As the fight to raise the minimum wage gains momentum in Illinois, the Chicago Sun-Times is attempting to personalize the issue with Faces of Minimum Wage, a new series featuring low-wage workers and small business owners directly impacted by the minimum wage.

The paper published its second article in the series Sept. 19, highlighting successful Chicago restaurant owner Josh Rutherford. Rutherford began his career washing dishes at a Chili’s Bar and Grill at minimum wage and slowly worked his way up. He argued that raising the minimum wage would only create a new mindset in which workers still look at the minimum as too low and will continuously demand increased pay.

Many low-wage business owners and economists share Rutherford’s opinion, expressing concerns that increasing the minimum wage would raise overhead costs and place financial burdens on businesses that would have to increase their employees’ wages. However, the current minimum wage, $8.25 an hour in Illinois, chains the workers to a life of poverty, an unjust lifestyle for those who must rely on service sector jobs for various reasons.

This is particularly true for college age students that make up the majority of minimum wage workers. According to a Sept. 8 Pew Research Center report, more than 50 percent of minimum wage jobs employ people ages 16–24. Recent studies have also found that even after commencement, graduates continue to rely on minimum wage jobs because of the poor economic conditions. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2012 figures, the number of college graduates working minimum wage jobs increased by almost 71 percent over a decade ago.

Taking into account the weakened job market and the increased reliance on minimum wage jobs, officials and employers should strongly reconsider their stance against the minimum wage.

To decrease poverty and provide adequate care for residents, Illinois should raise its minimum wage to $10 an hour. Incumbent Gov. Pat Quinn has publicly announced support for raising the minimum wage from $8.25 to $10 an hour, signing a law that places a nonbinding referendum on the Nov. 4 ballot asking Illinois voters if they support raising the wage, according to a Sept. 3 press release from Quinn’s office. If the law were to pass, full-time minimum wage workers would earn $3,360 more each year before taxes.

For those who rely on minimum wage jobs, skirting the poverty line is the norm. Full-time minimum wage workers earn $17,000 annually in Illinois, which is below the federal poverty line of $19,790 for a family of three. Although these individuals are employed, they are cheated out of living a stable life.

Living in a society in which full-time workers cannot live above the poverty line because they have a minimum wage job is immoral and only serves to deepen the yawning income gap.