My Two Cents is a weekly opinion column from Bethesda resident Joseph Hawkins. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of BethesdaNow.com.
Could a person making $11.50 per hour live in Bethesda?
Several week ago, after a Montgomery County nonprofit sponsored a national conference on ending poverty, county politicians and do-gooders immediately jumped on the bandwagon via Twitter and Facebook to talk up the goal – end poverty now!
Ending poverty is something we all must discuss and commit to. Nonetheless, the recent social media chatter reminds me of a favorite James Brown song, “Talkin’ Loud and Sayin’ Nothing.”
It’s full of funky music and short on lyrics. Still, there are enough words to get Brown’s main point across: For the most part, politicians and do-gooders talk a good game, but in the end, it’s mostly chatter. Or in the words of Brown:
“Like a dull knife, just ain’t cutting, just talking loud, then saying nothing.”
My simplistic notion of ending poverty is that through gainful employment, those who are poor make more money — a lot more money.
This isn’t a novel idea.
Clearly, back in November 2013, the Montgomery County Council had the more money idea in mind when it passed a law raising the county’s minimum wage. Over four years, that law would move the current minimum wage of $7.25 to $11.50. That’s an annual salary of approximately $24,000.
(The Maryland General Assembly just passed a watered down version of a law that will raise the minimum wage elsewhere in the state to $10.10 by 2018.)
Now, I’m sure that someone currently making $7.25 an hour is over the moon with excitement knowing they will make more money. Still, I’m left with questions.
Does $11.50 end poverty in Montgomery County? Does it even come close to ending poverty? Could a person making $11.50 live in Bethesda?
The answers are no, no, and no.
A few weeks ago, summarizing a new housing study, The Washington Post reported that to live in a modest D.C. two-bedroom apartment, one needs a job paying $28.25 an hour.
Could a person making $28.25 an hour live in Bethesda? Probably.
But before saying $28.25 an hour is ridiculously high (I don’t believe it is, especially if one is supporting children) consider this from a living wage calculator set up by the Poverty in America website, a project run by MIT.
Montgomery County families with at least one child have a living wage ranging from $22.66 for two adults and one child to $37.44 an hour one adult and three children. The worker earning $37.44 would net approximately $78,000 annually. Now that’s an amount that takes a worker and his or her family beyond poverty.
Look, our elected officials deserve credit for talking about ending poverty and moving us in directions that get us closer to that end.
But it would be refreshing if the talk was a little bolder. And if it takes $37.44 an hour to end poverty in Montgomery County, shouldn’t we be screaming that figure out loud? Shouldn’t we be tweeting it and liking it daily until we get it through our thick skulls that anything less than bold does not end poverty?
Come on James, one time — scream it:
“Like a dull knife, just ain’t cutting, just talking loud, then saying nothing.”
Joseph Hawkins is a longtime Bethesda resident who remembers when there was no Capital Crescent Trail. He works full-time for an employee-owned social science research firm located Montgomery County. He is a D.C. native and for nearly 10 years, he wrote a regular column for the Montgomery Journal. He also has essays and editorials published in Education Week, the Washington Post, and Teaching Tolerance Magazine. He is a serious live music fan and is committed to checking out some live act at least once a month.
