Minimum Wage Rage
Article: Ben Kim, Austin Jung, Haanbi Kim, Philip Kim
Editor: Brian Kang
Designer: Sarah Cho
Editor: Brian Kang
Designer: Sarah Cho
A common problem has arisen in many countries: the minimum wage rage. Convenience store workers face constant dilemma due to the lack of money they earn. These workers make such little money that their salary seems as if there is no difference from making no money at all. This has become a common problem around the world, in the United States and also in South Korea. The new minimum wage has increased to 5,580 won from 5,210 won from 2014, 7% increase, but there are still disputes about this. Protests have taken place about this problem, but the Korean government responded with very few changes to this problem.
With the law’s current minimum wage, workers are still being paid too little. According to the Hankyoreh, it takes more than 22 years to afford an apartment in Seoul with the price of Korea's minimum wage. Assuming that these workers worked 209 hours per month, they will be able to afford for an average long-term deposit apartment in Seoul for 313.48 million won. More than 2 million workers earn less than the minimum wage, showing how little these workers are earning. Minimum wage does not match reality is because it does not adequately reflect the economic growth rate, inflation, and improvement in income distribution. Instead, it is the result of gradual adjustments made by labor and management, while the government passively stands by. |
The larger conflict that workers face is that most of them do not earn up to the expected minimum wage. Kim Yu-Seon, senior researcher at the Korea Labour and Society Institute said, “About one out of eight workers are not even receiving the legal minimum wage. This means that the minimum wage system is not fulfilling its original purpose of resolving low income and the income gap, as well as improving the distribution of wealth. The problem is that the government is not carrying out its responsibility of overseeing labor.”
The Korean government needs to take into consideration how the country’s minimum wage is too little for these workers who need the money to fulfill a happy life. They also need to ensure that these workers are receiving over the minimum wage, not less. Minimum wage earners deserve more than the minimum. |