Wage increase: a bandaid solution?

It’s about time the Government pulled their socks up and topped up the pockets of the minimum wage worker.

The number of people I have met who have had to move back home or defer from uni because they could not afford to support themselves continues to grow.
We all know the price of living is going up – we only need to look at our grocery bills to see that. We also need to acknowledge that the price of petrol and owning a car is becoming astronomical.

And what about students living out of home? Trying to juggle full-time uni classes with work commitments – work commitments that need to be substantial enough to afford rent (the rates of which are on the rise), food, electricity and the other plethora of bills that come with supporting yourself. It really is becoming ridiculous. It almost seems like an extra $26.66 is only a bandaid solution for a rates issue that, from what statistics show, is only going to continue to skyrocket.

I personally am fortunate to be living at home - even though I am not on the minimum wage, I still can barely afford to cover my life expenses. With an unfortunate combination of uni classes resulting in quite an unreliable schedule, I am only able to work two shifts at my job this semester which leaves me with $200 per week. Deduct from that a $50 tank of petrol plus mobile phone expenses, public transportation to work, food and living – it doesn’t go very far.

So Government, thank you. But what plans or strategies do you have in place to combat future rises in the price of living? Some retailers are already feeling the effect this has when applying the wage increase to a full staff list. Yes it is easy for us to look individually at our back pockets with a smile, but these increases affect the employer too. So it seems this $26.66 is only a temporary solution for the minimum wage worker and a current problem for the employer.

By Tys van der Drift