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 …show more content…
“No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country.” (1933, Statement on National Industrial Recovery Act) Minimum wage was originally intended to support a family and be a wage to comfortably live off of; it was meant to be a starting place for people with little to no skills and to give employees the fair compensation they deserve for working overtime. If the government were to raise the minimum wage to fifteen dollars an hour, it would help the lower class long term; many people will no longer need government assistance to afford necessities allowing the minimum wage workers in America to no longer worry about finding their next meal. Businesses will also benefit because minimum wage workers will finally have a disposable income, there will be a lower turnover rate, and employees will be happier. Bottom line, minimum wage needs to be raised. 80% of Americans already support raising the minimum wage (Daniel, Kim M.); so what is the government waiting
Raising minimum wage has been a debate for quite some time now. President Roosevelt started minimum wage in 1938. When minimum wage was first set, Roosevelt had set minimum wage at $0.25 an hour. Since then, minimum wages had gradually increased to $7.25 an hour and has not been risen since July 2009. According to an article on ProCon.org, “congress has increased federal minimum wage 22 times.” When making such a decision, pros and cons should be weighed. People should also remember that minimum wage may be different from state to state. For Example, Michigan is where I’m from and minimum wage has increased to $8.90, as of January 1, 2017. Other examples include; California at $10.50, Arizona at $10.00, and Massachusetts at $11.00. Because everyone has different feelings about whether to raise minimum wage, weighing the Pros and Cons is very important for congress in making the right decision. For the citizens of the United States and for their future. I believe that the Pros outweigh the Cons.
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.
The government spends millions of dollars supporting poor families every year. Since the government is already in an estimated $19.4 trillion debt as of 2016, raising the minimum wage would be a way to save them money and pay back some of that debt (Lantigua-Williams). By raising the minimum wage to $10.10, 1.7 million workers would no longer need governmental support to be financially stable. With this amount of people no longer needing the government's help, the government will have extra money to use. Just from the increase of minimum wage, the government would save $4.6 billion from not having to send out as many food stamps alone. And over just one year, the increase in pay would reduce the government spending on income-support programs by $7.6 billion (“Should Federal Minimum”). The government will be able to use this money on other important things that will help the country grow and
If minimum wage was to increase so would the prices Americans will be forced to pay for goods and services. Businesses do not want to lose any money that they could potentially be making. They will do anything they can to prevent a loss of income. If Congress was to increase the requirement of pay, Americans would quickly see the prices increase. A 2015 Purdue University study found that raising the wage of fast food restaurant employees to $15 or $22 per hour would result in a price increase of 4.3% and 25%. With prices increasing, people won’t be buying businesses products because they may see it as too expensive. If the people who had a raise in
The real question everyone wants to know is, is the minimum wage going to increase or will it remain the same? Let 's go back in time to where it all started in 1938. President Franklin D. Roosevelt set the minimum wage to twenty-five cents an hour. FDR had a great statement about minimum wage and it 's not for little kids. The statement proposes "no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in the country" (Olsen). This is the original thought behind what we now know, today, as minimum wage. The problem is that other salaries have risen exponentially and the minimum wage has remained stagnant and has not kept up with inflation.
Between the year of nineteen twenty-nine and nineteen thirty-nine, The United States went through one of the worst economic downturn’s known as the Great Depression. The effects of the Great Depression caused many economic problems which sent wall street into a chaos. Ever since then Poverty has struck many middle and poor class families for years. Over time it has separated many families and caused those who are less fortunate to drain the wealthy. The minimum wage was created to keep many lives going. Although this is the case, minimum wage does not keep many people afloat, it has proven to be an issue and these wages need to be increased. Increasing minimum wage would increase economic activity, reduce poverty, and reduce government welfare spending. Fixing all of these will positively increase the economy and resolve our countries resounding debt.
The federal minimum wage should be raised for the low-income workers, because it may reduce the gap between the rich and poor in our nation, it can help bring people up from below poverty lines, and will improve the economy. The federal minimum wage has been widely talked about, and continues to be a growing issue in the United States today. Many low-income workers have come together because they want equal pay.
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.
It has been eight long years since there has been a minimum wage increase and for some time now, it has been the time for the wage to rightfully increase. Instead of waiting around, the U.S. government should take the initiative and finally increase the federal minimum wage so it can adjust to inflation, strengthen our economy, and reduce poverty.
Since 1938 the federal government for the United States of America has set the minimum wage. The laws were put in place to prevent employers from taking advantage of workers and paying a person less than the mandated amount per hour. At this point the minimum wage has not been increased since 2009 and it is only $7.25 per hour. This means that a person working full time will only gross $15,080 per year, an amount that is well below the poverty line. It is time to raise the minimum wage for several reasons: First, if you take in to account inflation, a person making minimum wage today is making less than a person who made minimum wage in 1968. The minimum wage in 1968 was equal to about $8.68 in 2016 dollars. Second, people earning a good wage is not only good for the worker and his or her family, it is good for society. And finally, raising the minimum wage will act as a stimulus for the economy.
Americans have started to come to conclusions that the federal minimum wage is excessively low. The government can stand to help people gain more money, resulting in a less poverty-stricken country. The cost of living or gaining has increased significantly over the past twenty years, and the minimum wage, for most isn 't enough for them to support themselves. There have been efforts to increase the federal minimum wage, but none has succeeded in getting approved. Minimum wages are too low for a human, to provide for themselves and others, therefore the federal minimum wage should be increased.
In 2012 the percentage of poverty fell from 15% to 14.5%. By raising the minimum wage the united states will have less poverty.People who earn minimum wage and have families don't earn enough to meet their basic living expenses. Sometimes people don't have enough money to buy necessities such as food. If minimum wage is increased, more people will be able to afford housing. Earning minimum wage is not even enough to support 1 person. People not only need to buy food and afford housing but also pay bills like electricity,water etc.By earning minimum wage people aren't able to pay all of these necessities.A person working forty hours a week, fifty weeks a year at the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour would earn $14,500, pre-tax. In the area where I live housing is really expensive , houses for rent are usually $400 monthly not including the amount the owner wants for deposit. People with minimum wage will have a hard time to buy their own house if a house is on sale for $100,00 and you earn $20,00 annually you aren't going to have enough money to give a down payment and still be paying for house insurance plus basic living expenses. “According to a 2015 report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a worker must earn at least $15.50 an hour
The most prevalent and steadfast myth surrounding the raising of the federal minimum wage is that it will doom the economy. This might seem logical at first, but just think about it for a second. Why do minimum wage employees need more cash? The answer is simple: To spend it, to buy the things that they and their families need to survive. “Most minimum wage workers need this income to make ends meet and spend it quickly, boosting the economy. Research indicates that for every $1 added to the minimum wage, low-wage worker households spent an additional $2,800 the following year” (Fair). Furthermore, EPI estimates that if the federal minimum wage were raised to $10.10 an hour, it would result in over
Jason Furman and Parrot Sharon explain why raising minimum wage will help families. The wage has to be elevated to just the point where a family can actually afford all the necessities they need in order to survive. The cost of living in houses for poor people makes it difficult for them to afford it and is difficult to stay on task with all the bills. Many minimum wage workers have families to support. The cost of raising children is very expensive. It is an average of $7,100 per year. Minimum wage workers can barely afford to pay child care for one child, let alone two. Increasing minimum wage will also make life easier to those who have food stamps and child care needs. Which can also help them get into college a lot faster so they can go out and pursue a better paying job.
The “federal minimum wage has remained the same at $7.25 an hour since 2009” (“DeSilver, Drew”). To many people, it seems like eight years is way too long to wait for the minimum wage to go up. This is the longest time for the minimum wage to increase since 1981 to 1990 where it took nine years for the wage to increase by .40 cents going from $3.35 to $3.80 (“Wage and Hour Division (WHD)”). Other than that, minimum wage increases usually took anywhere between 1 to 5 years. But to be fair, it has changed a lot since the original .25 cents back in 1938 when the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 was created. The minimum wage has increased “22 separate times over the course of the last 78 years” (“UC Davis Center for Poverty Research”). Also, the “wage now covers approximately 130 million workers or 84 percent of the labor force” unlike when it was first created and only covered “20 percent of the labor force” (“UC Davis Center for Poverty Research”). The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 or FLSA not only created the minimum wage but also created other federal protections like “overtime pay for the time worked