Minimum Wage In America

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.

Although many Americans are aware that our country suffers severely in the category of poverty, minimum wage is not factor that many turn to think as a fault. They claim to know about minimum wage; however, it is merely a blank claim because they have neither experienced the hardship under a cap of expenses nor does the issue affect them. In fact, this issue is detrimental to our country as we are slowly falling into unemployment and homelessness. In Barbara Ehrenreich’s book, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, she states that minimum wage had fallen back comparing to the living cost in the 1900s; however, this statement is still true today. Enrenreich is a reliable reporter who travels to three different cities with contrasting backgrounds. She tried to experience the life of a minimum wage worker in order to accurately report the inside scoop of a life that most Americans do not know to exist. As a supporter of her claim after realizing the way our country has been living, I too believe that minimum wage does not fulfill its purpose and should be raised, as it does not serve enough to cover even the essential expenses.

Although the American political culture contains numerous core ideals and values as all American share different views, the vast majority of people support general ideas including equality, liberty, and order. America guarantees each individual political equality, allowing each individual to have their own personal beliefs within the political sphere. However, the environment, combined with the media, has a powerful influence on the views Americans chose to hold. Different generations live through different experiences which significantly shapes the thinking of individuals. Therefore, political beliefs and ideologies form due to the resolutions regarding different conflicts. Even though there seems to be many opposing viewpoints, the American

During the late 19th century, and even a few decades into the 20th century, American laborers worked intensely. They worked both many hours and with very little pay. The bosses of these workers would pay them as much or as little as they saw fit. It wasn’t up until the year 1938 that the federal minimum wage was established in America at $0.25 per hour (that being equal to about $4.21 now). It was one of the greatest things in America at that time. It was revolutionary as a matter of fact.

The problem addressed in this dissertation is that the federal minimum wage in the United States (US) has been at a stalemate for several years. (Addison et al, 2013) While policy makers are undecided whether to sign a bill into law that will increase the federal minimum wage, the workforce is held in a quandary. The inequality of wages across the country is unbalanced, because some states and various industries are exempt from the minimum wage laws. (Clain, 2012) Due to lack of awareness of the minimum wage laws, the workforce employed by these industries or resides in the states that are exempt from the minimum wage laws, is at a disadvantage on wage equality. Unfortunately, even if some individuals are aware of the minimum wage laws, the lack of financial resources to relocate for better employment opportunities or even to obtain a higher education will be difficult for these individuals and their families. (Baron, 2014) Workers who earn only the minimum wage or below, are likely to have a lower education level, less skills or experience, or a disability that limits their ability to perform in certain jobs. (Hoffman, 2014; Smith, 2015) Consequently, individuals and their families are left to depend on government assistance programs, in order to make up for the income that they’re lacking. (Mărginean & Chenic 2013; Milkman et al, 2012) In some cases, the possibility of these individuals or groups participating in criminal activities is more likely to occur, due to low

Many fast food workers and minimum wage employees have been protesting recently, in hopes of increasing the federal minimum wage. States such as Seattle, that have already increased the minimum wage to $15 per hour, and California, that has approved a bill that will change the minimum wage to $13 per hour in 2017, have already jumped on board with the movement. President Obama and many other protesters around the country who are fighting for the increase in the minimum wage believe that the raise will decrease poverty among Americans and provide a stable income to support a family, or serve as a livable wage (Lee). Instead of creating a positive impact on those in need, increasing the minimum wage will affect the lives of lower-income, lower-skilled workers in a negative way. According to conventional economic analysis, employment levels for lower-income workers in jobs such as fast food, or any job that pays minimum wage, have steadily decreased with the rises in the wage (“Effects of Raising”). While it will negatively affect the lower-income workers, the other half of Americans who work for higher wages and are not in poverty, will have increased incomes (“Effects of Raising”). Raising the wage will not produce the desired outcome and will consequently make the situation worse. Also, these types of jobs are not meant to be supporting families or be a livable wage. These jobs are stepping stones for teens and young adult workers to gain

WASHINGTON D.C. President Barack Obama has shouted on Congress to raise the combined minimum wage, the centerpiece proposition at the State of the Coalition address that concentrated on commercial inequality in America. Pointing out that the present minimum of $7.25 is nearly 20% lower in real paying manipulation than it was 25 years ago, he impelled legislators to prop a bill that should hold the nationwide rate to $10.10. We additionally have to do extra to safeguard our economy distinctions the dignity of work and that hard work pays off for all of our citizens. Americans overwhelmingly concur that no one who works maximum period ought to ever have to raise a relation in poverty.

Numerous numbers of individuals and families will be relieved following a minimum wage increase. Around 25 million people will see the benefits firsthand (“Why Raise the Minimum Wage?”). Five million workers, after getting a raise, will no longer be in poverty, along with fourteen million working women, six million working mothers, and three million single working parents (“Why Raise Minimum Wage?”). With the well-deserved raise, all of these people can better support their family, pay off those growing bills, get food on the table, and worry less about the future. Looking at the numbers, it is evident that many people who have minimum wage jobs are living with tough situations at home whether that be poverty, living in a single income family, or both. As a result, many children are left with hungry bellies, not knowing when they will get their next hot meal because their hard working parents do not have enough capital to sustain the family. Not only will raising the minimum wage benefit millions of people that desperately need money, studies show that the effects would be evenly distributed among states still following the federal minimum wage. This is because the minimum wage sees no color and sees no gender. The federal minimum wage does not change depending on where you live; it doesn’t matter if you live in a red or blue state, or a rural area compared

Each year that the minimum wage figures stay stagnated at a specific number in nominal dollars, the reality of inflation slowly bites in as its real value is gradually adjusted and in the long run minimum wage earners are left with payments that cannot sum up or fulfill their household and other personal needs. On analysis of this fact, it is evident that the well-being and living standards of minimum wage workers is highly threatened especially for those people who have families and in this earning bracket. Currently, at a minimum wage rate of $7.25 per hour on a full time basis does not necessarily negate to the fact that they get to cross the estimated government poverty line on an all rounded annual basis. Comparing the current status and the 1960s value rates, the wage income is not enough to cater for the needs of a woman together with her family simply

Policymakers in the United States continually struggle to create viable and sustainable solutions to the poverty outbreak that is prevalent in our country. This has become a critical part of the road to recovery from the recent economic recession. One of the main approaches suggested to eradicate the pervasive poverty problem is increasing the minimum wage of American laborers. If adopted, this suggestion is expected to be implemented at both the state and federal levels. This approach is based on good intentions as it is projected to have positive effects on the employment, wages and overall poverty levels in the country. However, increasing the minimum wage will only hurt the low-income earners, less-educated and experienced

Everyone works hard for a living, for lower wage workers it's not only hard work, but at the end of the day it does not pay the bills. There are a two way problem in that we love a good bargain and we want the workers who make our offers the services to be treated fairly. President Obama is pressuring Congress to raise the national minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour. How will this affect the market? How much does that affect us and make more people become out of work because we are shopping less? Two opinion editorials from The New York Times, Judith M.Conti and Diana Furchtgott-Roth, give their opinions on how basic economics should settle this issue. Jeffrey A. Miron, believes that market theory of wage determination lets the market

Twenty-Two years ago, President Clinton announced that his administration intended to seek an increase in federal minimum wage. The general consensus was really positive, and the public agreed that the increase was actually very overdue. However, many had reservations regarding how a raise in minimum wage would cause problems while the country was in a state of economic recovery. Both sides had political and economic merit, and an ongoing debate of the minimum wage continued into the next century. Today, the minimum wage has been pushed to the forefront of economic discussion again. To the average American, minimum wage could likely be how one makes

Evaluating the quagmire of the gender wage-gap and the cincher of the history of the predicament can change one’s views and effect how to solve the issue. To start, in 2016, women were paid 20% less than men for a full-time job. However, the pay change has amassed since 1960. With the rate it is at now, it will likely only be fully egalitarian by 2059. But, in recent years the process is slowing down, it could be pushed up to 2119. Location is also a key factor in the pay caesura between men and women; New York is closer to equality with women getting paid 89% of men, while the lowest is in Louisiana, where the gap is as low as 70% difference between women and men. Asian women, however, have the lowest pay gap, especially compared to Hispanic women, who were paid 54% of what white men were paid, found in 2016. Six in ten women (58%) work in low-wage jobs that typically pay less than $11 per hour and 69% of those usually pay less than ten dollars per hour. Low-wage jobs, such as child care workers and fast food workers,

Increasing the minimum wage is a simple and effective way to reduce income inequality. Over the past thirty years, the depreciation of the minimum wage has contributed to a ten to twenty percent increase in income inequality (“President Obama’s” 12). The falling of the minimum wage value greatly affects the bottom half of poorer workers and average workers and their livelihood compared to the middle class. By raising

In every industrialized society in the world, there is a gender wage gap. In other words, there lacks a single country in which women and men earn the same amount of money in the same position. In the United States, regardless of education or capability, there is a wage gap that exists in “all levels of education” (Henslin, 2017, p. 317). This gender gap begins in the first job that an individual takes, and continues throughout his/her life. The gender gap significantly favors males, while discriminating against women. In fact, even full-time working women end up earning around “only 73 percent of what men are paid” (Henslin, 2017, p. 317). Although there is a growing awareness of the issue, and an increase of women in the workforce, this gender wage gap is an unfortunate reality that has yet to be solved.