What raise will wreak

I read the letter in which the writer said Bradley Gitz should try to make a living on $ 7.50 an hour. I have great sympathy for anyone trying to make a living on minimum wage, especially with a family. It can’t be done. However, I know raising the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour will not help them for the following reasons.

One, a lot of people believe jobs will not be lost if the minimum wage increases, but they will be. If a business cannot make a profit, it will close down. It will have to.

Two, I know people who have special training and have worked at jobs for 10 to 20 years who are not making much more than $ 15 an hour. What will happen to them? Will they now be working for minimum wage?

Three, there will be a cost- push effect in the economy. The cost of the wage increase will be added to everything. Cost of materials to run a business will go up. Cost of food, clothing, appliances, cars and houses will go up. And of course, those people who worked to get special education and training and who have seniority at their jobs will not be content to work for minimum wage. They will have to have a raise also. As a result, more jobs will be lost.

In the end we will be right back where we started. The minimum wage will be $ 15 an hour. People with education and training will get $ 30 an hour. All products and consumer goods will increase accordingly. People still will not be able to make a living on minimum wage. The only difference will be fewer jobs available as a result.

The only way to make a better living is by getting more education and training to be able to qualify for a better job. Luckily in this country there are many opportunities for people to achieve this goal. SALLY J. MAYS Roland