Latest update April 24th, 2024 12:59 AM
Dec 18, 2020 Editorial
Kaieteur News – Recently, there was some media coverage about the minimum wage, and the need to raise it from $44,200 monthly to $60,000 per month for a 40-hour week.
We at this publication think that this is most needed. And would make a world of difference for those citizens trapped at the bottom of the economic ladder. We thought that shining some focus on this would be helpful to the cause of the poor, with whom there is ready identification. A simple exercise was attempted, and what was arrived at is more than concerning; it is frightening.
A start is made by using the current minimum wage to conduct the simple exercise mentioned above. Right from the start, we point out that every number is an approximation, what is believed to be, after several discussions with grassroots Guyanese (minimum wage earners), where things tally up, and close out. Even though approximations and assumptions are used, our thinking is that they are individually very close to normal circumstances, as lived with by many Guyanese – be they single parent, couples with two children, or otherwise – working for the equivalent of GY$1500 a day.
The first assumption is that there is no overtime, and that net take home pay is $44,000 (no taxes, no NIS, and so forth). Rent snaps up $20,000 to $25,000 of that amount right away. Gone just like that, and it could be more. Maybe there is a mortgage, with a smaller monthly payment due. One of the assumptions is that there is no debt: no hire purchase payments, no personal loans of any kind.
The monthly light bill is $3,000; and the water bill stands at the unrealistic amount of $1,000 monthly. It must be understood that we have placed ourselves in the role of a struggling homemaker, where there are herculean efforts to stretch the $44,000 and make ends meet.
To the above, there is now adding of the following for weekly spending: Greens ($1,000); vegetables ($1,000); meat or fish ($1,000) and groceries ($2,000). We confess to grappling with this so fellow citizens are appealed to, please be patient: the objective is to present a clear, but human, picture. Together, these expenses for food amount to $20,000 on a monthly basis, assuming two meals a day and a four-member family.
At this point, a tabular presentation might be helpful to give a better visual of this minimum wage narrative, and it now follows.
Though some of the basics are covered, it is prudent to pause. For clearly, continuing becomes embarrassing and agonizing. It should be noted that certain essentials are missing. Those include cellphone, transportation, cooking gas, clothing and medicine. Though unheard of in this modern technology age, the cellphone is discarded, meaning there is none. Things are taken further with the assumption that there is no need for clothing or medicine, as minimum wage earners are hardy folks, and strong as a horse. This still leaves transportation costs up in the air. There are very few pedal cycles around, so there is need for gasoline or public transportation. Two children and one adult, using public transportation (a total of $600 daily) calls for $12,000 monthly, given a five-day work and school week. If the minimum wage earner is living with parents or a housing inheritance, the rent bill foregone is almost absorbed by transportation.
We remind readers: this is neither scientific nor comprehensive, but it captures the plight of the Guyanese minimum wage worker at $44,000 per month. It cannot be anything less than painful, and piercingly so, month after month. This is hell. As we hear the calls for a minimum wage of $60,000 a month in the private sector, there are mixed feelings.
One side goes like this: sure, let it be, for it will provide needed relief and make a difference. Then, there is coming down to earth: it would be only a matter of time before the private sector raises prices to cover the additional outlays on wages for workers at the bottom. Still, we say, let it be. Give the people a raise; they need it, and it would be most welcomed.
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