The minimum wage increased to $15.45 per hour in San Jose and even then, it’s not enough with the cost of living in the Bay Area. The cost is so high that $20 per hour should be the minimum wage.

Some people are worried that the cost of living will increase as the wage increases, but the cost of living was high and rising before the wage increase, making it hard for people to continue living in the area.

Especially being in a pandemic, many businesses have cut their employee hours, making it even harder for workers to make a living.

I have friends who say they’ve seen the difference in their earnings, but it’s not enough to live on their own like they would wish. They still have to split rent with roommates to have enough for monthly payments.

Some of my friends and family who live in Gilroy and Morgan Hill say they don’t mind driving to San Jose for the higher wages because many jobs in their area only pay $13-14 an hour.

My earnings have increased with the new minimum wage, and it’s a good feeling knowing I have extra money left over after I finish paying my bills. It even motivates me to work harder.

It’s great having an increase in minimum wage, but there’s still a lot of progress to be made. The cost of living is too high in the Bay Area to have a wage anything lower than $20 an hour.

An increase to $20 will motivate people to apply to even more places looking for workers and increase their work ethic.

With President Joe Biden already demanding that the national minimum wage be $15 an hour, an even bigger increase could be soon upon us.

Sources:

https://sf.curbed.com/2019/9/20/20876203/24-7-wall-street-san-francisco-most-expensive-cost-of-living-epi
https://sanjosespotlight.com/minimum-wage-in-san-jose-goes-up-splitting-business-and-economic-leaders/
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/091615/how-much-money-do-you-need-live-san-francisco.asp