Commentary: Minimum wage and Earned Income Credit go hand in hand

This commentary is in response to Monday’s column by Barry Rascovar, “Do-gooders know best about wages

By Benjamin Orr,

Executive Director, Maryland Center on Economic Policy

earned-icome-tax-credit-logo

Maryland has its own version of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit.

There are ads running on TV that make their point by humorously showing why a couple would rather stay at a bed and breakfast than a bed or breakfast, and why it’s better to build a swimming pool with nuts and bolts instead of nuts or bolts.

What’s not so funny is that some in our state — such as Barry Rascovar — propose we could help Marylanders climb the economic ladder by raising the minimum wage or the Earned Income Credit when it really takes raising both.

Maryland’s Earned Income Credit (EIC) and minimum wage work best in combination to reduce poverty and income inequality, bolster the middle class, and help our local economies. Increasing both would put our state on a better path to economic prosperity and opportunity for all.

Twin pillars that make economy work

Making change coins Photo by deltaMike on Flickr

Photo by deltaMike on Flickr

The EIC and minimum wage are the twin pillars that together make our economy work even for those with low-income jobs. The EIC is a tax credit that helps make up for the fact that low-income households pay a greater share of their income in state and local taxes than do the wealthiest. Only low-paid working people receive it.

The minimum wage is just what the name says – the absolute lowest amount someone can be paid to work. And since reaching its peak in 1968, the federal minimum’s buying power has steadily declined.

The EIC and minimum wage complement each other, with one reaching workers that the other cannot. For example, the minimum wage helps the lowest-earning workers regardless of whether they have children, while the EIC gives help mostly to families with children in the low and moderate income range.

I should note in passing that some argue a minimum wage increase will primarily help teenagers.  But research shows that half of minimum wage workers are over 25, and on average, they bring home half their family’s income.

Where these groups overlap, the minimum wage and EIC still complement one another.  For example, a boost in the minimum wage increases the size of the tax credit for families with very low earnings. This helps them afford more basic necessities.

Benefits timed differently

In addition to reaching a broader population together, the benefits of the minimum wage and EIC are complimentary because they are timed differently. Minimum wage increases are distributed with every paycheck, helping low-wage workers pay monthly bills. Earned Income Credits are distributed annually, often providing families with small but significant tax refunds large enough to pay off a debt or make delayed purchases, such as car repairs.

Finally, the combination of the minimum wage and Earned Income Credit allows the public and private sector to share the cost of compensating low-wage workers adequately. Increasing one while eliminating the other would significantly burden the finances of either business or government, but a gradual increase over several years to both policies will ensure that neither shoulders too much of the cost.

In today’s economy, where all too much job growth is concentrated in the low-wage sector and the middle class is eroding, we must use all of the tools available to us to support our working families. Gradually increasing Maryland’s Earned Income Credit and the minimum wage helps protect the middle class by ensuring that more workers are fairly compensated, that they have a shot of getting into the middle class, and that the cost of helping them is equally shared.

About The Author

Len Lazarick

len@marylandreporter.com

Len Lazarick was the founding editor and publisher of MarylandReporter.com and is currently the president of its nonprofit corporation and chairman of its board He was formerly the State House bureau chief of the daily Baltimore Examiner from its start in April 2006 to its demise in February 2009. He was a copy editor on the national desk of the Washington Post for eight years before that, and has spent decades covering Maryland politics and government.

3 Comments

  1. Bush'man

    The reason the middle class is eroding , as well as our America culture at large, is even more basic than the the social engineering being discussed in these articles. Education or rather the lack thereof is the root of failure. Read the receipt (above) and count the change. That says it all!

  2. Jake Mohorovic

    When you read about the millions in tax credits for developers, raising the minimum wage which puts more money in individuals take home pay coupled with the Earned Income Credit which provides an annual tax refund is the correct direction to build a strong economy for all Marylanders. Jake Mohorovic

  3. R Ferraro

    Thanks for this excellent response. Both policies are needed and the burden of tackling this issue should fall on both government and businesses. How anyone can oppose an increase in our pitiful minimum wage is astounding to me. Even the proposed increase falls far short of a “living wage” in Maryland. Greed is killing our economy and businesses that cater to the middle class and the poor are already feeling the effects. Even in retail grocery, where I work, we can see the results of growing inequality on our bottom line.