Increase the Minimum Wage
While many economic experts agree that a $15 minimum wage is a bit unreasonable, hiking the minimum wage up to about $10 can lift many families out of poverty. According to a report from the restaurant workers’ group ROC United, “Three and a half million people of color would be lifted out of poverty if Congress raised the minimum wage to $10.10.” Studies show that Black people are more likely to work minimum-wage jobs due to other racial disparities in the labor market. Giving them the chance to make a reasonable income at these jobs is the least the American government can do when it’s their own discriminatory practices that forced so many of these workers into that position in the first place.
Providing More Funding for Black-Owned Businesses
Being a successful business owner has led many people to financial greatness, but all too often Black people are left struggling to fund entrepreneurial efforts because there is a lack of funding for their startups and businesses. “That same lack of access to capital and credit that made home ownership such a shaky prospect weighs down small business ownership among blacks and Latinos, too,” NPR noted of the racial disparities. A study from the Small Business Administration revealed that without any additional source of funding, many Black business owners are forced to use “personal wealth instead of credit to fund those businesses.” This can easily result in a financial disaster simply because discriminatory practices made it so much harder for them to get funding or approved for credit.
