Minimum-Wage Increase

By moving the minimum wage closer to what might constitute a livable income, perhaps there will be more incentive for those who really want to work to find a job instead of relying on welfare support or criminal activities. This action will also allow unskilled laborers a better chance to acquire job experience and become more vital members of the community.

The additional 90 cents an hour clearly means a lot more to someone trying to survive in California on $134 per week than to California consumers and employers who seem relatively affluent. I’m certain that the opponents of a higher minimum wage have used and will continue to use their old argument that a higher minimum wage will invariably lead to higher unemployment. Those who perpetuate that idea are obviously unaware of the realities of the unskilled job market. Anyone who might lose a job because of the increased minimum wage can probably find work paying less than minimum wage and at worst be no better off than before.

I also am convinced that those who are opposed to a higher minimum wage are either morally bankrupt or have never suffered or even imagined the difficulties that poverty inflicts on individuals in this society.

DAVID LAKE

Hawthorne