Minimum Wage Gaps

The minimum wage debate has been a hot topic over the past year, especially with the Presidential Election. This is a divisive topic that people rarely agree upon. There are essentially two sides you can take when it comes to this argument. Either people are for minimum wage or are against raising, or even having, a minimum wage. Proponents of the minimum wage are typically politicians who are lobbying for the vote of the people who feel that a minimum wage is critical to their wellbeing, and those who sympathize with people who earn “minimum wage”. Minimum wage is destroying America’s free market economy and someone needs to take action and find a better solution to this problem. Without anyone acting on this problem now, it can potentially be worse in the long run. Raising the minimum wage in the United States will do more harm than good to society because of the long-term effects.

Minimum wage has always been a controversial issue. Many politicians use the argument of minimum wage for their own political propaganda. Some may argue minimum wage should be raised, while others believe it will have detrimental effects on our economy if it is raised. Surprising to most people, minimum wage earners make up only a small percent of American workers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, minimum wage workers make up about 2.8% of all workers in America. “The majority of minimum wage workers are between the ages of 16 and 24. These are high school and college students” (Sherk 2). But high school and college students are not the entire percentage of minimum wage earners. When minimum

There has been many conversations about what the positive impacts can come to America 's lowest income workers as a result of an increase in the minimum wage, and there has also been equally as many discussions over the negative effects the increase can have on similar people. This paper’s purpose is to combine each viewpoint and objectively analyze the arguments for and against an increase in the minimum wage. I will first discuss the benefits for an increase, then the disadvantages, and in the last paragraph, I will

Raising minimum wages is a contestable issue because it is debated in wide and varied audiences. Minimum wage is near the top of economists’ interest; they are looking for the connection between low wages and poor job markets. Each country sets its own laws and regulations regarding wages. For this reason, it has significant importance to policy makers and workers in each of those respective countries. Social activists have also found interest in the topic due to the fact that those who earn a minimum wage tend to come from poor minority families. Furthermore, the average American should have the strongest interest in the conversation because most citizens have been paid a minimum wage at some point in their life. Due to this fact, the idea of a significant federal minimum wage increase in America is open for debate specifically to rejuvenate the job industry, improve living conditions for citizens, and strengthen the economy as a whole.

On July 24th, 2009, the United States of America raised the minimum wage to $7.25. However, six years later the minimum wage rage remains the same. It is time once again for the federal government to raise the minimum wage to spur the economy. Raising the minimum wage would help the American economy and the daily life of the citizens for a variety of reasons. The first topic is that it not only would help the people but it also would help the economy as a whole. The second topic is that companies are already raising the minimum wage because of the lack of money workers get. Finally the third supporting idea is that the states are also raising it over the federal minimum wage and also how can help poverty. There are many more topics on why the minimum wage should be raised but these reasons are the most important.

Millions of Americans live in poverty unable to find high paying jobs to support themselves and their families. A common belief is that paying a higher minimum wage would help lift people out of poverty by giving those with low paying jobs a higher income, however the evidence suggests otherwise. The 2016 race to the White House heating up, the minimum wage battle is at the forefront of every economic discussion. The rhetoric between candidates within and across party lines is intensifying. Many differing opinions are being heard. As the debate over whether or not to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25/hour to $15/hour rages on, one side stands apart time and time again.

For over a decade, many Americans have struggled with the low wage issued from employers, despite working very long hours of work. According to a study done in Oregon State University, a federal minimum wage was first set in 1938, starting at 25 cents an hour. Due to inflation that has occurred many times throughout the century, the call for raising minimum wage is to be immediately answered. However, the minimum wage falls when congress does not raise the minimum wage to keep up with inflation. Because of this many cities and states have departed from the minimum wage. In this essay, to be discussed is the reason why imposing a minimum wage above the equilibrium wage will reduce employment and contribute to an increase in the unemployment rate.

Currently the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour in most states. Recently, people have been lobbying to raise the minimum wage. Those petitioning do not recognize how raising the minimum wage will affect the economy and many people’s lives in a negative fashion. Endorsers believe that raising the minimum wage will help those who are poor, but in reality it will cause more people to succumb to poverty. For the sake of all Americans, we must educate the lobbyist regarding the effects of raising the minimum wage.

This paper gives an insight on the debate whether the minimum wage should be raised to $10 an hour or not in the United States. There is a big debate in the United States regarding as to whether the minimum wage should be raised to $10 per hour, but before we go into details of the debate lets first understand what is meant by a minimum wage and how did it come into existence. A minimum wage is the lowest wage that is paid to workers by their employers, and the government legally sets it. A minimum wage is a price floor, workers are not allowed to sale their services below price, and the government legally sets the price (Neumark et al 2008). Although the minimum wage is put into effect in jurisdictions, there exist different opinions

Proponents of raising the minimum wage claim that if the minimum wage was raised, then many economic and social problems would be alleviated. This contention is at odds both with economic principles and years of creditable research. The effect of raising or even having a minimum wage has been studied extensively and the majority of studies have proven that raising a minimum wage does not have the desired effect. Both micro and macroeconomic forces affect the results of raising the minimum wage. The secondary effects of raising the minimum wage are bad both for

“As efforts to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour have stalled repeatedly, several states and cities – from Los Angeles to New York state to Washington, D.C. – are acting on their own to raise minimum pay rates” (4). Fast-food workers being the primary targets, anti-poverty groups and organized labor are aiming for as much as $15/ hr. as the new minimum wage for workers. Statistics show that the vast majority of republicans, democrats, and independents are in favor of raising the minimum wage, but when the opportunity came up in 2014 it “failed to move past congress” (4). Since the last rise in the minimum wage, the U.S. “Since it was last raised in 2009, to the current $7.25 per hour, the federal minimum has lost about 8.1%

Regardless of what your net worth is and how much money you make each year there it is an irrefutable fact that there is a huge gap between the wealthy and the poor in the United States.

There is a link between poverty and high stress levels affecting physical and mental health in all ages. Access to quality recreational programs are essential for child development and health (Alaimo & Olson, 2001). Theses chronic stressors of income has an affect on childhood development as the material deprivation and lack of socialization can lead to depression in children. Childhood poverty establishes increased rates of depression and anti-social behavior. This poverty cycle and behavior changes transpires into anxiety disorders, depression, drug and alcohol dependencies in adulthood (McMullin, 2010 pg. 263).

The concerns with increasing minimum wage can be explain in two words, “It’s complicated.” The United States have several problem, but one complicated in particular is what should the hourly minimum wage become since the economic system has changed? Answering this question will change the way an entire nation thrives. According to Laura D’Andrea Tyson (2013) the last several decades have been especially hard on the American workers in jobs that pay the minimum wage. Tyson input in her column that with the proper inflation adjustments the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour today is 23 percent lower than it was in 1968. Consequently, if it had kept up with inflation and with

Minimum wage is something that is so hard to decide on because it affects different citizens in different ways based on how much they make. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the man who introduced minimum wage by creating a law called Fair Labor Standard Act of 1938 which was intended to increase the standard living of lower class workers. According to Minimum Wages by Linda Gorman, minimum wage laws set legal minimums for the hourly wages paid to certain groups of workers. As of right now, the federal minimum wage in the United States is $7.25 per hour, but state minimum wage is different based on their laws. For example, Nevada’s sate minimum wage is $8.25 per hour and California’s is two dollars higher sitting at a whopping $10 per hour. This has been a controversy that has been troubling everyone. We always find ourselves watching politicians argue with politicians, as well citizens arguing with other citizens, on what should be the minimum wage that would benefit the economy and our society we live in. Though these factors are not the only things we need to have in mind, we need to think about whether raising the minimum wage is something that we need to do, or what is going to be impacted by raising minimum wage. These questions have had many researchers beyond interested, figuring out what will change before it happens could lead us to prevent bad things from happening. There are several things that researchers have realized would be impacted by