Minimum Wage

In the United States of America, federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. This is an issue, nation wide because the price of living is increasing, while the pay has not. Teenagers are not the only people that are getting paid this amount, adults that are considered the “bread winners” are too, and struggling with it. Supposing that the living wage was increased, the cost of living would be more manageable, and less stressful for many. Hundreds of thousands of people are living in poverty, since they are making the bare minimum and unable to support themselves or their family. If federal minimum wage was increased significantly, then people working forty hours per week would be well above the poverty line, and able to support themselves, easily.

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.

Ira Knight, who is an author of article “Let’s Make the Minimum Wage a Living Wage”, expresses an opinion that increasing the minimum wage would help all struggling workers and at the same time improve U.S economy. On the other side, Janice Steele in her article “Keep the Minimum Wage Where It Is” argues that raising the minimum wage would have bad effects on workers, consumers and small businesses. Ira Knight’s article seems to be the stronger of the two positions because her arguments are based on several recent studies, and last but not least, she had a personal experience with the minimum wage job.

Although America is known as the richest country in the world, 43 million of its citizens are in poverty. Unfortunately, some of them work full time, yet are still in poverty due to the low minimum wage (“Should We Raise”). In 1928, the first federal minimum wage of 25 cents per hour was set by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to prevent workers from being underpaid. Since 2009, the federal minimum wage has been $7.25 (Smith). The age old debate of whether or not to raise it is still going on in the US. The federal minimum wage should be increased to keep up with inflation, help support the poor, and stimulate the economy.

In the United States, the cost of living for a single adult with no children is an average of $28,474 every year (Career Trends, screen 1). This seems like a relatively low number, until the amount of people living together increases. A family of six, two adults and four children, rises to an annual cost of $82,900 (Career Trends, screen1). If an adult were to work full-time at minimum wage, they would only be getting $15,080 per year from their employer (University of California, screen 1). This amount of money is still about $14,000 short of how much it costs a single adult to live. In recent discussions of minimum wage, many people argue about whether it should be raised or not. Although the intentions to raise it are good, the outcome

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.

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.

Contrary to belief, the minimum wage is not a livable wage because housing and basic necessities exceed the amount that the average person in America makes. According to Carey Nadue on ¨Minimum wage: Can an individual or a Family live on it?¨ In most states in the US, minimum wage is not liveable by a Family. In order for the minimum wage to be liveable for a family of four, both parents would need to work 2 full-time jobs simultaneously. A single parent would have to work 3 and a half full-time jobs in order to have all the basic necessities.(Carey Nadeau.Minimum Wage:Can an individual or Family Live on it?.)

When the minimum wage goes up, money will get shuffled back into the economy once the lowest earners can invest. “It also would help the economy by supporting consumer spending that in turn supports job growth” (Source 1). Once the lower class starts to earn more they become capable of consuming more, so in the long run it would benefit employer. Although some may argue that a higher minimum wage would hurt employers, it would not due to a gradual change. Also, more consumption of products creates more jobs which helps the economy and the general

Money. Money is how we are able to eat and drink. It is how we stay clothed in different climates. Money is how we have a roof over our head. Money is what we earn from jobs and then, in turn, we recycle it back into the economy. A salary is how we get from point A to point B quickly and efficiently. Money is in a constant cycle of being in one person’s hands, going to someone else’s hands, and one way or another, coming back to the first person. Almost everything in this world can be boiled down to money. And in America, when you are employed, there is a minimal amount of money someone must pay you for your employment. This minimum wage is the base pay rate any American can earn. The minimum wage in America is supportive of the economy

Raise the minimum wage would bring about employment misfortunes. It hurt low skilled work is harder to discover an occupation. Minimum wage law expands measurements not lessen neediness. Result In higher Costs For customers, pay must be paid by somebody.

Macroeconomics: Should the Minimum Wage Increase? Should the Minimum Wage Increase? Minimum wage is the lowest wage permitted by law or by a special agreement that can be applied for an employee or put simply, the lowest amount of pay that an employee can make. Governments set a minimum wage on businesses in hope for reduced poverty and increasePremium 1355 Words 6 Pages

Contrary to these beliefs, I believe that raising the minimum wage will not only benefit the company and employee immensely, but overall increase the productivity of workers. The raising of the minimum wage will help these low income families support their families, which decreases the poverty level too.

Minimum Wage Should Be Increased In the Los Angeles Times newspaper “Living On The Edge, Full Time by Jenny Jarvie (Apr 6, 2016), the author talks about the minimum wage should be raised. The author, Jarvie stresses that millions of people are either making the bare minimum or are making below the federal minimum wage. There are five states that do not have minimum wage and fourteen states that have the minimum wage of $7.25. For an example Georgia’s minimum wage is $5.15 an hour.

Raising the minimum wage could help to protect workers from exploitation. It is a sad reality that employers take advantage of their workers and it is very commonplace to do so. Undercutting regulations, and human rights themselves, many use undocumented labor and otherwise shady business practice to get ahead. Not much is done to remedy this problem. A worker cannot easily escape this situation either. There are not many jobs, so each chance is