Controversy Of Raising The Minimum Wage

If the minimum wage was raised, I believe it would encourage businesses to be more creative on how to effectively utilize their staff and would push them to raise the bar in terms of employee training and business process. Perhaps businesses could be regulated in a way that those who have a higher net worth would be required to offer higher wages while younger or struggling businesses would have a lower wage expectations. That way we know that businesses who can afford it are paying it, but those who can’t aren’t being forces to close doors either.

Right now,according to Victoria Smith,over 40 million people are living in poverty. This could be changed if they were able to get enough money from their jobs, but the minimum wage isn’t high enough right now. Even if only by a little, if minimum wage were raised, the amount of people living in poverty could be reduced by at least 5 million according to Mike Konczal . Originally, the minimum wage was at only .25 cents an hour. Due to causes such as inflation, this wage has been raised to meet the current standard. Although interest in raising the wage has gone away until recently. Minimum wage should be increased because it would increase job growth and economic activity,it would reduce government spending on welfare, and reduce poverty.

When there are millions of Americans living at or below poverty lines, something has to be done. Billion dollar companies and businesses that employ workers, paying them low wages is hurting the economy. The reality is, unless the minimum wage is raised, the cycle will only continue. With higher minimum wages in place, the entire country does better and, therefore, should be raised. There needs to be laws put place to raise the minimum wage. Doing so would boost the economy with all of the money that Americans would put into it. With higher minimum wages, millions of Americans can get out of poverty, not having to rely on the government for assistance such as food stamps, public housing, child care, and health care needs. They can afford better housing options in which they want to live. Communities would see less crimes in neighborhoods creating a safer environment. Aside from that, Americans can afford a good education, health care, as well as healthier eating and exercising habits.

Raise the minimum wage: In the United States, studies show that women tend to make up a disproportionate share of low-wage workers. In the field of education, men tends to go more to STEM than women and that also leads to high paying jobs for men. If we raise the minimum wage, this will help hardworking women to support their families. Approximately, women made up two-thirds of all minimum-wage workers in 2012. With the current federal minimum wage i.e. $7.25 per hour, someone working full time, only earn $15,080 a year round. People working full time with minimum wage is still below the poverty threshold for any family with children and single person is also not far above the poverty line. So, increasing the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour would help increase the wages for about 15 million women, which will help close the gender wage gap.

Raising the minimum wage is a very important public policy issue. Raising the minimum wage is a responsible policy that is supported by research and demanded by the American public. Each day, minimum wage workers across the country struggle to make ends meet and provide a decent life for their kids (Scott & Perez, 2016). Raising the minimum wage is a controversial issue, many believe that raising the minimum wage would only provide low wage workers more money to spend. However, the benefits can be endless for low wage workers. If minimum wage is increased across the United States it would afford the people effected more opportunities for financial freedom. Increasing the minimum wage would raise the standard of living for low wage workers, allow families to be removed from poverty, allow for government welfare spending to be reduced and lastly additional income being spent would positively affect the economy.

Life is a struggle and finding a job and paying your bills is not always easy in this world today. A major debate that has been an issue is whether there should be a law to raise the minimum wage. The minimum wage is the lowest hourly salary an employer can pay an employee for their work. According to Williams (2013), “The minimum wage was signed into law by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1938”. The first minimum wage was 25 cents per hour. Since then, the minimum wage has been increasing as the last increase of Florida's minimum wage was an increase of 14 cents on Jan. 1, 2014. This federal increase makes it 68 cents higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25. Gibson (2014) states “Obama, who last year called for an increase in the

Raising minimum wage has been an ongoing issue for many years. Similar to every debatable issue, pros and cons are inevitable. In the United States, minimum wage started when the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) was passed and minimum wage started at 25 cents per hour. The purpose of setting a minimum wage is to set a maximum workweek and to eliminate child labor. It is defined to be the least amount of money employers are obligated to pay their employees by law. As the years passed, the minimum wage began to increase to accommodate the growing economy. Although the wage has increased from a mere 25 cents per hour to $7.25 over the course of 75 years, living expenses are much higher causing many people to be poverty stricken (Debate.org). President Obama proposes raising the minimum wage, so that it would help minimize the income gap in America. However, most business organizations and the Republicans oppose to the idea, saying that it could potentially lead to more economic problems. While both sides have valid points, which one provides a more compelling argument? In the United States, the minimum wage should be raised in every state; therefore workers can have a more comfortable standard of living, lower the poverty line, and minimize the income gap.

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 minimum wage debate brings about a range of reactions from different people. There are those who believe that there shouldn’t even be a minimum wage and that wages should be determined by the markets. On the other hand, we have those who vigorously argue for increasing the wage minimum citing inflation, the poverty line and worker productivity. Regardless, we do have a federal minimum wage rate in the United States at $7.25 per hour, with some states having a higher minimum wage than the federal minimum. President Obama, in his first state of the union address of his second term proposed “Tonight, let’s declare that, in the wealthiest nation on Earth, no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty, and raise the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour” (The White House 2013). A year later, he has revised that number to $10.10 per hour after signing an executive order that has already raised the minimum wage for federal workers to that number. (The White House 2014). With more and more states raising their own minimum wage, a minimum wage increase seems almost imminent with Democrats and Republicans getting closer to a deal. (Bolton 2014). But we are more interested in the efficiency of a minimum wage implemented at the federal level. The main question that surrounds this debate is whether this price floor in labor markets is efficient given that the stated goal of the minimum wage is to make sure full-time workers earn a living wage and are above the poverty line.

This has been a discussion for the ages. The debate over raising the minimum wage has been a hot topic. Raising minimum wage would reduce poverty, be better for lower paid workers, and to reduce expense for social programs.

economy will see extra spending as a result of the higher minimum wage. Raising the living

It seems only logical that providing the poorest segment of society with more pay for their work will improve their situation and give them the working capital they need to work their way out of poverty. With each incremental increase those who are directly affected by the increase will instantly have more money to help them purchase more good and services to improve their living conditions. Additionally increasing the minimum wage would likely have a positive effect on the overall economy as workers immediately increase their consumption possibly increasing GDP and the resulting employment

There’s a very simple solution to a increasing poverty level, a raise in the federal minimum wage. People who live at or below poverty level did not have the opportunity to develop job skills, build an education, or invest in financial assets. The little opportunity given to the low poverty populate is due to the absence of a low income, and how many of them could only afford a minimum wage job. If an increase of minimum wage was given, many low income workers could develop skills, that could help them progress in their career. Once these workers succeed in their career, one could hope that they will go on a earn a education, or build their financial assets. These financial assets include loans, savings accounts, and the purchasing of houses or other expensive items. An investment of these financial assets will led to an overall boost in the surrounding economy and crime rates in the area. A federal wage increase has many benefits compared to cons, these benefits include: helping the life of low income workers, who make up most of America, and the overall boost of the economy and the area surrounding it.

Raising minimum wage would help lift many Americans out of poverty. Minimum wage now is 7.25 in Alabama right now, a worker that does forty hours a week comes to around $290 a week. Add the four week in a month and that’s around $1160. Most of this goes to rent because buying a house is out of the question, some goes to utilities, food, and clothes, and if a person get lucky maybe than can afford to get basic cable at the end of the month. Now tell

With raising the federal minimum wage, the government could also put new laws in place that expand the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and decrease health insurance premiums for the lower and middle class. The government could also create training programs for minimum wage workers, allow them to take two to four years of community college classes for free, or reduce taxes on the lower and middle class. Increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit would help the working lower class earn slightly higher than a “living wage” while not damaging our economy and causing inflation. The middle to upper class would most likely have to pay slightly more in taxes, but it would balance out when they no longer have to pay taxes for the lower class to receive government assistance. Currently, a huge