’t need extensive knowledge, skills, or training to put a hamburger patty on a griddle and push a button. One’s income is a result of one’s productivity—the more values one creates the more one earns.

To be clear, this is not meant to demean minimum wage workers. I once was one, but I didn’t remain one for long. I earned a little bit of money from my minimum wage jobs. However, I gained something much more valuable. I learned job skills, such as showing up on time, performing my tasks competently, and cooperating with others. Those skills, along with additional education, enabled me to earn more and more money.

An individual who makes a career out of a minimum wage job is doing little to improve his earning potential. Admittedly, there are some individual who lack the physical or mental capacity to progress beyond an entry level job, but such people are the exception rather than the rule. Most individuals earning the minimum wage possess the capability to improve their income.

Rather than absolving these individuals of responsibility for their plight, we should be counseling them to make better choices and improve their earning potential. Personal responsibility is the elephant in the room. If we truly want to effectively address the affordable housing crisis, then we must begin to talk about personal responsibility.