Minimum Wage Research Paper

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.

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.

In present times in The United States the average person working a decent full time job is only earning $15,080 with the minimum wage of $7.25. That money is in your pocket if you work those 40 hours each week for a year which sounds like a decent amount of money, but now imagine all the expenses you do throughout the year as well. The money earned is not sufficient enough to care for families. If the minimum wage it is raised families will be able to live in decent homes, survive everyday obstacles.. The minimum wage needs to be raised to an amount where families are able to only work one job and not two or three.

In his January 2, 2014 online Atlantic article entitled “Should the Minimum Wage Depend on Your Age?, author Jordan Weissmann discusses the possibility of changing the minimum wage based on the age of the employee. He hooks in readers by bringing in what can also be considered background information by talking about a man named Charles Krauthammer who proposed that you have two minimum wages, one for the “Breadwinners” and a lower minimum for everyone else, and why hes idea is horrible. After hooking in his readers he goes on to try and prove his Thesis: that depending on the economic situation, basing wage on age could be more beneficial than some other ideas. To prove this thesis he claims that it's more beneficial because it is easier to

In addition, immigrants also try and apply for employment when they can, to try and reach their goal of the “American Dream” or their ideal theory of freedom. However, because of the necessity of jobs they can obtain, which are those many the American’s don’t want including: janitorial, agricultural, street cleaning, or even risky jobs. Getting less than minimum wage, not aware of the laws of the government as it pertains to paying taxes becomes a cycle where they are forced by many of the employers to break the law which otherwise would be followed. Not to mention, the occasional employer takes advantage of the 'illegal alien' and usually pays below minimum wage because they know the worker has no option but to either quit or accept it. And

The article “California Reaches Deal on $15 Minimum Wage” by Paul Davidson is about California’s minimum wage should be raised up to $15 an hour and it is in deal. Governor Jerry Brown and state legislators are propelling to raise California's minimum wage up to $15 in an hour by 2020. According to Fight for $15, about 6.5 million people in California, or 43% of the state's workforce, will earn less than $15. A dozen cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and many other municipalities in California, have already raised their minimum wage to $15. In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed a $ 15 fee for New York City from 2019 to 2021. Labor advocates agreed with the pact. However, I disagree with this concern, and I think that

A dictionary defines the minimum wage as the lowest wage permitted by law or by special agreement. Many states across the nation have different minimums. The highest minimum wages paid in US states is District of Colombia, which is 12:50 hourly, but still, a lot of people are struggling to survive. The majority people live in the United State are get paid with minimum wages. There are two main things about minimum wage, which are raising money for employees, and allowing low payment for the people who are getting paid minimum wages people.

For the past year there has been a tremendous debate over raising the minimum wage for fast food workers. The current minimum wage is $7.25 but it is being disputed that it’s not enough to live off of as prices are too high in order to survive. Majority of the people who are on strike, and are with raising minimum wage to $15 an hour, are people who work at McDonald’s. I highly disagree with raising the minimum wage for many reasons.

Around 4% of America's hourly workers are paid minimum wage or below ("Minimum Wage"). Even though 4% might not seem like much, minimum wage affects everyone, including the people who write the paycheck and the people earning it. Three million employees and their employers are largely affected by changes in wage ("Minimum Wage"). Ever since 1938 when the first National minimum wage law was passed, minimum wage has been a very controversial topic winning over supporters and critics across the world.

The United States Government established the first federal minimum wage in 1938. Since its inception, most states have also instituted their own minimum wage requirements. The purpose is to ensure that employers are compensating all workers fairly, by preventing them from paying below a mandated level. These laws were enacted to help safeguard the welfare of American workers as a result of the economic instability felt during the Great Depression. Although they were designed to protect workers, history has shown that they often end up causing more harm than good to both the workers they are intended to help and the economy as a whole. This is explained by the Cato Institute’s Mark Wilson in a 2012 report as he states:

“Most poor people earn more than minimum wage when they are working; their problem is not low wages. The problem comes when they are not working” (S. Joseph). Today’s level of pay for the minimum wage is not the problem, and raising it is not the solution. Furthermore, the only thing raising the minimum wage would do is to increase inflation. Inflation will raise all of the prices around us. Prices of gas, milk, and other necessities will increase to a level of which the minimum wage cannot withstand; again, we will be forced to raise it. With that being said, the only two probable solutions are to raise the work hours of the employees, or lower the cost of living; however, this will only be a temporary solution, workers must strive for

There is an argument as to whether the government should be involved in controlling the minimum wage. There needs to be a fair wage and without a law against unfair pay many people would not be able to have enough money to survive so therefore,The government should be involved in raising the minimum wage because it needs to be raised, raising it will help our economy,and the minimum wage protects the poor and inexperienced.

Imagine standing over a scorching grill for hours, taking care of the elderly, both lifting and transporting heavy loads, basically doing back breaking work; only to be making less than $8 and hour. That is the reality for millions of people in the work force who are earning minimum wage. Whether or not minimum wage should be raised has been a question many people have been discussing for years and has become quite controversial. Those opposed to increased minimum wages would argue that a minimum wage salary is already sufficient enough, or in some cases even “too high”. In spite of the opposing sides, it is almost certain that a rise in minimum wage will either positively or negatively affect several aspects of the country. For one, an increase in minimum wage could result in an economic shift. Furthermore, the current poverty level within the country, with the help of a higher minimum wage, would either decrease or as a result. Thirdly, a change in poverty levels caused by a higher minimum wage would ultimately change the amount of government spending and those who receive it. Minimum wage being raised would definitely be impactful not only the people receiving those minimum waged salaries, but also the economy, their families, and even the government funding.

Secondly, minimum wage jobs and how the media portrays them in society. According to Kendall society views the working class as historical relics and jokes, not treating the working poor and working class as any better than the poor or homeless on how the media represents them. People think that the working class is the caricature framing which

“We need to raise the minimum wage to the point where the lowest-paid worker can afford their basic needs.’(David Cooper). Many people have argued that raising the minimum wage from $7.50 an hour to $10.10 would hurt America’s economy and would cause companies to go out of business and employees to be fired. However, increasing the minimum wage would actually benefit America’s economy by boosting economic activity. This would cause more people to find jobs and decrease the amount of people living in poverty.