Imagine standing over a scorching grill for hours, taking care of the elderly, both lifting and transporting heavy loads, basically doing back breaking work; only to be making less than $8 and hour. That is the reality for millions of people in the work force who are earning minimum wage. Whether or not minimum wage should be raised has been a question many people have been discussing for years and has become quite controversial. Those opposed to increased minimum wages would argue that a minimum wage salary is already sufficient enough, or in some cases even “too high”. In spite of the opposing sides, it is almost certain that a rise in minimum wage will either positively or negatively affect several aspects of the country. For one, an increase in minimum wage could result in an economic shift. Furthermore, the current poverty level within the country, with the help of a higher minimum wage, would either decrease or as a result. Thirdly, a change in poverty levels caused by a higher minimum wage would ultimately change the amount of government spending and those who receive it. Minimum wage being raised would definitely be impactful not only the people receiving those minimum waged salaries, but also the economy, their families, and even the government funding.
The controversy over minimum wage has been ongoing. However, as explained in a Time article by Chris Lu on the subject, now is the prime time to raise the federal minimum wage. “Three out of four Americans support an increase; the economy is healthy; and many employers are already raising wages.” It’s reasonable to be worried about the consequences that raising the minimum wage might have in a time of crisis or unrest, but this quote mentions a healthy economy that would be able to handle the shifts in wages if things went south temporarily. Another argument made by opposers of raising the minimum is that businesses will be unable to survive. On the contrary, a good business will find it beneficial. “‘It’s a simple, but critical, concept: take care of your people and they will take care of your customers.’ For &pizza, higher wages reduce employee turnover, increase productivity and improve customer service.” Rather than hurting the economy, raising the minimum wage will help workers, business owners and the economy itself. A higher wage for all is
Why Minimum Wage Should be Increased 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.
The topic of raising the minimum wage has many different viewpoints. It is thought to be affected negatively and positively. Some believe it increases unemployment and poverty. Others believe it creates jobs, helps the economy and low-income families by giving them more money to give back to the economy.
However, not everyone is on the bandwagon. Conservative economists point out the negative effects the wage increase could have on the economy. They see it having an effect on the demand of jobs. Businesses facing higher labor costs would raise prices, passing those higher costs on to their customers. That would lead their customers to cut back on their purchases, meaning that businesses would need fewer workers (Lowrey). Raising the minimum wage would also make hiring low-wage workers more expensive relative to other investments, like new machinery. Businesses might then reduce their use of low-wage workers and shift their spending toward other things, such as automated systems.
There are many valuable reasons why people suppose a raise in minimum wage. One significant claim is how this raise would benefit minimum wage workers. According to the article “Should We Raise The Minimum Wage? 11 Questions and Answers,” Jordan Weissmann argues that raising the minimum wage would make many families’ lives more financially stable without a
Throughout the article he argues that a raise in minimum wage would cause a lot more trouble in the economy than we think it would, the rise would make companies put more money out, therefore making less. After this two things would happen, the first is that jobs would be cut down, because the company has more to pay fro each worker they would drop the workers that they didn’t need and pay for only workers who they can afford. Another effect of raising the minimum wage would be that consumer prices would shoot up. In effect of the price of the workers going up, the sellers would need to make up the money, therefore their selling price would raise to accommodate higher wages. Not only would this affect people who have been working for some time, this would highly effect people who have little or no experience in the work place. Since the companies had to cut jobs down, jobs for younger unexperienced people goes down, also the higher paying wage would attract higher experience workers to the job, which would be preferred over unexperienced workers.
How much would raising minimum really affect the world? Raising minimum wage would not help the world the way we think it would. Instead it would cause more negative effects over the positive. Minimum wage is now only $7.25 per hour but many people want it to be raised to
Introduction Research shows if minimum wage was to climb that it would hurt the least skilled and the least experienced people trying to seek a job the most. There are different of opinions people believe in about the positive and negative aspect of minimum wage. Supporters argue that such a boost will shrink poverty without plummeting jobs and that it will boost confidence, increase the normal living, and cut inequality and have businesses to be well-organized. Opponents that are not for minimum wage say it will increase poverty, unemployment and is not good toward businesses. The question about minimum wage and the effects it would cause if it was to rise, remains one of the most commonly studied topics.
Who knew that minimum wage could save the world and the people in it? The last time minimum wage was raised on July 24, 2009, and that when it rose from $6.55 to $7.25 per hour, How have we been living on $7.25 this long? We haven't been living on it we were trying to survive and a lot of people can’t survive on a minimum wage that low. Raising minimum wage to an amount that could actually let people live comfortably would help the economy and a lot of people who struggle in this economy. This is not all that can help but raising the minimum wage can be the start of a lot of problems that deal with job growth, reducing child neglect, and poverty.
It’s hard to talk about minimum wage without somebody saying that raising it will ruin the economy, but this is a myth, raising the minimum wage would benefit millions of American workers. according to a
An increase of the federal minimum wage would improve the lives of millions of Americans. It is a step towards lifting these people out of poverty. The federal minimum wage is supposed to enable Americans to earn a living wage, but it has not been raised in 8 years, and many people who make wages at or close to this wage are not able to survive on this pay alone. They rely on subsidies from the government and the community to provide some of the necessities they cannot provide for their families. An increase of the federal minimum wage is going to make these families more self-sustaining (CBO, February 2014).
There are many people that feel minimum wage workers should have their salaries increased to benefit their lifestyle. However, at the same time others feel that the federal minimum wage shouldn’t be increased because it will have worsen the amount of poverty in our country. The main concerns of the opponents include the decrease in employment and the increase of prices.
In recent years, the demand for an increased minimum wage has erupted across the nation. During the ongoing debate, a few states, cities, counties, and companies have taken the initiative to raise the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour to the varying wages of $7.50-$11.50 per hour. According the United States Labor Department, 29 states and the District of Columbia pay above the minimum federal level of $7.25 per hour. The raising of the minimum wage has numerous supporters; however, there are individuals who are opposed. The analyzation of ethical theories, such as, utilitarianism, altruism, and egoism will be utilized to obtain a more significant understanding of the importance to raise the minimum wage to a livable wage.
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