Summer jobs are something instilled in the collective memory of most American high school and college students.   While still living at home with the parents, most kids try and gain some “work ethic” and “experience” while they plod through minimum wage to pay for some superfluous expenditure like a “must” needed cell phone or a have-to-have car that wasn’t made in the 80s.  Until the last election, minimum wage in Ohio was $5.15 an hour, which after taxes equals out to just enough for someone to drive to work and then drive home.   Minimum wage was raised to $6.85 an hour this past year and will rise again to $7.00 an hour as part of the progressive plan that was passed to accommodate for inflation. For a student who still leeches off their parents, this plan isn’t so bad for someone who just needs it to pay the minimum (and perhaps sometimes extraneous) expenses.

        Most of these low paying jobs that float around minimum wage happen to be in the service industry – from the most common example, fast food, to other more ubiquitous jobs, like in department stores or hotels.  As Eric Schlosser points out in his book Fast Food Nation, these jobs are looking to hire people who are low-skilled and low-experienced, that way if they lose a cog in the machine they are easily replaceable by another low-skilled and low-experienced employee because there was never any real specialized training.  These transient jobs perhaps only benefit those who are looking for an expendable income, not those who need to support a family and must take a service industry job because it’s the only job in the area.

        This could be part of the reason that Athens County was declared the poorest county in Ohio once again in 2007.  Nestled at the foothills of the Appalachians, Athens County is home to Ohio University (not to be confused with Ohio State University).  Southeastern Ohio used to be home to an industry that relied mostly off of harvesting of the natural resources such as salt and coal mining. However, as the years have gone by, the largest employer in Athens County now is Ohio University, and next after that, Wal-Mart.  As a small rural town, most of the jobs in Athens revolve around catering to the ebb and flow of college students – providing sustenance to the college kids and then cleaning up after them.

        It’s quite the interesting juxtaposition: the college kid working for the dining services to make a little extra money to blow at the bars, and the middle aged mother working for the dining services to support a family.

        Like many of the states in the rust belt, the economy of Ohio is deteriorating and does not offer many incentives for new business growth.  The recent foreclosure crisis has also been particularly debilitating to Ohio.

        What are the solutions?

        The raise in minimum wage is a help to those lower income families, yes, but a minimum wage does not signify a living wage, that is, above the poverty line.

        Bush just announced a stimulus package to help boost the economy, which would give $600-$1200 in rebates to working households.   To a family that lives paycheck to paycheck, can it really absolve any debt?  Some speculate that it won’t necessarily benefit the common consumer (notice how consumer and citizen have become interchangeable) but is rather an effort to satiate the bloated credit companies to whom many are in debt.

        However, extra money is always a benefit.  It’s money. Generally, people spend money, to, you know, buy things.  The plan is not by any means meant as a panacea the country’s problems but rather, hence the title of “stimulus” package”, a boost. Money is pretty good, but having a job that gives a constant influx of the stuff would help out more Americans in the long run.  Only time will tell if this will be an uplifting note to the dénouement that is Bush’s presidency.   I never took a class in economics, however, George W. Bush did:

        So is he saying that he makes decisions affecting something he does not fully understand?  Well, a B is considered above average.  Either way, he is The Decider after all. Don’t call it a recession, but by the time March comes around, the remaining Presidential Hopefuls will definitely have to offer some Ohioans, along with most of the buckling Midwest, some solutions for economic relief, not just lofty pedantry about party ideals peppered with anti/pro-Ronald Reagan references.  A strong economy comes from a strong job market and job growth – something that the Midwest has been slowly becoming unacquainted with.