Inflation, inflation...

That’s all people ever say when they try to explain why the cost of everything keeps going up, but this answer never satisfies me. The national minimum wage is $7.25 per hour and Washington's is currently $15.74. It is set to rise in 2024. Surely there is a better way to make it so that humans living in any given country can afford to eat, put a roof over their heads, and pay for utilities and still have enough from their paychecks left to save up for a rainy day. Surely in 2023, someone has discovered a way that makes being alive a lot easier. Aren’t we supposed to have evolved minds by now? (Do we need to go back to bartering? HA!) This tragic experiment we call “adulting” is not all it’s cracked up to be, especially in Washington state, one of the most expensive places to live in the United States.

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The Soaring Cost of Living in Washington State Is Getting Unbearable

Here are three examples of how greed has impacted our ability to afford simple items in Washington state.

• We have the second highest gas prices in the country.

• Fast food prices have jumped up over 45% in less than 10 years.

• The cost of rent for a basic apartment or house has doubled and in some cases, tripled in price.

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Washington State Minimum Wage Set to Go Up to $16.28 in 2024

Here comes the calls for wage push inflation! Here comes the calls for cost push inflation! Just when minimum wage workers gathered a small smile around their lips when they saw that minimum wage rises 50 cents to $16.28 in a few months, we also get the news that healthcare premiums in Washington state have been approved to leap from 8% up to 17% in prices for 2024.

In simple terms, in Washington, there will be a 3% raise in hourly wages, yet we have to pay up to 17% MORE to stop being sick and/or die? That’s simply preposterous!

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WHY WE DO NEED A MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE IN AMERICA

The intent of a national and state minimum wage increase is to get more people out of poverty. It encourages employers to give their workers higher salaries. The inevitable greedy downside, however, is that as soon as the minimum wage goes up in Washington state (or anywhere else in the country for that matter), so does the cost of everything else. So that pay raise you recently got dwindles bit by bit every year. (Yet the rich keep getting richer every year, make that make sense.) It’s like those of us who are barely scraping by are being punished for existing.

I’m so over it. Somebody let me know when they figure it out. 😂

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