Persuasive Essay On Minimum Wage

Raising the minimum wage federally is a big challenge for the United States to overcome. There are different perspectives across the people on whether the minimum wage is fair. A state reserves the power to adjust the minimum wage within the state. Raising the minimum wage in a state like California to fifteen dollars an hour would be great. Increasing the minimum wage will promote economic growth. I agree raising the minimum wage is the fairest way to help low wage workers, but disagree it is the most economically efficient way.

All 50 states have their own minimum wages and make their own laws on how much they want to pay an employee. “There are 2 states than have a minimum wage set lower than the federal minimum wage. There are 29 states plus the District of Columbia with minimum wage rates set higher than the federal minimum wage. There are 14 states that have a minimum wage requirement that is the same as the federal minimum wage requirement. The remaining 5 states do not have an established minimum wage requirement.” (WHD, 2017). In the state of Minnesota there are two different minimum wages. The minimum wage for small employers (Enterprise with annual receipts

Minimum wage affects many people and by understanding its evolvement throughout the years we can better understand how our government can better provide for those working minimum wage jobs today. Inequality is an inevitable factor in a capitalist market, people need proper incentives to work hard and be productive, and the incentive of more money or more opportunity is the driving force of capitalism and even the American dream. However there are several current complications that even those who are actively employed are living under the poverty line, like stated previously minimum wage from when it was first implemented raised along with inflation but then began to lose momentum in the 1970s and since then it began to stagnate and then drop along with increased inflation; if minimum wage were to be raise to $10.10 to become congruent with inflation it would bring 4 million people above the poverty line. Congress instituted the minimum wage in 1938 as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The first minimum wage stood at 25 cents an hour. The last minimum wage increase occurred in 2007, when Congress raised the rate in steps from $5.15 an hour that year to $7.25 an hour in July 2009. The District of Columbia and 19 states have also established local minimum wages higher than the federal rate. The highest state minimum wage in the country occurs in Washington State at $9.32 an hour, however

Over that time, the value of a minimum-wage income has fallen nearly 10 percent due to rising prices. Yet this decline is small in comparison to the drop in value of the minimum wage over the past four decades. After rising in line with economy-wide productivity in the three decades following its inception in 1938, the federal minimum wage has been raised so inadequately and so infrequently since the late 1960s that today’s minimum-wage workers make roughly 25 percent less in inflation-adjusted terms than their counterparts 45 years ago.” The raise of past minimum wage was to help people that lived during that time frame. For example the crash in 2009 had a bad effect on America and its economy, which is when the minimum wage was

The Democrats and the independents were in favor of increasing the federal minimum wage, but the Republicans were evenly split about that proposal. The efforts to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 per hour have stalled but Los Angeles, New York state to Washington, D.C. have started to act on their own to raise the minimum wage rates. In order to achieve a good balance in income distribution, the government try to stop the rich from getting richer and the poor from getting poorer. This is the way the federal and state governments balance income distribution and keep the minimum wages laws the way they are. Another study examined how teenage employment and school enrollment changed after states raised their minimum wage (Neumark and Wascher, 1996). The minimum wage determines what the employers can pay for labor. An increase in job loss is a reason for not increasing the minimum wage in New Jersey. “Los Angeles lawmakers Tuesday voted to boost the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020, the largest city to try to help its lowest paid workers survive amid the nation’s growing income inequality” (Winter, USA

President Obama wants Congress to pass a law that requires an increase in minimum wage to 10.10 an hour. Congress continues to stall in this matter. Fourteen states have already raised their minimum wage rates as of January 1, 2016. There has been positive growth in these states. One reporter writes, "In the 13 states that boosted their minimums at the beginning of the year, the number of jobs grew an average of 0.85 percent from January through June. The average for the other 37 states was 0.61 percent” (NPR.org).

Yes, each state does have its own cost of living, but by targeting the federal minimum wage it can serve as a safety net to all states. A mandatory amount of minimum wage for all states will ensure that any low paid worker will be able to live above the poverty line. From there, states will be able to increase the amount if they choose.

In today’s society a lot of the different countries around the world have established some sort of minimum wage. The first minimum wage law in the United States was established in 1912 in the state of Massachusetts. Several states would follow suit over the next two decades, and, in 1938 at the height of the Great Depression Congress established the first federal minimum wage as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The minimum wage was last increased (to $3.35) in 1981. Since then, average hourly wages have risen by 25 percent, eliminating any momentum for a lower minimum wage for youth but reviving proposals for another increase in the nominal minimum (Brown, 1988).

Every state has its own minimum wage. The minimum wage is the lowest amount of money a job can pay you. In my state, which is Florida, the minimum wage is $8.10 an hour, meaning that when I am employed in Florida they have to at least pay $8.10 an hour depending on the job. The minimum wage should not be raised higher than what it is now because raising the minimum wage could hurt the most vulnerable people. I believe that it should not be raised because it can hurt the most vulnerable of people, unemployment rates would go up higher than what it is now, and people not being able to afford housing and everyday essentials.

¨Anita lives in Phoenix and has a degree in economics. She has four children, two of whom have special needs. She is regularly forced to choose between working enough hours to put food on the table and taking her kids to a long list of doctor’s appointments. Anita had to take her son with down syndrome to 11 doctors appointments in the past week. She receives state assistance and says, “you can’t judge people who are working, but still need to get help. I’m not a lazy person, trust me. A raise in the minimum wage is just about fairness, and about giving people a fighting chance to achieve the American Dream.” (¨Brave People Tell Department of Labor their Struggles Living on Minimum Wage¨).¨ This is just one example of the life of one single minimum wage worker. With minimum wage only being $7.50 an hour, or an average of $15,080 a year, wages are not enough to supply for the needs of a whole family. (¨The Minimum Wage Used To Be Enough To Keep Workers Out Of Poverty—It’s Not Anymore¨). Raising the minimum wage would be very beneficial for the economy and allow for people to spend fewer hours working and spending more hours with their loved ones.

Merriam Webster Dictionary defines minimum wage as “the lowest wage paid or permitted to be paid; specifically, a wage fixed by legal authority or by contract”. In the United States, the question of raising the minimum wage is a serious controversial problem that has been discussed by Economists and Government members for years. In fact, statistics found in The Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the rate of minimum wage in the United States in 2017 is $7.25 per hour for a worker which is more than it was in 1950s. While the minimum wage has fallen behind the living cost, and should be raised to entertain a household, I believe that it should remain the same because it will not remove unskilled workers from poverty.

The Federal Minimum wage was implemented by president Franklin Roosevelt in 1938. Minimum wage was set at $0.25 at this time to help the people sustain a happy healthy and efficient life. In today's society your gonna need more than $0.25 an hour to live, better yet survive. That’s why the bare minimum wage today is at $7.25 per hour. Through the years the world has advanced and prices have increased this is why minimum wage has been increased since that time and is still changing. This may be the bare minimum the Federal Reserve requires for states that do not have laws for minimum wage but, not all states have the same minimum wage. Each state can have laws on what the minimum wage is in that state. Since some places are more expensive to live than others, its is practical that the the area that is more expensive to live in has a higher minimum wage than the other. For example the minimum wage in South Carolina is the Federal Reserve's minimum of $7.25 and the minimum wage in New York is about $9.70 depending on amount of workers and all that good stuff, the point is, the cost of living may be greater in New York than it is in South carolina. Some people in the United states want the minimum wage to increase and then there are some who do not. Well who wouldn't want more money you might ask? It's not as great as it seems, yes it would be great for everyone in the United states for their paycheck to increased, but you have to look outside the box and think about the

Minimum wage is the lowest wage permitted by law or by a special agreement (such as one with a labor union). The minimum wage here in Texas is 7.25 an hour. To me this seems fit, however there are those that want to be paid more. Some people claim to be struggling with the minimum that our state has to offer. Getting payed more will not solve the problem. I know for a fact that if the minimum wage would raise so would the cost of living and so forth. The value of the dollar will decline, that is something that can cause serious problems. If it were up to me I would leave things as they are. I am a college student who has survived on a minimum wage job. I knew what my responsibilities were. I understand that most are single mothers. I would consider this a special case. I know for a fact that what needs to be improved is our job opportunities, not our pay. Half the time people just do not enjoy their job, and that is why they want to get paid more. What needs to improve are the people, the opportunities, and the idea of work. I do think that there may one day be some middle ground when it comes to finding the equilibrium when it comes to minimum wage and the jobs that require them.

when looking at the minimum wage many should be aware of how it’s affecting people in poverty. Many people in poverty work for low paying jobs as a career because of the lack of skills they have which doesn’t allow them to live a standard life, meaning they may not have the best wealth, but it provides them with enough support to pay finances and essentials to live. Minimum wage contributes to poverty by the poor not being able to afford to live a standard of living due to the lack of skills they have, for that reason, the minimum wage should increase where the poor are able to sustain a living and be able to get out of poverty without any crime involved.

The minimum wage debate, has gained a lot of traction in the recent years; however, it wasn’t always like that. The first federal minimum wage laws were passed in 1938 by the then elected President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, known as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) mandating that employers pay workers a heaping $0.25 cents an hour. This law not only mandated minimum wage laws, but it also covered things such as youth employment standards, overtime pay, and the standards for government employees amongst other things. This was a huge step for the American economy and social activism at a time when child labor was rampant, working conditions were terrible, and employers could opt out of paying a person their earned wages. Over the course of time with new presidents elected and an economy booming, the federal minimum wage has increased over 22 times from $0.25 cents to a now $7.25, which was passed in July 2009 by President Barack Obama. With the rise of the United States economy and poverty at an all-time high many activists argue that $7.25 an hour just isn’t enough for Americans to live comfortably. However, will raising the minimum wage really solve the poverty issue? Advocates for the rise of minimum wage along with both political parties, from the left to the right, seek to eliminate this issue – poverty, which is what minimum wage is aim towards eliminating. Although both sides of the argument can find common ground for helping ease the poverty