Minimum Wage And Its Effect On The Workplace

The controversy over what to establish as the official minimum wage in the United States has been debated and argued over for many years. Due to inflation, the gradual increase of pricings due to a saturation of printed currency, the minimum wage for workers has to be increased in order to compensate for the ever-fluctuating value of the U.S. Dollar. Many today are rising to the conclusion that a minimum wage of fifteen dollars an hour is necessary. This motion is designed to keep those who have minimum wage income out of poverty and to increase the amount of money in the consumer’s pocket overall. However, this particular increase in minimum wage will lead to the inevitable downfall of the United States’ economy and be a catastrophe for the working class.

In a world governed by the rule of currency has a major effect toward the amount an individual owns. The current world economy, labor is required in order to supply services to whomever is willing to buy. The amount of money distributed and earned throughout the economy feeds the nation 's GDP, which shows the stability of the overall economy of that nation. There is an imaginary sequence that must be established in an economy in order to balance both labor and revenue to stabilize a country’s economy.

A price floor is the lowest legal price a commodity can be sold at. Price floors are used by the government to prevent prices from being too low (Taylor, B. 2006).

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 The federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour remains decades out of date.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).

House Bill 230, or the most recent bill introduced in North Carolina to increase minimum wage, was introduced by the House of Representatives on March 12, 2015. After the first version of the Bill was introduced, it was revised once. The bill was introduced because the goal of the state is to provide a minimum wage that allows for a decent and healthy life for its citizens. As the value of the American dollar continues to change, so does the average cost of living. The primary sponsors of the Bill were Representatives Farmer-Butterfield, L. Hall, Fisher, and Cunningham. The Bill states that “Employers shall pay employees wages no less than the minimum wage for all hours worked in North Carolina.” It then states that minimum wage in North

Even though Ms.Steele considers the down fall of raising minimum wage, Mr.Knight provides clear evidence that raising minimum wage would help the America's economy.A 2011 study showed that increasing minimum wage lead to higher consumer spending.Another study showed that in the first six months of 2014 states that increased minimum wage, increased in jobs also.Last but not least, in 2014 University of Massachusetts Ameherst found that increasing minimum wage would lift 4.5 million Americans out of poverty and 3.5 million from food stamps.

Although, the minimum wage is not the same in all place in the States, almost all those who are depending on it are unsatisfied and are hoping for a rise even though some people see the rising as risky. In 1992, Card David wrote an article about Using Regional Variation in Wage to Measure the Effects of the Federal Minimum Wage. He pointed out that '' arise in the federal minimum wage will typically affect a larger fraction of workers especially teenagers in some states than in others. That variation across states depend on the fraction of workers initially earning less than the new minimum.'' (Card David 1) He agreed that many States had already passed state – specific minimum wages above the new federal standard. As a result, the fraction

The first minimum wage law was implemented in New Zealand and Australia in the late 1900s. In 1940s, George J. Stigler founded the first standard model of minimum wage. The model predicts that the minimum wage system. It set above equilibrium wage level, would create unemployment because some previously employed labors lose their jobs while some find it is not worthwhile to work at the minimum wage that is above competitive wage (Stigler, 1946, p. 361). Ehrenberg and Smith define the minimum wage as a policy that compels the employers to increase wages paid to all low-wage employees (2006). According to Lee, minimum wage is the minimum level of payment recognized by law for work performed (Lee, 2002, p.1). However, the fact remains that a minimum wage has social and economic effects, the dynamics that will be discussed in this paper.

At one point or another, minimum wage is a term that most American people will familiarize themselves with. The topic of minimum wage can sometimes be a particularly controversial one, so it is important that we understand the true effects that this has on our nation’s economy. Before the fall of our economy and the increase in prices of everyday necessities, such as monthly bills, groceries and gasoline, a family could have found it easier to survive off of this wage; however, as the prices continue to rise in today’s economy, it is harder for the working family to “get by”. As of 2015, the national minimum wage is $7.25 per hour or a little more than $15,000 annually and for a working family in today’s economy, it may be difficult. This paper will focus on the effects of raising the minimum wage and discuss how it will affect our economy and the American people.

In 1938, the first national minimum wage laws in the United States were passed as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which served as “a floor below wages,” to reduce poverty and to ensure that economic growth is shared across the workforce. Today, many people who work for companies that pay at or near the minimum wage and remain near or below the poverty level rely on government health and food security and income programs to supplement their living expenses. Since 1938, there have been many additional policies to the Fair Labor Standards Act that have changed many things, such as increasing the national minimum wage numerous times to the currently salary level, which was set in 1997. The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, from the United States Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division, was a policy to change the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 in three additions, which began in July of 2009. (U.S., 2009).

On occasion it is essential that both parents in a home take on multiple jobs at minimum wage to take care of their family’s needs. This has an affect on the lives of this unit in a financial and emotional way. When the support systems of both parents are working to survive, the children in the home do without the emotional security. Surprising and offending the most about the low-wage workplace was the extent to which one is required to surrender one’s basic civil rights and-what boils down to the same thing-self-respect. (Ehrenreich 115).

The price ceiling is the maximum price a seller is allowed to charge for a product or service. An impact on society includes when the prices are so high of a product, that no one can buy it. A price floor is the lowest legal price a product or service can be sold at. When market price is at its lowest, it may still be too high for consumers to purchase products. Governments can intervene for any purpose, and they are the ones who set these price controls.

). Raising the minimum wage is an example of a price floor increase. There can be and are unwanted outcomes from this rise. This will be discussed in the first part of this paper. An example of a price ceiling is the regulation of rent by government to keep the rent artificially low. The second part of this paper will explore this.

I have chosen to rewrite my first Story “The Effects of the Minimum Wage”. The story concerns the minimum wage effects at Lansdowne Road, located in Hell’s Kitchen. It is more accessible for me to conduct further investigation, because during my school days I’m in class until 5 or 6pm and I’m usually downtown. Therefore, with the past interview conducted with Chef, Milton Vanegas, I was told I can come back, if I ever needed more information. I am expecting to conduct further interviews on the company’s position on the minimum wage. Since, I have made the company speak about their position of the minimum wage, it is possible that the company has an update their perspective on the minimum wage.

Ever since legislation of the minimum wage law, it has always been surrounded by controversies and debates. During the recent US Presidential election, this controversial political topic of increasing minimum wage was once again brought into people’s attention. In 2012, workers of the major fast food chain McDonald’s started the “Fight for $15” companion (Fight for $15, 2016). McDonald’s workers argued that their current pay was insufficient to support the most basic lifestyles and demanded to be paid minimum $15 per hour. The movement have won many victories since its launch as provinces including California and New York state have already adjusted the minimum wage law to $15 per hour (Fight for $15, 2016).