High Minimum Wage Essay

Do you feel that the minimum wage is often too low in North Carolina for not only teenagers, but for adults providing for families as well. Do you think that the minimum wage should be raised a few dollars to allow citizens working on minimum wage to pay for college, save for insurance, buy food, and pay for rent? The average citizen must work hours on end to provide enough money to live sustainably. Thousands of kids live in poverty, and barely have enough food to stay nourished. These are the reasons on why we should raise the minimum wage.

The fast-food workers are expressed as a pond in a bigger game. They have to deal with their low pay in order to ensure low prices by these franchises. Jencunas concerns go on to represent the beginning of a bigger chain effect. Briefly, he states that, “The average fast food store would go from profitable to unprofitable overnight. Some would close immediately, leaving their workers worse off than they were when working for $7.50 an hour, while others would raise prices and try and remain in business, hurting consumers” (“Don't Deserve Any More, or Less”). Evaluating his reasoning we see that if fast-food workers ask for a higher minimum wage, they will in return influence the profit margin and actually increase unemployment rate in this industry. The researchers go on to inform us that if their minimum wage increases the industry won’t be able to afford the change in their profit margin and result in bankruptcy. However, Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union, which supports the fast-food strike states a different claim:

Unfortunately, if the minimum wage were to be increased, many employees would start looking for higher skilled workers. As Sally Smith, CEO of Buffalo Wild Wings, explains; “When you start paying $15 an hour, are you going to take a chance on a 17-year-old who’s never had a job before when you can find someone with more experience?” (Perry, screen 1). The minimum wage is set for on-the-job training, and many employers feel that a worker must prove their worth through not only training but working their way up to higher salaries. If a worker has no skills to offer due to little-to-no past experience, employers will be less willing to hire them for more money. Businesses cannot spend more on wages than they earn in revenue, so they will have to make decisions on the types of workers they will want (Freiling, screen 1). The amount of money workers get can be imagined as a ladder; minimum wage being the first step. As a

Life as we know it is changing and maybe not for the best. People are making life-changing decisions without a second thought every second of every day. Is this the way anyone should be living their life? (TRANSITION?) Many who have or currently work in restaurants and other places of business within the food industry are demanding higher compensations without knowing the negative repercussions that could arise and take effect. It was recently discovered that, in 2014, around 71% of Americans favored an increase in minimum wages, yet less than half knew or understood the positive and negative effects that came with higher wages (procon.org). That is a very striking statistic and goes to show that people need to be educated before making a decision that could ultimately change the rest of their lives. I used to be one. So, before filling out your ballot and checking ‘yes’ or ‘no’ for the proposition to raise your state’s minimum wage that sounds so appealing, take a minute to understand what you are choosing, you may be surprised what you learn. In the end, it is your decision and freedom of choice to support or oppose the increase, but I believe we should stand against raising the minimum wage for all except servers who receive the tipped minimum wage of $2.13.

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

If the minimum wage goes up, this would affect profits as well as number of employees working at the restaurant. Currently the firm is able to hire a large team of servers at each location. This allows them to cater to each customer's needs and to complete orders on

After the protest in New York City, the issue of raising the minimum wage has come up once again. Seattle is spearheading this cause with a proposal of raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour. This will help minimum wage workers a great deal by increasing their income. However, there are concern that this move could hurt certain businesses, which can lead to higher unemployment and contraction of the economy. The ethical issue surfaced as this will benefit some at the expense of other.

In the article “No, Seattle’s $15 Minimum Wage Is Not Hurting Workers,” Michelle Chen claims that raising the nation’s minimum wage will improve millions of employees and their families and the only adverse effects are just temporary. Seattle enacted a law with the intention of increasing the minimum wage over a period of time to $15 per hour, which is just now, thanks to the efforts of “Fight for 15,” becoming beneficial to the restaurant industry. It has been found that employers are abiding by the new law and employees are profiting from the change, at least in the restaurant business. Chen claims that Research finds that the new minimum wage is benefiting restaurant employees that previously earned less than $15, and furthermore clarifies

According to a study done by Perdue University, “…paying fast-food restaurant employees $15 an hour could lead to higher prices. Prices at those businesses could increase by an estimated 4.3%, according to the report” (Wihbey, Effects of raising the minimum wage: Research and critical lessons”). With a higher minimum wage, businesses must then pay their employees more, and to pay these additional expenses; they are coerced to charge more for their products, which impacts everybody, making it more difficult for people to provide for their families. The Cato Institute stated, “According to a review of more than 20 minimum wage studies observing price effects found that a 10 percent increase in the US minimum wage raises food prices by up to 4 percent” (Wilson, “Four Reasons Not to Raise the Minimum Wage”). If the federal minimum wage increases from $7.25 per hour to $15 per hour, it is being increased by slightly more than 206%, which, according to this study, could lead to almost an 84% growth in food prices. According to another study on the effects of an increase in the federal minimum wage on consumer prices in the Reason magazine, “Raising the minimum wage to $15 could increase the cost of food by 43%” (47: 10). After a significant increase in the federal minimum wage, the employees who did not lose their jobs would then be receiving

To start off, raising the minimum wage would put greater prices of many food items. According to ThinkProgress.com raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour would result in food prices to be increased by 4.3 percent. That 4.3 percent increase may not seem like much when you add it to a four dollar cheeseburger, but when

Supporters of an increase in minimum wage, the McDonalds employees that demand $15 per hour, argue that they need a “living pay”. Furthermore, they state that it will bring workers out of poverty and will have little negative effects. There is evidence to support this claim. One of them being that when the minimum wage increased from $6.25 to $7.25, there was no immediate negative effect.

The fight for raising the minimum wage to $15 that has motivated city campaigns to raise the low wage fast food workers. Fast food workers are teaming up for their own civil rights in support raising their low wage. Going $15 an hour rises by 67% of New York minimum pay.

As for small businesses being harmed by an increase in minimum wage, Batra proves that a rise in minimum wage, as long as it is not faster than the rise in prices, will not adversely affect the businesses’ profits. He says that a business’s profit equals the revenue, less wage costs and all other costs. Batra offers an example with a popular fast-food franchise:

We must make sure that the small franchises, that may only have a small amount of workers, aren't put out of business by financial change. The line is split directly down the middle, one half saying that the minimum wage should be raised and the other knowing that if the raise happens, many small businesses will collapse with the financial

The article that we are critiquing is aimed to assess the blow of increased minimum wage from $4.25 to $5.05 per hour in 1992 on the employees working in fast-food restaurants in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The author has shown two comparisons in this study. The first comparison is the employment growth rates at the fast food stores in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, before and after the minimum wage raise. The second comparison is the change in employment rate from fast food stores (in both states) that pay higher wages initially to the lower wage stores. Krueger Card concluded that there was no indication or signs that the minimum wage increase, decreased employment