A $11.91 per Hour Wage in the Fifth Most Expensive State in the Country
by carlos matías
“There is a distinction between minimum wage and living wage. The living wage in Alaska is $23.62 an hour. So, $11.91 is not a living wage, neither is $15. But $15 is much closer. Alaska is losing the battle for young workers.”
Since 2020, Joelle Hall has been the president of the AFL-CIO, the American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations, the largest labor federation in the United States and Canada. She is the first woman to hold the post. Here is our conversation with her about Alaska’s newly approved wage increases.
Alaska was the first state with a minimum wage and for years it was the state with the highest minimum wage... That’s true. But in the last ten years, or more, Alaska has lost ground while other states and communities have increased their minimum wage. We are now among the five most expensive states to live in.
Opponents of the minimum wage increase argue that many companies will not be able to afford the cost and that there will be layoffs... Research on states that have raised the minimum wage over the years disproves that claim.
What is a fair minimum wage? Fairness is subjective. If a living wage is $23.62, then $15 is ‘unfair’ and $11.91 is even more unfair. Ensuring that a minimum wage increases and is linked to inflation is the closest we can get to ‘fairness’.
Some employers say that there is a labor shortage; that there are job offers, but people are not willing to do the work, is it because jobs are poorly paid? People are leaving Alaska and there are fewer adults of working age. One of the reasons people may find it difficult to take a minimum wage job is that the cost of childcare is very high, and that industry has not recovered from the pandemic. Fewer childcare places therefore force many to stay at home.
What does social assistance have to do with this? The social benefits argument is a frequent complaint. But unemployment is only available for 16 to 26 weeks, so it is impossible to use those benefits for a long time. I suspect that many people could have left the workforce because they left Alaska, stayed at home with children or improved their skills and took advantage of other opportunities available in Alaska, such as construction. Alaska is losing the battle for young workers. For the last 50 years we have been a destination for young people looking to build their future. By not investing in our schools and in a tattered economy, we are no longer the draw we used to be. These conditions are the result of decisions made by our leaders.
