I will send this letter to all the Representatives for Pennsylvania, Federal and State. 

Representatives’ Name

Their address

02/02/2024

Emil Ihnat

2145 Ardmore Blvd, Apt 2F

Pittsburgh, PA 15221

Hello (Representatives’ Name),

This letter has been sent to every Representative for Pennsylvania, including those in the Federal government. I hope this letter prompts a discussion on the minimum wage for Pennsylvania as well as the Federal minimum wage. I will be using rent and housing as my main argument for raising the minimum wage, as housing is a basic necessity.

Let’s get into it. 

As you know, the Fair Labor Standards Act was signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 25, 1938 to become effective on October 24, 1938. That January, President Roosevelt told Congress he was seeking “legislation to end starvation wages and intolerable hours.” Since the first minimum wage was set 85 years ago, it has been raised only 22 times with the last increase 15 years ago in 2009. I personally joined the workforce in 2009, so raising the minimum wage is something I am passionate about. 

Math section 

1938

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, housing, including rent or mortgage payments and utilities, should cost no more than 30% of the occupant’s gross income. This, however, was not possible in 1938 and is no more achievable in 2024.

In 1938, a person working 40 hours per week (40 hours) with 2 weeks off per year (50 weeks) and earning minimum wage ($0.25) would have a gross income of $500 per year. The average cost of rent that same year was $27 per month or $324 per year - 64% of their total income for the year would be spent on housing.

Today’s standards, 2024 

As I previously stated, the minimum wage of $7.25 has not been changed since 2009. At the same 40 hour work week (40 hours) with 2 weeks off per year (50 weeks), today’s gross income is $14,500. Using huduser.gov to find the average cost of rent for each county, I was able to calculate the average rent for Pennsylvania. Based on this website, the average cost of rent is $822.34 per month or $9,868.08 per year without utilities included. At the current minimum wage, 68.06% of a person’s yearly gross income goes towards a 1-bedroom apartment in Pennsylvania, an increase of 4.06% since 1938.

 

What is a living wage?

Again, the rule of thumb set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says that no more than 30% of an occupant’s gross income should be spent on housing, including utilities. Since I began working in 2009, I have heard that no more than 25% of my yearly, pre-taxed income should go toward housing. For simplified conversions, I have excluded utilities (including internet, gas, water, and electricity), which account for about 6% of the 25%, to demonstrate how the current minimum wage affects Pennsylvanians. 

The average rent in my area is $822.34 per month, or $9,868.08 per year, not including utilities. For rent to be no more than 19% of a Pennsylvania resident’s income, their gross salary would need to be $51,940, putting the minimum wage at $25.97 per hour.

In comparison, to match the Great Depression era, the average American would need to make roughly $15,420 each year ($7.71 per hour) before taxes for housing to cost no more than 64% of their yearly gross income. The minimum wage in 2024 is $0.46 less than the minimum wage required for Americans to afford a basic human right in 1938. 

We are living in a time period that is worse than The Great Depression. The American Dream of owning a home on a nice piece of land is impossible to obtain.

 

What are you going to do? 

You have several options in front of you: 

First, you can keep the current minimum wage of $7.25 and ignore the needs of the American people, keeping many from being able to afford the most basic human necessity of affordable housing.

Secondly, you could raise the minimum wage to $7.71 to match that of the Great Depression era. Again, leaving most Americans unable to afford housing.

Thirdly, you could raise the minimum wage to an amount between the required $7.71 of the Great Depression era and the required $25.97 of today. This solution would help some Americans afford housing, but the poor or middle class would still be left in a desperate situation and working multiple jobs to survive. This option encourages a gig economy as workers cannot afford to work one permanent job. 

Lastly, you can raise the minimum wage to $25.97 per hour. Paying employees a fair wage would encourage Americans to work a full-time job and contribute to the economy. Not only would this strengthen the middle class American, but the upper and lower class would benefit as well. A strong middle class means a strong America.

 

Conclusion

In this letter, I have focused on the minimum wage of the average American. I have not touched on the minimum wage of nonexempt, farm, or nonfarm workers who, until 1978 were not paid the same as the average American worker. If needed, I can do a letter focused on all of those.

In addition to this letter, I have created a petition to raise the minimum wage to $25.97 per hour: https://chng.it/PkwT9ZYkFh

I am asking you to make a change for the American people. It has been 15 years since the minimum wage has been increased, and Americans are suffering. 

Thank you for listening to one of your Pennsylvania residents, 

Author: Emil Ihnat

Editor: Carolyn Tomlinson

 

 

 

 

References

1. https://www.dol.gov/general/aboutdol/history/flsa1938 
2. https://archives.hud.gov/local/nv/goodstories/2006-04-06glos.cfm#:~:text=Affordable%20Housing%3A%20Affordable%20housing%20is,for%20housing%20costs%2C%20including%20utilities 
3. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/minimum-wage/history/chart
4. https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/91gdqn/cost_of_living_in_1938/
5. https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmrs/FY2023_code/2023state_summary.odn