Minimum wage is defined by the dictionary as “the lowest wage paid or permitted to be paid; specifically: a wage fixed by legal authority or by contract as the least that may be paid either to employed persons generally or to a particular category of employed persons.” Minimum wage is also referred to as the living wage. For many in and out of the political arena, minimum wage, is a topic of debate. The discussion involves the fairness of the current wage and the need to raise this wage to correlate with the inflation rate. While arguments can be rightly justified for both sides, many people have a strong opinion about increasing this wage, especially the workers themselves. This topic is part of a larger discussion about changing the …show more content…
Furthermore, continuing with what Hoar stated, an increased minimum wage could result in massive layoffs. It’s quite logical; the more money a business is required to pay its workers, the fewer workers they can hire. Max Ehrenfreud states, “The city is gradually increasing the hourly minimum to $15 over several years. Already, though, some employers have not been able to afford the increased minimums. They've cut their payrolls, putting off new hiring, reducing hours or letting their workers go.” This shows that an increased wage in Seattle has had negative effects on many minimum waged individuals. This could also hurt the city and result in people venturing out of Seattle to find more promising areas to work. Others argue a raise should be earned, not simply given to every minimum wage worker. Most minimum wage businesses already make it possible for their employees to earn a raise, so they feel it is unnecessary to institute a raise. Those feeling this way generally would like it to stay the same and would prefer a raised based solely off the amount of hard work done and the quality of the worker, rather than every employee automatically getting one. Furthermore, being noticed for working hard and a potential
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.
A family sits at a restaurant and notices that the prices of the food have increased. Minimum wage has increased to $15 per hour, the owners raise the prices of the food and servers no longer have to rely on tips to make a profit. Upon receiving the bill, the family decides not to tip due to the server making $15 an hour and the increased prices. If the minimum wage does increase, producers will have to increase prices causing consumers to demand less. With an increase in minimum wage, unemployment rates will rise, prices will surge, and employee benefits will fall.
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.
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
Minimum wage should be increased because Parents that don't have degrees are struggling providing their families. People that have not gotten degrees because they could not afford them or have had families early and do not have the time or resources to go to school can not get a job that pays over minimum wage, most of the time. For instance, the employees that work on minimum wage in California have to work 130 hours a week to afford two bedrooms, this is the reason that the government supports the low income families. Raising it would help these people afford to support their families on their own. Also the minimum wage is not keeping up with inflation making it harder and harder for people to afford things, which is affecting the economy even more because people are not buying, or they will buy cheap things that are made somewhere else, which
According to investopedia.com, “minimum wage is the minimum amount of compensation an employee must receive for performing labor. Minimum wages are typically established by contract or legislation by the government. As such, it is illegal to pay an employee.” The minimum wage is something that many people start off when commencing their own dependent life. Many lower classes depend on the minimum wage so that they can feed their families and try to live a prosperous life. The minimum wage in the United States can be underestimated, and many do not view it as an important role in the economy. The minimum wage in the U.S should be raised due to the positive effects it may have on the labor workers, the increase in productivity, and the benefits it may bring to minimum wage workers.
Another effect of raising the minimum wage is the expectation of higher paid, skilled workers, to also receive an increase in pay, further eating into a company’s profits. All of this results in higher unemployment. Unemployment in turn, can lead to homelessness and more expense on a government to provide for those unemployed and homeless individuals. This can also lead to more government funds being needed to address health concerns of these individuals.
Minimum wage has been a major discussion in our country approximately two dozen times ever since it was instituted in 1938 with the Fair Labor Standards Act. In the beginning, employers complained and argued because of their mindset that the raise was now another “cost.” Now, none of them have complained because they can afford to send their children to high quality colleges and they can take a Sunday drive in their Cadillacs. They did not see in 1938 that the raise is not a “cost,” as they had considered it. It allows for a decrease in poverty, and allows companies who can rise with the economy to thrive while those who cannot now leave an opening for a company who is willing to follow the new guidelines successfully.
Think about what minimum wage can really do. Raising the minimum wage can affect more people and businesses than you think it would. It is important that the minimum wage is not raised so millions of people are not losing their jobs. Many negative things can happen by raising the minimum wage. Raising the minimum wage may sound like a good thing now, but if you think about the big picture afterwards it would seem like a dangerous thing to do. Minimum wage should not be raised because teens education should be more important, making it higher can cause many problems for businesses, and the prices of things would go up, and many jobs would be lost.
In our society today, there have been many debates about whether the minimum wage should be raised or not. Minimum wage is consider as an implicit policy because it targets individuals, but can still affect a whole group. Some have argued that it will do more harm than actually benefit, others believe it will benefit the economy and help lessen poverty. But can a family survive on a minimum wage when healthy food cost more than their budget, or having teens prioritizing work over school because of poverty and having worker be paid for the amount of contribution they give to big companies like fast food? All of these are valid reasons why minimum wage should be raised.
The topic of minimum wage has been an ongoing discussion for a long time, and the discussion will always be a topic in our society. The current Florida minimum wage requirement is 8.05. With this being said, Florida minimum wage is way too low for a person to support themselves in the correct manner. If a person is making eight dollars and five cents an hour, there is no way he or she would be able to pay for bills, school, insurance, etc. People that I personally know that work minimum wage jobs have humungous troubles with debt, and loans they must pay back. To be working full time you must be working at least forty hours a week. Even working forty hours a week at eight dollars and five cents an hour, you would be making somewhere around twelve hundred dollars a month. Making this much a month is nearly impossible to support yourself successfully, not to mention if you have a family that depends on you to have money to afford necessities, such as food, and shelter. Increasing the minimum wage for workers would benefit the people, so they are able to afford insurance, bills, their families, and all the necessities for living a well life.
Do you believe minimum wage should be raised? Minimum wage means that a person is earning $7.25 or less per hour depending on their occupation. For many years now, minimum wage has been a huge controversy. I believe many people that work and earn above minimum wage believes that minimum wage should not be raised. Whereas the other people that is working and earning minimum wage believe that it should be raised. Raising minimum wage may have more positive than negative outcomes and increasing it can help many people in different ways. Three reasons why minimum wage should be raised are poverty, it would increase consumer spending, and it would improve the people earning minimum wage health.
Do Americans enjoy seeing their fellow Americans struggle? Many people would generally feel morally obligated to help someone struggling financially in our economy. Yet, no matter how hard an employee works, they can’t seem to make ends meet because wages are substantially low. It would be great if these hardworking Americans that work to provide for their families could see their hard work through their paychecks. These workers are working long hours and are struggling to survive, most of whom are living paycheck-to-paycheck. There seems to be a simple solution to fix this problem: Raise minimum wage.
Imagine counting spare change everyday hoping you have enough money to buy something to eat because your child has been in a state of hunger for what feels like years. The child is in a drab state, her young once bright eyes becoming duller by the day. Imagine just for a quick second that you don't have anything to give her, you can simply pray that she can escape this hell of a life one day. And what if you were doing all that you could for her by working three menial, minimum wage jobs and still couldn’t provide her with all that she needed? That’s exactly what is affecting millions of families across the nation. This issue is seen as a vicious circle that will not be resolved unless it is seen as the complex issue that affects our citizens in such a way that many would not be able to survive on this level.
Ron is a 21-year-old living in Los Angeles with his wife and child. He wakes up at 4 A.M. every morning and starts his day waiting for the bus to go to work; he cannot afford a personal vehicle. Ron works two jobs, one is full-time at a grocery store, and the other is part-time at a fast-food restaurant. Both of his jobs pay minimum wages and offer him no benefits. He and his wife both feel the strain of having to earn multiple incomes just to make ends meet. As a result, they have no choice but to live on public assistance, including food stamps and cash aid. Ron is just one of many Americans who is trying to sustain a family while living on a minimum wage income. The current minimum wage is not enough for a family to afford the basic necessities of life. By increasing the minimum wage families like Ron's would be given an equal opportunity to emerge from poverty, and therefore, raise their standard of living and improve their quality of life.