Minimum Wage Thesis

“A 15 percent increase in the minimum wage nationwide would destroy about 290,000 to 590,000 young people's jobs, and about 400,000 to 800,000 jobs overall” (Henderson, David R). Due to the Fair labor Standards act, the federal minimum wage, or the lowest you can pay an employee for work, currently stands at $7.25 an hour. Although a number of Americans think that raising the minimum wage would benefit our country, it would actually bring a number of problems to our economy, such as a rise in job loss and high school dropout.

There are a lot of people around the world who struggle with money and a satisfactory way of life. Whether they be in the United States or across the globe, there is a standard minimum wage set for the working class of their country. In the Unites States, there is a federal minimum wage of seven dollars and twenty five cents per hour worked. Almost every state has another set minimum wage, which typically is a little higher than the federal minimum wage, but it cannot be lower than seven dollars and twenty five cents. Countries set minimum wage laws, to ensure there is a basic quality of life amongst its citizens. As the minimum wage goes up in certain states, the quality of life also improves. The problem with a higher minimum wage, is now people are getting paid higher for entry level jobs which are meant for teenagers and people new to the workforce. If the minimum wage keeps increasing across the country, teenagers and young adults will have a much more difficult time finding jobs.

Before people push a minimum wage increase, they need to be totally aware of all of the positive and negative results and consequences that might occur as a result. The issue concerning what to do about the minimum wage has served as an ongoing controversy amongst several people. The federal minimum wage should not be raised for several reasons including the harmful effect on small businesses, the increase of poverty, and the augmentation of competition for jobs.

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.

Imagine a single mother who has has the task of taking care of multiple children, all on a minimum wage budget. This mother’s mind is overwhelmed with worries. Will she be able to pay next month's rent? WIll she be able to put food on the table for all of her children. The single mother lives each and every day with this anxiety, and even with government assistance: Is it enough to live comfortably?

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.

Franklin Roosevelt introduced minimum wage as a part of Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. The purpose of minimum wage were to prevent poverty and to stimulate the economy by increasing consumer’s purchasing power. However, in 2015, 78.2 million workers were paid hourly, representing 58.5% of all workers in the United States. Among those people, 870,000 workers earned the minimum wage, $7.25 per hour and 1.7 million workers earned below the minimum. In total, 3.3% of workers earned exactly or below the minimum wage. For years, there have been heated debates about whether the government should raise the minimum wage. In 2016, California, New York, and Washington D.C. agreed to increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour. Some people think raising the minimum wage will decrease poverty and improve the workers living. Instead, raising the minimum wage will make the job market more competitive and it will increase the poverty level. When minimum wage was raised to $10 per hour, it benefited 16 to 24 million people while half a million workers lost their job. Rather than improving, Faces of $15 will damage the U.S economy and deeply hurt living condition of Americans.

$7.25 equals two gallons of gas, one fast food meal, or a simple school supply. With the minimum wage at the current rate you must work one hour to earn the seven dollars and twenty-five cents that only supply you with small necessities for everyday living. This problem was encountered before and was resolved with the agreement to higher the minimum wage from $5.85 to the current $7.25. Although that was a big increase in salaries, was it truly enough? This controversy can lead to a major change in everyone’s everyday lives and boost our economy to a period of prosperity. The minimum wage should be increased to bring our economy out of a recession, bring families together,

When the value of the U.S dollar hasn’t risen then you cannot raise the wage without negative effects. Recently, President Obama signed into a law negating the action to raise the minimum wage, in efforts to not lose more jobs than already have been lost. The reasoning behind why jobs decline when the minimum wage is increased is because the store or company owners have to pay their employees more; customers then pay more for services since the company that they get their sources from has to pay their employees more. Consequently, the company or business lays off a lot of their staff so they can be profitable. This is where being educated in a specific

Around the country many states are debating whether or not to raise the minimum wage. However, before this can be debated it is important to look at the purpose of a minimum wage. To define minimum wage is easy it is simply the lowest an employer can pay an employee to work, but this isn't the purpose of a minimum wage. Minimum wage is set as an entry position. Minimum wage is supposed to be for young workers entering the workforce. Theoretically, young workers entering the workforce have little to no experience or skills so, therefore, they take minimum wage jobs so they can gain experience and develop skills. Once the young workers have worked at the bottom of the chain and gained experience the worker can begin

Raising minimum wage is a very controversial topic. Minimum wage became a federal law in 1938 and only it was only twenty-five cents. Today minimum wage has increased and is currently ten dollars and fifty cents. As one can see minimum wage has increased dramatically and will continue to increase. Minimum wage should not continue to increase at this rate because many businesses will be affected, the price of living will increase and it will alter the way people live. With this minimum wage is hurting more lives rather than helping them.

Where to set the minimum wage has been a huge debate topic for years. The smallest increase or decrease can have a large overall impact on the economy. Do you think the minimum wage in California should be raised to $15 an hour? This is a question many in my home state are currently asking. California’s current wage is $9/hr., and the federal government is raising it to $10/hr. in January 2016. It may seem like common sense that if you have a higher minimum wage, then there will be less poverty. This is what I first thought when looking at this issue. However, Holtz-Eakin observed that a vast majority of minimum wage workers are in fact not living in poverty (Deutsch). Many minimum wage workers are not living under the poverty line, but simply

Minimum wage has always been a controversial issue among policy makers and economists in the United States. Recently, the topic has become an increasingly hot debate whether it should be raised to help the minimum wage earners in America to make ends meet. The Seattle City Council has voted to gradually raise the minimum wage to a nation’s highest at $15 per hour starting from January 1, 2015(www.usatoday.com). While the state Washington already has the highest minimum wage among other states at $9.32/hour, and the average inflation rate in the United States in the last five years was 11%(www.bls.gov), it is very hard to comprehend why such move was taken by the Seattle City Council to raise the minimum wage by more than 60%. I believe that

The minimum wage of the United States of America, should not be increased. The two arguments against the resolution are that an increased minimum wage would hurt American workers, and hurt American businesses.

Minimum wage is different across the United States and varies depending on the cost of living for that particular state. There are currently 5 southern states who have not adopted a state minimum wage. Those states are: Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee. Presently, there are 29 states have minimum wage rates above the federal minimum wage. I currently live in Germany but my home of record is Arizona. The minimum wage in Arizona is $8.05. Arizona is one of America’s fastest growing states. With a booming economy and a diverse population, Arizona’s cost of living is somewhat low compared to the rest of the United States.