So as of yesterday, January 1st, 2020, the start of the new year, the minimum wage in the state of Maine has risen.

Now, if you live outside of Portland, this is a pretty good thing (because the rent is too high in the city.)

Why do you ask? The answer is because even making just one more dollar per hour can be excellent padding to your monthly budget.

When I got my first job as a teenager in Connecticut, the minimum wage was 6.50 per hour, and you could not tell me I wasn't 'ballin', yet I could not afford to buy/insure a vehicle or live in my own house for that matter.

Just a few years later, here we are at 12 dollars per hour, and the main argument for the raising of the wage was "people can not live on that amount of money," which is correct; nonetheless, most items will go up in price to match the increase.

Gas, utilities, rent, the cost of food are just some examples.

These trends lead to a valid question that we, in the working poor and middle class, should be asking. Is raising the wage in a market that will correct itself to match just lip service to make people think society is progressing?

I do not have the answer; I'm no economist, just a concerned citizen trying to get ahead.

What do you think about the salary increase?

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