The argument for a living wage – Kassandra Mallia

Growing up I was always taught that if I put my mind to it, work hard and don’t let myself get distracted I would have a good and happy life. My parents were a living example of that mentality as was the majority of my family. The ones I heard of that were not as well off would be written off as having failed in some way, that they did not put their mind to it, they did not work hard or let themselves get distracted. It seemed very intuitive and almost common sense to think this way. That was until I joined the workforce and got a first-hand experience.

Working a near minimum wage job myself for over two years I quickly discovered that all the hard work I had put into my education and the hard work I was putting into my job was only enough because I relied on the stability of my family. While working that job I was very immediately made aware of the circumstances of others who were earning the same but were not as lucky. In reality an unseen majority of those “unlucky” exist that the systems we have in place ignores. People earning just above the minimum wage are not capable of building a meaningful future as they once used to. Today it barely affords one the ability to exist.