After many debates, stalled promises and arguments that it could not be afforded, the minimum wage for the private sector was last week set to be raised to $60,000.The last increase of the minimum wage was in 2017, when it was raised to $44,200 from $$35,000. We are just a little over half of what the first sum was and this is not something that should be a cause for much celebration.
It is very apparent that there needed to be a raise in the minimum wage, and while some might welcome the sum that was set, we need to ask the question as to if it is a livable wage. It is important to note that the proposal to raise the minimum wage to $60,000 was first made in 2019, long before the presence of a global pandemic that has significantly changed the social and economic landscape of the world. Even in 2019, such a minimum wage would have been cutting it extremely close, but now the situation is even more dire.
The private sector has for the most part been, and continues to operate by their own rules when it comes to fair wages and fair treatment for their employees. The long drawn out process to get this minor increase is due largely to the amount of power they hold with the government. So as necessary as further increases are, it is highly unlikely that this will happen anytime soon. There should be a set standard though, that if your business cannot pay livable wages to your employees, then you probably should not be in business at all, because the result of that is that we have them boasting about creating job opportunities when the wages they pay are dismally low. There is often the statement that if one wants to earn more, they should simply get a better job. This callous view acknowledges the necessity of jobs such as cleaners, security and servers etc., but does not believe that they should be paid a living wage for these jobs. Ultimately, that’s what it comes down to, a living wage, and our minimum wage is not that.
We are living in times of heightened costs for food, rent, gas and other necessities, and there seems to be no end in sight for inflated prices. In countries such as the US, to which our own economic well-being is unfortunately intricately tied, inflation rates currently stand at 8.6% which is the highest that it has been since 1981, and it is estimated that it will soon peak at 9%. The people on the ground however do not need economic assessments and forecasts to tell them how hard things have been or how much more expensive living will soon become.
In December of last year, Red Thread Guyana did an article titled, “Oil, oil everywhere but not enough to eat: A holiday reality check.” In it, they detailed the costs of essential items and what the budgets of low wage persons looked like. It highlighted the case of a security guard who currently earns above the minimum wage $70,000, and their partner who earns a monthly stipend of $15,000 a month. Their monthly expenses amount to a minimum of $77,440 on food, utilities and rent. “This list does not include things like soap powder, toothpaste, there is no budget whatsoever for clothes.” This is the reality of many Guyanese and their challenges in the economy and $60,000 monthly, has for the longest time, not been a livable wage.
Those with the decision making power over minimum wages are persons who have not ever had to survive on the amounts that they dole out and hail as progressive. People are struggling to survive in an economy that is rapidly squeezing them out and it is unfortunate that more measures are not being put into place to support them more holistically.
