Persuasive Essay On Minimum Wage

Minimum wages laws fluctuate throughout all fifty (50) states. The federal government has minimum wage set at $7.25. Although the government has the law in place, states and cities must right to increase the minimum wage, but they are not allowed to decrease the value below the federal law. According to Caplinger, there are about twenty- one (21) states that have a minimum wage higher than the national level. These states that have higher minimum wage tend to have a higher population. For example, California, as a state, has decided to increase their minimum wage law due to the standard of living. This law to raise minimum wage to ¬¬¬$10.50 in California is in progress to take effect in January 2018(Kravosky). Some cities within states, can create their own minimum wage. Cities create these minimum wages based on the population size, cost of living, and size of the city. For example, Atlanta, Georgia has a minimum wage of $15 an hour but the state of Georgia has minimum wage set

Before people push a minimum wage increase, they need to be totally aware of all of the positive and negative results and consequences that might occur as a result. The issue concerning what to do about the minimum wage has served as an ongoing controversy amongst several people. The federal minimum wage should not be raised for several reasons including the harmful effect on small businesses, the increase of poverty, and the augmentation of competition for jobs.

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.

The topic of raising minimum wage seems to attract a multitude of controversy. On one side, experts agree that raising a family on one minimum wage salary is almost impossible for someone who puts in fairly large work hours. Nonetheless, business owners agree that increasing these salaries will result in significantly less jobs, as well as force them to increase the prices on their consumer products. Federally, minimum wage workers earn $7.25 an hour, totaling up to $15,080 annually, with approximately six hours of working time per day. However, the price varies with state, with places like Massachusetts and Washington paying $11 to workers hourly.

The first federal minimum wage mandated by the government was in 1938. When the first minimum wage became law in 1938, it was set at just 25 cents. Today, the federal minimum wage mandated by the government is set at $7.25 an hour. “Many states have their own set minimum wages, which are currently above $7.25 per hour already. Currently, 29 states and the District of Columbia (D.C.) have minimum wages above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. D.C. 's new wage of $10.50 an hour makes it the first jurisdiction to cross the $10 threshold among the states,” (Halvorson). The last time that the federal minimum wage mandated by the government was changed was over 8 years ago. “The last time Congress voted to raise the minimum wage to its current rate of $7.25 an hour was on May 24, 2007. Since then, the cost of life 's essentials has shot up. Groceries cost 20% more, a gallon of gas costs 25% more, and average tuition at a community college increased 44%. But the minimum wage remains at

Now the question is what is minimum wage. “An amount of money that is the least amount of money per hour that workers must be paid according to the law” (Merriam Webster’s learner’s dictionary). According to United States department of Labor “The federal minimum wage for covered nonexempt employees is $ 7.25 per hour effectively July 24, 2009” (Department of labor/ Minimum wage).

Other states that have recently voted on raising minimum wage include Washington ($9.32), Oregon ($9.10), California ($9.00), and

In 1938, the first national minimum wage laws in the United States were passed as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which served as “a floor below wages,” to reduce poverty and to ensure that economic growth is shared across the workforce. Today, many people who work for companies that pay at or near the minimum wage and remain near or below the poverty level rely on government health and food security and income programs to supplement their living expenses. Since 1938, there have been many additional policies to the Fair Labor Standards Act that have changed many things, such as increasing the national minimum wage numerous times to the currently salary level, which was set in 1997. The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 was a policy to change the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 in three additions, which began in July of 2009. (http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/posters/minwagebwp.pdf)

Since then there have been an increasing number of states that increased minimum wage in their states. According to the National Conference of State Legislators in 2014 29 states and D.C have minimum wages above the federal minimum wage. In 2016 New York will raise the minimum wage in New York City to $15 per hour by the end of 2018 and in California it increases the minimum wage to $15 per hour by Jan. 1, 2022, for employers with 26 or more employees and for employers with 25 or fewer employees the minimum wage will reach $15 per hour by Jan. 1, 2023. Many states are moving toward increasing the minimum age and the President is also one of

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.

The federal minimum wage is a clearly defined wage that must be paid by businesses to their employees. Failure to accommodate the federal minimum wage is violation of federal law and punishable by the Wage and Hour Division of the United States Department of Labor. Debate over the minimum wage rate has been revived in recent years, largely due to President Barack Obama’s belief that the minimum wage should be increased. Currently the minimum wage stands at $7.25 per hour. The minimum wage is $2.13 for a worker who receives tips, assuming that the wage with tips amounts to at least the federal minimum wage. There appears to be a fairly even split in those who believe the wage should be increased and those who believe it should not change; this would be the reason debate over the issue

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).

In United States the minimum wage is been set by a network of federal, state, and local laws. Workers are generally been paid no less than the statutory minimum wage as specified by the government. As of July 2009, the federal government officially ordered a nationwide minimum wage level of $7.25 per hour. The federal minimum wage was at its highest at 10 dollars in 1968, as measured in 2014. Since then there were controversial debates over the

The flow chart above was taken from a study done on California’s minimum wage. Currently California’s minimum wage is $10.50, significantly higher than $7.25, and remains a well-functioning state. In fact, the state is so well functioning that it is being proposed that minimum wage for that state be raised to an even higher $15 an hour.

Minimum wage laws decisively determine the lowest hourly wage employers can pay employees. Journalist Al Krulick explains and summarizes the minimum wage laws. In America, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 set by the Fair Labors Standards Act. States have the right to alter the minimum wage to either more or less; however, the employee will always receive the higher wage between the federal and a state. If the minimum wage in a particular state is lower than the federal, then the employee is entitled to