Minimum Wage vs. Slavery

People all across America believe that minimum wage is a good thing and helps people without an education have a normal life, however others believe it is causing poverty and homelessness among the citizens. Minimum wage was made to provide enough money to live just above the national poverty line.But over the years the cost of living has increased while the minimum wage hasn’t. Today, the national minimum wage is $7.25, which is less powerful than the minimum wage was in 1968. This is because the minimum wage was $1.60 per hour, which seems low but back then $1.60 was enough to support a three person family, whereas today the minimum wage can barely support one person. All throughout  the U.S., workers have been fighting for a higher minimum

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.

In 1938 congress instituted minimum wage with 25 cents an hour being the first wage. After 78 years seven dollars has been the increase of minimum wage, stated by the article listed on, Heritage.org . Every year the cost of living and surviving in this country increases. You would think after 78 years, minimum wage would not be at $7.25. Many college students work part-time jobs that pays minimum wage to have some extra cash in their pockets or pay a few minor bills. Having a part time job is perfectly fine in college, but imagine not being in college, working a minimum wage job. Lets be honest, the pay checks are no where near what you would like them to be or it isn 't enough to cover everything that you want or need. So, imagine not being in college, working a full time job, with rent, children, car note, insurance, and etc. Many adults work minimum wage jobs, barely making it to provide for themselves and their kids. Your probably thinking, "maybe those people should go back to school or look for a better job.” Yes, that is true but for most people, its too late. A better job requires a degree, most people have kids and cant afford to take a couple of hours off or get someone to watch their kids while they attend school, so a minimum wage job is the only option. So, to make a better life for the struggling parents and the needy college students, increasing the minimum wage is a must for various reasons which include decreasing poverty, increasing health, and relieving

A shoemaker in Massachusetts once said, “We are worse treated than the slaves of the south”. The free-laborers were not forced to America in ships, stripped of their culture, their language, and their freedom. The free-laborers were not enslaved. I do not agree with the shoemaker’s statement, but rather believe

These sweatshops employed women and children and paid them far less than a reasonable wage. The minimum wage was created to “help individuals or families achieve self-sufficiency, and, as a result, coverage of minimum wage laws was extended to men and to workers in most low-paid occupations,” (Neumark & Wascher, 2008). Throughout history minimum wage laws have been thought of as the right thing to do, but it is still uncertain if it is the correct way to achieve goals. Although the minimum wage debate had been going on for some time the very first federal wage law was passed in 1938 by Congress as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Moving forward, the next big event in the history of the minimum wage debate occurred in 1981 with the Minimum Wage Study Commission. This covered what was thought to be everything we as a country needed to know about minimum wage. Although some believed that there was still more to be known and in the mid-1990s, where it was found that “Minimum wages play an important role in youth labor markets…[and] the principal intent of the minimum wage [is] helping raise incomes of low-income families,” (Neumark & Wascher, 2008). For the most part, that is still where the debate lingers today, whether raising the minimum wage is the correct way of helping people live on reasonable salaries and what that means for young people working low-income jobs.

The current minimum wage is $7.25, which equals two gallons of milk, one fast food meal or two gallons of gas. Can you imagine yourself working 12-hours a day and only having enough money to pay for rent and put food on the table for your family? With working all

Minimum wage is an important and hot topic throughout the world, especially America. The minimum wage is the lowest amount of salary that an employer can give to their employees for their work. The federal minimum wage is covered under the Fair Labor Standards Act, also known as FLSA. The FLSA covers standards for government, local, and state employees, including overtime pay and record keeping. This protects the rights of the employers. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, FDR, was the first president to establish the idea of minimum wage in 1938 due to the economic downfall of the Great Depression. (“History of Minimum Wage”) The Great Depression was a huge recession for the economy and for the people. Since FDR applied the minimum wage, the minimum wage keeps increasing over the years. According to Bebusinnessed website, the first year with minimum started at twenty-five cents an hour, which is equal to around four dollars and fifteen cents in USD in present currency (“History of Minimum Wage”). Over time and many presidents later, in 2016, our lowest minimum wage is seven dollars and twenty-five cents. From the numbers presented on this website, the minimum wage seems to be increasing and getting better with time, but in fact, the government is not to kept up with the current “real” dollar amount. Nowadays, parent employees cannot fully support their children. The real question, in our society, should minimum wage be increased or decreased in order to fulfill both the government

Minimum wage is the lowest amount of pay that employers can legally pay their workers. Minimum wage in the United States, is set at $7.25, the federal government takes out up to 12 percent of the whole payment for taxes. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) are the ones who

Minimum Wage History and How It Affects Jobs The minimum wage in the United States has been an ongoing controversy for many years now. The first minimum wage was established in 1938 (Reich, 2015, P. 3). That minimum wage started out at .25 cents an hour; compared to today’s higher wage of a government standard of $7.25 an hour. Many people believe that the minimum wage should be more so that those who live below the poverty level in the United States will decrease, however in many other people’s opinions the minimum wage should be the same. The minimum wage should stay the same at a low $7.25.

This is due to the ultimate purpose of minimum wage, the fear of unemployment, and inflation. Mike Patton states, “After all, the minimum wage was never intended to be a career salary, but rather a stepping stone to bigger and better things” (par. 2). This means minimum wage was only supposed to help people who are starting off. Eventually, Congress predicted they would be promoted or move to a higher paying job with the experience they earned. Today, there are not many minimum wage workers coming from families in poverty (“History and Debate of Minimum Wage,” par. 5). Most of these workers are young, who still have support from their parents or other family members. These young workers fit the image Congress had in mind when creating minimum

There is quite an extensive history to minimum wage, people have fought for the raise of minimum wage for many years, and may for more to come. There has always been people in poverty fighting to pay for food and working many different jobs to survive but that has always made them want a higher wage per hour. "Roman Catholic clergyman John Ryan wrote his doctoral thesis on the right of the worker in 1906... Ryan argued that a living wage was a basic right of the worker, not a benefit." (ProQuest 1) What he is saying is this is a privilege given by the government. It is not

Minimum Wage Civil rights are meant to ensure people’s physical and mental integrity, safety and life. Civil rights are not meant to be separated between race, gender, nationality, origin, color, sexuality, ethnicity, religion, or disabilities.Civil rights also include the individual rights that include protection of speech and religion. Minimum wage is considered a civil right because it is to be protected for people to have physical integrity in the thought of you being able to eat. Mental integrity is also a part of minimum wage because people are always stressed with bills and payments. The point of minimum wage is to be able to live a life where you can provide for you family and be making the least amount of money that you can make in a community. Minimum wage rights are argued about because some people feel the minimum wage is not high enough for a person to live off of. People have to rely on food stamps and government help for their nutrition. there are people that are embarrassed of going to a supermarket and paying with federal money given to them by taxpayers. There are people that have to deal with this because of previous generations of their family and are never able to perspire because they have to drop out of school to work full time to relive tension of their family bills. Should federal minimum wage be raised so that people that are underprivileged can live a more comfortable life which will result in higher taxes and inflammation and the possible removing

Minimum wage is at a drastically low number. It has been 9 years since the last raise in 2009. The minimum wage is way to low for people to live off of. Minimum wage is essential for businesses to have a starting pay that is enough for people to be able to provide for themselves and their family. America needs to make a stand to raise the wage. The minimum wage needs to be raised in order for people to provide for themselves, for the US to keep up with other world leaders, and in doing so it will only better the economy.

Many struggle to support their family, pay bills, and buy food on $15000 a year. Minimum wage has been causing a lot of controversy for years now, but nobody does anything to fix the problem. The main reason minimum wage is not being fixed is the rich business owner will have to spend more.People say that minimum wage jobs are easy and pay too much, but they are actually very underpaid and hard for many. One person can survive fine on $15000 a year but three or four can’t. This is one of two reasons why minimum wage should be

Pros and Cons of Minimum Wage The argument for minimum wage has remained remake consistent over the years. Some people are against minimum wage and the other think minimum wage can help you in a certain way. In the midst of the Great Depression, the Unites States federal government passed the Fair Labor Standards Act. The law has been amended almost every year to expand coverage of the wage floor and to increase the wage itself. Many of the fifty states have enacted their own minimum wage laws, some of them set even higher than the federal level. Minimum wage jobs don’t only help adults at hard times it help teenagers and college students. I learned that the proponents for minimum wage believe the raw value of one’s labor to a business