Social media gives everyone with something say a to a place to say it. But some ideas are not worth sharing, especially when they are untrue and their sole purpose is to obfuscate. I stumbled across the image below on Facebook. I refrained from commenting because the dialog that often follows such unsupported statements is often irrational and uncivil, and those who advance unfounded claims are frequently immune to the logic and facts that prove their beliefs false.
At least one of the claims is demonstrably untrue – that those earning the minimum wage have minimum education.
There's no definition of what constitutes minimum education, but for arguments sake, let's assume that anyone who has never attended college possesses a minimum education, even though it is clearly possible to have less. This category includes high school graduates with no college experience as well as those without a high school diploma.
Bureau Of Labor Statistics data on the characteristics of minimum wage workers for 2012, the latest year for which we have a complete dataset, shows that there were just over 75 million workers paid at hourly rates, 3.55 million of whom earned the minimum wage or less, and of these, 2.036 million, or about 57%, have a minimum education as we've defined it here, leaving us with just over 1.5 million workers with more than a minimum education earning the minimum wage or less. One might argue that anything less than an associates degree constitutes a minimum education, but that would only increase our pool of minimally educated workers to 2.259 million, an increase of just 233,000.
Without further data, it's hard to make a case for or against the statements regarding skill or motivation, but we can make an assessment regarding contributions to the workplace based upon the nature of the worked performed by minimum wage workers. A detailed breakdown of minimum wage employment by industry is beyond the scope of this post, but the vast majority of these worker, 67%, are employed in leisure and hospitality or retail trade. Many of them are the face of the company: fast food workers, waiters and waitresses, desk clerks, sales staff, and the woman or man working the cash register; others are behind the scenes but are no less vital: janitors, stockers, administrative assistants, dishwashers, and cooks. The list could go on but that's not necessary to make the point. McDonalds cannot make Happy Meals if there's no one to cook a cheeseburger, ring up the sale, or hand the food to the customer. Hilton hotels would quickly lose guests if rooms were dirty and unkempt. Abercrombie & Fitch customers would quickly tire of rummaging through piles of clothing if no one returned dressing room rejects to the rack. Many companies would cease to function without the work performed by their minimum wage employees. It's hard to argue that these people, yes they are people, often with families to support, don't provide more than a minimum contribution to the workplace.
Much more troubling than the factual errors these Facebook posts make is the lack of sensitivity they express. When did we lose our pity for the less fortunate, those stuck on the bottom rung of the economic ladder? How can we judge and disparage one's character based solely on their wage? Why some people do this is no secret. If earning the minimum wage is a character fault, then the rest of us are relieved from any obligation to help. The real purpose of such Facebook posts is not to enlighten, but to assuage guilt.
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