Persuasive Essay On Minimum Wage

One of the biggest political topics in today's society is the federal minimum wage and whether it should be raised or kept at where it is now at $7.25 an hour. Arguments could be made for both sides on whether it should be raised or left alone. The majority of minimum wage in today’s job market are unskilled positions. Minimum wage jobs were created for teenagers and colleges kids as a way to get into the workforce and to have a little extra money for themselves. It was not designed to be a wage for people to live on. Increasing the minimum wage would hurt the economy by hurting small businesses, a huge loss of jobs and it would increase the competition between teens and adults. Overall if the federal minimum wage is increased it will have many negative effects on the economy.

Several examples of data and statistics from studies elucidate the harmful effects on small businesses and in addition the compelling of companies to close as a result of the increase of minimum wage. According to a Gallup poll that took place in 2013, 60% of small business owners agreed that an increase in minimum wage would be harmful to their small businesses (Should the Federal). Small businesses do not have the money supply that chain corporations do. Naturally, if they had to pay their employees more, it would be harmful to them. Several Walmart stores have closed and Walmart stores that were yet to open have closed as a result of an increase in the minimum wage (Should the Federal). An increase in the minimum wage must even have harmful effects on larger businesses. They obviously employ several more people than a small business, so they have to pay each worker more resulting in a net loss of a lot of money from the chain. Additionally, in several work places, if the minimum wage were increased, the wages of those who hold higher positions would have to be increased. For example, if the amount of money that the minimum wage dishwasher or table busser in a restaurant increased, then the chef and manager would need to be paid accordingly. If the minimum wage were to increase, it would be detrimental to both small and large businesses.

The main reason raising the minimum wage radically would kill the economy is the pressure it would place on small businesses. According to TheWashingtonPost.com article, Small Businesses are the backbone of the economy. They also cited that many studies from the U.S. Small Business Administration show small firms employ just

Jobs will be lost if the minimum wage increases. Employers won’t pay employees more than their worth. If the minimum wage was, let’s say, $15 per hour, employers

Minimum wage has a big impact on the economy and has the potential to harm it. Raising minimum wage to the right amount is a key to keeping the economy safe. If minimum wage is increased to $10.10, it will increase economic activity and create more jobs. Raising minimum wage too high will harm businesses and the economy. In an article by Lauren Dixon, she wrote that “If a new minimum wage is set low and close to labor costs, there would be minimal harm to business; if set too high,

In a previously mentioned 2007 article from James Sherk, American small businesses would have to hire fewer workers with an increased minimum wage. What exactly does this mean? This means that the business' ability to expand by hiring more workers at minimum wage will be greatly reduced. According to an article from the Guarding in April 2015 from Ucilia Wang, small businesses employ nearly half of the private sector workforce in the United States. Jane Mcquin owner of a small business in New York said about an increased minimum wage "At this point as a startup it would put me out of business." That’s not the only small business owner to fear an increased minimum wage, Melissa Otto, owner of a dog care business in Santa Monica California said "We employ up to six people at any given time and increasing the minimum wage would ruin us. We provide a service – dog walking – and are already at the max of what clients will pay. There is no room for an increase." The same article also found out that the increased minimum wage forced some small businesses to increases prices by as much as 20% of what they were with the previous minimum wage. Theses increased prices can lead to customers not wanting to return to restaurants or businesses because of the high prices for the same service and the same product as before, only difference is the

There are two sides to the minimum wage issue. Many small business are already struggling to make ends meet before the minimum wage was increased. The minimum wage being increased can cause goods for store to go up. Small business that are already barely making it, are going to need to pay workers close to $8,200 more a year, says NPR. Promotion 206 would slowly increase the minimum wage to 12. 00 dollars by 2020. For business that allows employees to be tipped are allowed to pay the employee up to 3. 00 below the minimum wage ,but as long as the tips that are earned are distributed to the employee would bring that rate at least up to the minimum wage. (ballotpedia) The rise and fall in minimum wage can help and hurt the economy both ways and how that works is very interesting. The big idea of raising minimum wage is to protect the worker at all cost and assume that the owner of the business is doing just fine. America is built on small business and this can damage the economy servilely.

Raising the minimum wage raises worries on the middle class about their development in the future economy, while economists and small businesses are also concerned. Advocates promoting a raise to the minimum wage are reducing attainable opportunities for small and new businesses to develop. Business owners concentrate on the outcome of raising the minimum wage instead of the effect on working people. In “measuring the full impact of Minimum and Living Wage Laws,” Wicks-Lim urges wage workers that increasing the federal wage will have costly consequences on the economy. The minimum wage will force large ripple effects to take place as prices rise to cover the new wage. Moreover, “the increase in the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 per hour will contribute to a higher unemployment rate.” (Dorn) The business community warns that ripple effects will eventually take place if the federal wage is increased, aiming at small business owners to close or lay off low-wage workers. Raising the cost of products will drive away customers and end the shopping experience by shopping online rather than paying for the services in the stores. Small businesses are already laying off low-skilled workers and investing in self-service tablets, robotics, and other labor saving devices in anticipation of a lower minimum wage.

As for small businesses being harmed by an increase in minimum wage, Batra proves that a rise in minimum wage, as long as it is not faster than the rise in prices, will not adversely affect the businesses’ profits. He says that a business’s profit equals the revenue, less wage costs and all other costs. Batra offers an example with a popular fast-food franchise:

Increasing the minimum wage would cause rising prices, raise the unemployment, and hurt small business owners.

Firstly, increasing minimum wage would negatively affect firm’s profits, and this would indirectly lead to decline in employment declining and job losses. Increasing labor costs would aggravate the burden on businesses profits. The marginal cost would go up significantly due to increasing labor costs, and businesses would find ways to protect and maximize their profits like reducing the quality of inputs and final goods or hire less labour than usual. However, raising the minimum wage too much would put a lot of poor people out of work. Businesses would hire fewer workers and replace them with more automation that would lead to more job losses

With many people in the modern day working for minimum wage jobs, especially young adults, there has been an outbreak in protests with many working under these conditions arguing that the minimum wage should be increased from 7.25 to at least 10.00 dollars an hour. It is found that “45% of minimum wage workers are aged 16-24” (US Department of Labor). What is not known to this age group and others working in minimum wage is that there can be unpredicted consequences of raising the federal minimum wage. This list of cons that can come along with a rising minimum wage includes the forcing of businesses to lay off workers, the hurting and closing of businesses, the rise in consumer good prices, and the tendency for companies to replace workers

The Congressional Budget Office predicted that increasing minimum wage to $10.10 would result in the loss of a half a million jobs. Some business could be forced to close without the extra money needed now needed to pay their workers. Small businesses in particular would be harmed, but large ones would as well. According to Forbes, increased minimum wage caused several Wal-Mart stores to close and prevented the opening of several others. Instead of many people making too little money from a low minimum wage, people will only be able to find work for fewer hours, and many will be unemployed and unable to make any money at

Raising federal minimum wage would hurt many small businesses. In a Gallup Poll in 2013, it gathered small businesses owners and said that raising minimum wage would hurt small businesses. According to the Vice President of fast food chain White Castle, predicted that if the minimum wage increased to fifteen dollars that thousands of workers will be laid off or close a lot of stores. If a small business owner have to raise their minimum wage then they would have to make choices that could affect the struggling economy. Examples of choices that could affect the economy are he or she could make less of a profit, raise prices, and lay people off from work. . Businesses could raise prices of their goods to make up for their loss in wages. This effect may anger the customers. A Purdue University study that increasing minimum wage of fast food restaurants workers states that, “ $15 or $22 per hour would result in a price increase of 4.3% and 25% respectively ” ( Should the Federal). This shows that all fast food restaurants prices of their

Therefore; I believe that increasing minimum wage will affect the small business owners as well as in young adults that are looking for jobs. The Federal will increase the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 will not be enough for young people to support their families, paying off their house rent and will likely have to work two jobs to survive. It is true that increasing minimum wage does look like a good way for the economy however it is not a way to keep the unemployment rate down. If the Federal minimum wage is increasing then business owners will not be able to make profit due to increasing wage for employees. The business has no choice except to reduce the staffing or cutting down the hours of the employees to offset the increase of the minimum wage.