The minimum wage is one of the problems that has hit the middle class and the low income of the United States with irreparable damage. The first problem these families face is the lack of income to provide basic living facilities that include housing, spending, and other human needs such as health insurance, and so on. The second problem for these low-income families is the non-payment of the cost of continuing education for themselves or their children because they can only spend on food and feed their families and there is no way to save money for family development and continuing education. So the future of these families is unknown. The third problem that these families have in average is that if they lose their jobs, because of their
To begin, there is an extensive debate over whether if the U.S were to raise minimum wage, could it really help the working poor of low income families. Nancy Cook, in her article from the National Journal, “Why a Minimum-Wage Hike Can’t Help the Poor”, she points out that two thirds of around 100 surveys from 2007 had a negative effect and that it does more for the middle class than the lower one. (p.14). So, therefore, from her
There are a lot of people around the world who struggle with money and a satisfactory way of life. Whether they be in the United States or across the globe, there is a standard minimum wage set for the working class of their country. In the Unites States, there is a federal minimum wage of seven dollars and twenty five cents per hour worked. Almost every state has another set minimum wage, which typically is a little higher than the federal minimum wage, but it cannot be lower than seven dollars and twenty five cents. Countries set minimum wage laws, to ensure there is a basic quality of life amongst its citizens. As the minimum wage goes up in certain states, the quality of life also improves. The problem with a higher minimum wage, is now people are getting paid higher for entry level jobs which are meant for teenagers and people new to the workforce. If the minimum wage keeps increasing across the country, teenagers and young adults will have a much more difficult time finding jobs.
Ira Knight, who is an author of article “Let’s Make the Minimum Wage a Living Wage”, expresses an opinion that increasing the minimum wage would help all struggling workers and at the same time improve U.S economy. On the other side, Janice Steele in her article “Keep the Minimum Wage Where It Is” argues that raising the minimum wage would have bad effects on workers, consumers and small businesses. Ira Knight’s article seems to be the stronger of the two positions because her arguments are based on several recent studies, and last but not least, she had a personal experience with the minimum wage job.
Also depending on where you live and how fast you grow, you will need to buy a variation of clothes for the winter and summer. With a family of four, it is almost incapable of happening. An average article of clothing cost anywhere between $15-30 for one piece. That is more than 2 hours of work. Imagine that, plus only getting an average of $290 a week. That will not last very long, which is very irritating to some people because they don’t want to let their family down, but raising minimum wage will help that tremendously. Another example that could take place is in an emergency like needing to stay late for work, and needing someone to babysit your kids. Many people cannot afford to do that with such little pay and have no choice but to leave work on time. With that happening and many not staying, that could cause them to lose their job, resulting in more poverty. To continue, minimum wage was created to stimulate the economy in 1938 (Sonn, Temple 1). Once minimum wage became a policy in the United States, it was successful in stimulating the economy when it was created because the federal minimum (if adjusted for inflation) was higher than today. Over the past 40 years, the power of minimum wage has fallen sharply. Minimum wage now, is about ⅔ percent of its previous power. The annual salary of a full-time American worker employed at $7.25 per hour is $15,080, which is less
The current minimum wage is $7.25, which equals two gallons of milk, one fast food meal or two gallons of gas. Can you imagine yourself working 12-hours a day and only having enough money to pay for rent and put food on the table for your family? With working all those long hours, you can barely afford to pay your utility bills and after that you don’t have enough money or time for luxuries like clothing or vacation. You have no savings as matter of fact, you are in a huge debt and you are living paycheck to paycheck. This is the story of millions of American worker, who are employed on minimum wage. The shocking part about this story is that million of Americans would be saved from this poverty life, if the American government raises the minimum wage. This would not only help the workers, but also the economy because raising the minimum wage would put extra money in the pocket of minimum wage worker and extra spending would help restore consumer spending.
Six years after the end of the 2008 recession, the pay for American workers remains at the same rate as when the recession began. Low wage jobs have dominated the job growth associated with the post-recession recovery. The federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour remains decades out of date. “The federal minimum wage has lost more than 30% of its value and would be more than $10.59 per hour today if it had kept pace with the cost of living over the past forty years”. (“Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013, 2013).
WOW! The world’s economy has been down for so long that many people have lost their jobs, and became homeless. Which led the United States economy to drop making poverty rate numbers increase drastically since 1938. Many people strive to make a living for their families but it’s very hard to do so if they have no financial income coming in to provide for their families. Which for many families has to be the most devastating thing ever knowing that you can’t provide enough money for your family to survive the proper way. Which is why many people all across the United States believe that minimum wage should be raised. Furthermore, minimum
Many struggle to support their family, pay bills, and buy food on $15000 a year. Minimum wage has been causing a lot of controversy for years now, but nobody does anything to fix the problem. The main reason minimum wage is not being fixed is the rich business owner will have to spend more.People say that minimum wage jobs are easy and pay too much, but they are actually very underpaid and hard for many. One person can survive fine on $15000 a year but three or four can’t. This is one of two reasons why minimum wage should be
This report is an economic overview of the United States minimum wage. It’s presented in three perspectives on how consumers, corporations and the community are affected by new minimum wage laws. The purpose of this report is to provide imperative information that examines how an increase in minimum wage attributes to multiple effects. This report will also explain the advantages and disadvantages that many people face when the government intervenes to pass a new minimum wage law in the United States. This report focuses on the state of California and it emphasises on the city of San Jose. This report incorporates how the city of San Jose was affected by Measure D. a new minimum wage that was imposed in the beginning of the
This article is about how this summer all of New York all of fast-Food Employees wages went up. Now, fast-food worker will be receiving the minimum wage of 15 dollars an hour. However, this does not mean other jobs will also be getting an increase of minimum wage. This particular article focuses on Ms. Cornick. She works at a Wendy’s while her daughter works at a daycare center near by. Ms. Cornick’s daughter will still receive the same 8.75 dollars an hour.
In Prince William County, Virginia, the minimum wage is at the federal level of $7.25. An estimated living wage for a family of four in this county is $27.45. This leaves a gap of $20.20 dollars in which the family needs to comfortably live. This tremendous gap occurs in cities all over America. In 2013, more than 3.3 million Americans worked either at or under the federal minimum wage which is $7.25.Though some states have decided to raise the minimum wage to a higher pay rate, others have decided to stay at the federal level. Kimbra Mccarthy wrote “ Raising the Minimum Wage” which stated, “At the start of 2016, 30 states and numerous local governments have enacted a higher minimum wage than the federal rate.” (Mccarthy 19) . An example of
A sensitive topic for many Americans is their income. Many people’s income relies on minimum wage. In 2012, 3.6 million people received an hourly pay at or below the national minimum wage. There is an ongoing debate in Congress as to what the national minimum wage should be. Currently at $7.25, Obama has suggested raising the national minimum wage to $9.00. Depending on a person’s economic perspective, raising minimum wage could be positive or negative. Minimum wage has the ability to change lives. Small businesses and unemployment, teenage demographics, and the cost of civilian goods would be most affected.
Minimum wage is defined as the lowest possible income that an employer can legally pay an employee. These provisions are contained in the Fair Labor Standards Act. The purpose of minimum wage is to ensure that all workers are fairly paid and not exploited by companies or businesses. However this is not always the case instead this policy ends up hurting low-end workers and the economy in terms of lower job opportunities. Sustainability, in this case, is defined as the ability to maintain a certain amount of physical property. Considering this definition of sustainability, minimum wage is not a feasible salary to survive with a basic quality of life. Standard minimum wage presently is a base pay of $7.25 an hour. The current amount of minimum wage fails to keep pace with inflation and the rising cost of living (Biegler, 2014). Living standards in the United States have risen over time just as overall consumption levels have increased. The outdated measurement of poverty underestimates the amount of income families need to sustain a comfortable living. The original poverty thresholds were set in the early 1960s. Since then, there have been significant changes in family spending patterns that the poverty threshold fails to capture. For example, families are demanding and paying for more health care and child care because of changes in health insurance coverage, rising health care costs, and women’s increased labor force participation (Chasanov, 2004).This only means that
As long as any United States worker can remember, the minimum wage has been a widespread controversial and highly debated topic. Minimum wage is an hourly wage rate that is set by laws used to control the unfair and immoral use of sweatshops and other manufacturing firms (“Minimum Wage”). Minimum wage is both the boundary and limit that helps ensure employees being paid minimum wage are capable of paying for the bare and basic necessities, being that its main function is used for reducing the poverty. However, more jobs are keeping people in poverty instead of out of poverty ( Sklar “Raising the Minimum Wage”), which is, therefore, ineffective in reducing poverty, infringing on the American self-concept
Low wages affect single mothers and children since prices for everything is too high. “ Many low-wage job conditions of parents poorly affect kids”(Tompkins). The children with parents who do not make a higher percentage outcome usually don’t do as well like their peers in terms of health and education only because they are poorer. Children experience less healthy lives and are most likely to drop out of high school. (Jaqueline) Children see that their parents are struggling to make ends meet but instead of keep going to school, they drop out to put less stress on their parents. Without the minimum wage increase this is going to keep happening with more and more families. Low wages make child care unaffordable, and research shows that low wages