DomeLight by Jim Zachary 

It is long past time for the state of Georgia to adopt a reasonable minimum wage. 

The federal $7.25 per hour minimum wage is not a living wage. 

While congressional Democrats posture about an increase to $15, there is no reason to believe U.S. lawmakers are any where close to finding enough votes to pass their ambitious agenda.  

While it is easy to blame enhanced unemployment checks for labor force shortages, the problem is far more complicated and nuanced than an extra $300 per week. 

When workers are not making enough money to pay for child care, transportation and housing, what are they supposed to do? 

Pay disparities also disproportionately affect communities of color but it is naive to think low wages do not have a significant trickle up drain on the entire economy. Worker shortages, especially in the restaurant and hospitality sectors, have merely illuminated a longstanding problem. It is just that now it has impacted communities which have not previously, personally, been affected by the minimum wage.

When the minimum wage is not a living wage, workers have to make very difficult decisions, but that does not mean people are shiftless, lazy or simply want to be on the public dole. 

The problem is clearly seen in the child care industry. 

Last year, even prior to the pandemic and economic shutdown, the average pay for a child care worker in our state was about $19,822 a year or $9.53 an hour, according to the National Association for Education of Young Children. 

Consequently, child care centers have long faced a vicious cycle of losing staff to higher paying jobs and some of the facilities shuttered during the pandemic. As a result many working mothers were forced to leave their jobs. It is all a vicious cycle. 

An across-the-board $15 an hour minimum wage may not be the answer. 

There are some pockets of the nation where even $15 an hour would not be sufficient. 

There are, of course, many places where something less than $15 per hour would make a significant difference. For example, going from $7.25 to $12 would make an appreciable difference in the lives of workers throughout the South. 

Georgia lawmakers — both conservative and progressive — should care about this issue deeply. It directly affects the people in their districts. Republicans must not allow the Democrats to be the party of the living wage. 

Who knows if or when federal lawmakers, mired in gridlock, will even take up the minimum wage. 

More than 25 states across the nation have a minimum wage above the federal $7.25 and our General Assembly must follow suit and get this done for the people of Georgia. 

It is not the progressive or conservative thing to do. It is the right thing to do. 

Jim Zachary is CNHI’s director of newsroom training and development, editor of The Valdosta Daily Times and president emeritus of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation.