Minimum Wage Must Reduce Poverty In The United States

Every day (As of 2015), 3.3 million people in the United States are waking up to their daily grind of a minimum wage job, jobs that pay $7.25 on the hour, (In some cases, even more.) bringing in almost nineteen thousand dollars annually on full time, with no vacation or sick days. After taxes, this total annual income brings in roughly about fifteen thousand dollars, a complete four thousand dollars under the poverty line for a family of three, and seven thousand dollars for a family of four. The average minimum wage worker is thirty-five years of age, far from the teenager that many believe make up a majority of minimum wage workers (Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers, 2014). Being a middle-aged man

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.

Right now,according to Victoria Smith,over 40 million people are living in poverty. This could be changed if they were able to get enough money from their jobs, but the minimum wage isn’t high enough right now. Even if only by a little, if minimum wage were raised, the amount of people living in poverty could be reduced by at least 5 million according to Mike Konczal . Originally, the minimum wage was at only .25 cents an hour. Due to causes such as inflation, this wage has been raised to meet the current standard. Although interest in raising the wage has gone away until recently. Minimum wage should be increased because it would increase job growth and economic activity,it would reduce government spending on welfare, and reduce poverty.

When there are millions of Americans living at or below poverty lines, something has to be done. Billion dollar companies and businesses that employ workers, paying them low wages is hurting the economy. The reality is, unless the minimum wage is raised, the cycle will only continue. With higher minimum wages in place, the entire country does better and, therefore, should be raised. There needs to be laws put place to raise the minimum wage. Doing so would boost the economy with all of the money that Americans would put into it. With higher minimum wages, millions of Americans can get out of poverty, not having to rely on the government for assistance such as food stamps, public housing, child care, and health care needs. They can afford better housing options in which they want to live. Communities would see less crimes in neighborhoods creating a safer environment. Aside from that, Americans can afford a good education, health care, as well as healthier eating and exercising habits.

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.

This has been a discussion for the ages. The debate over raising the minimum wage has been a hot topic. Raising minimum wage would reduce poverty, be better for lower paid workers, and to reduce expense for social programs.

Raising the minimum wage will help keep up with inflation. For example, this piece of evidence supports the fact that poor families are even poorer than what was expected. The article "pros-and-cons-of-raising-the-minimum-wage "stated, "The minimum wage hasn't kept up with inflation. As a result, the pay of man workers, particularly those with families of three or more people, are no well below the poverty level." Minimum wage is already so low to the point that it is considered poverty.

Those in favor of the minimum wage have argued, contrary to established economic theory, that the minimum wage can actually increase employment. An increase in income results in additional "money in the pockets" of workers which encourages greater spending in the economy. This in turn causes greater demand for goods and services, an increase in production, and the creation of new jobs. Additionally, a higher minimum wage is thought reduce government welfare spending. If workers earned more money, their dependence on and eligibility for government benefits would decrease. A recurring theme among pro minimum wage arguments is the issue of stagnant wages. Improvements in economic growth and productivity have exceeded increases in the minimum

James Sherk, a Senior Policy Analyst in Labor Economics, stated in an article, “Higher minimum wages also make working in such jobs more attractive, drawing scores of workers with outside sources of income into the labor market. Many suburban teenagers and college students enter the job market when the minimum wage rises. As they apply for job openings, they crowd out urban teenagers and disadvantaged adults who would have sought the jobs at the previous wages” (Sherk, “What is Minimum Wage: Its History and Effects on the Economy”). Whenever the minimum wage rises, more people are inclined to work to gain additional money, however, many of these people already have an outside source of income and do not need the extra work. These people frequently push out the people who sincerely need the work and would have gladly accepted the jobs at the previous wage. Thus, although this raise will attract more people into the workforce, they often overrule those who could benefit from the pay. Furthermore, supporters of raising the federal minimum wage contradict that more money in the pockets of low-wage workers means more sales, which, in turn, creates faster growth and more jobs. A study

Between the year of nineteen twenty-nine and nineteen thirty-nine, The United States went through one of the worst economic downturn’s known as the Great Depression. The effects of the Great Depression caused many economic problems which sent wall street into a chaos. Ever since then Poverty has struck many middle and poor class families for years. Over time it has separated many families and caused those who are less fortunate to drain the wealthy. The minimum wage was created to keep many lives going. Although this is the case, minimum wage does not keep many people afloat, it has proven to be an issue and these wages need to be increased. Increasing minimum wage would increase economic activity, reduce poverty, and reduce government welfare spending. Fixing all of these will positively increase the economy and resolve our countries resounding debt.

The minimum wage should be increased because there are many people who do not have jobs and who need to support themselves. There are millions of adult workers as well who could not go to college or could not afford it and now they have to work. Many workers could have deferred a year and could have several jobs to support for college or family. Therefore, increasing the minimum wage would help millions of people. Raising the minimum wage would decrease dropout rates since most teens drop out because they do not have enough money and would rather work than go to school. It would also increase attendance because now that the workers get paid more, they would want to go to work.

It is a good economic policy to increase the minimum wage for low income earners. Increase the minimum will help these individuals get out of poverty, make a good living and afford better health care coverage. In addition increase the minimum wage will help individuals to take care of themselves and stop rely on social program and government assistances. Thus at this point the big concern is to decide how much to increase the minimum wage.

Many economists argue that this pay is too low and should be increased in order to raise the standard of living in the United States. The main argument for the increase in the federal minimum wage is that the current wage provides significantly less purchasing power than it did in the past. According to CNN News Reporter Tom Perez, the cost of food, utilities, transportation, and other essentials have gone up, however low-wage workers’ paychecks have remained the same. Perez states that the purchasing power of the minimum wage has been eroding steadily since its peak in the late 1960’s, and the wage today would have to equal over $10 per hour just to equal the purchasing power first established in 1968 (“Raise Minimum Wage”). According to the United States Department of Labor, raising the country’s pay to at least $10.10 would be an important part of strengthening our economy because then the purchasing power would be at the ideal level. This raise for minimum wage earners would put more money in people’s pockets, which will in turn be spent on goods and services, and thus further stimulate economic growth locally and nationally (“Minimum Wage Mythbusters”). In order for businesses to grow they need customers that have money in their pockets because increased incomes will boost consumer demand and the consumer spending that powers our domestic economy. Many experts agree that raising the minimum wage is a key strategy for

Should the federal government raise the minimum wage to reduce poverty, ensure proper pay, and protect younger generations and minorities? That is a common question discussed in recent years. In 1938 during the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt signed a law creating a federal minimum wage. The federal minimum wage is important to Americans and the government because it keeps workers out of poverty and helps increase consumer purchasing power which in turn stimulates the economy. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, although certain states have higher minimum wages. (Raise the Minimum Wage)

However, the minimum wage hikes are sold to the low-skilled workers, the studies show the hikes can equate to job loss or hours substantially reduced. Further, compounding income disparity or causing income losses and increased poverty. The net loss, the families of the low-skilled worker are not better off and in many cases, such as single mothers, worse off. (Sabia & Burkhauser, 2010 p 5) Providing a slightly more positive view but statistically insignificant, some low-skilled workers who remain employed tend to move toward the high side of the poverty level but not out (Neumark & Wascher, 2002).