For The Community Action New Narrative Initiative
December 2008
Residents of nine states – Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri,
Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont and Washington – will see a boost to the
economy from a state minimum wage increase taking effect in the new
year.
Yet, media coverage of the change varies across place and can
contribute to an unfortunate framing of the increase as a charitable
effort to support the poor.
For example, an article in the Cincinnati Enquirer begins with the suggestion that the increase benefits only the workers getting the increase:
“Local minimum wage workers will have something to celebrate with the coming of a new year.”
The reporters continue with this narrow frame by noting that certain
employers and the state’s 300,000 minimum wage workers will be the only
ones to feel the impact of the change.
The online comments
regarding the article illustrate the debate that inevitably flows from
this framing. When the benefit is to a small group of employees and the
impact on certain employers, the debate is over the worthiness of the
workers for an increase and the us-vs.-them over who benefits and who
suffers.
For example, one commenter shares an out-of-date (but widely held)
perspective on the ability of workers to climb the wage ladder.
“You’re not supposed to survive on minimum wage as an
adult, because it’s supposed to be the starting point not what you make
an hour when you have chosen to add more mouths to feed. Secondly, if
you start at minimum wage, within a very short period of time you will
get raises. now the conditions are: you have to show up on time, do a
good job, and make yourself a valuable employee. Wow, big surprise,
then you continue up the ladder.”
Another commenter illustrates how the charitable framing leads to the
us-vs.-them debate that undermines public support for improving jobs
“all this does is hurt the middle class. Push up the wages
off teenagers and young college students, which force up prices in
storesfor the average middle class america….stupid stupid stupid.”
A better framing would portray the increase as one that strengthens the
local ecnomy by ensuring that there are better jobs in the community –
a benefit that accrues to everyone.