Persuasive Essay On Minimum Wage

but in 2015 the minimum wage was raised 11.25 dollars an hour which in total of growth of jobs is 2.7

A fifteen dollar an hour minimum wage will affect over three hundred thousand workers and cost over two hundred twenty eight million dollars over the next five years(Deng 1). San Francisco raised the minimum wage to fifteen dollars an hour. That being said The Mark Perry of the American Enterprise Institution, Adam Ozimek and Stephen Bronars of Edgewood Economics reported that since the increase many restaurants and hotels have laid off workers (Puzder 1). This comes as no surprise since in 2014 the Congressional Budget Office found that increasing the minimum wage to ten dollars and ten cents an hour would result in 500,000 job losses ( Puzder 1). As of right now 6.5 million Americans are working part time because they’re unable to find full-time jobs and opportunities ( Puzder 1). Raising minimum wage is only going to hurt those that are currently part time, unemployed and the upcoming generation of young adults just now about to enter the working

This has resulted in millions of Americans struggling in poverty despite having a full-time job. Although many Americans work 40 hours or more each week, their wages are low enough that they must rely on benefits from food stamps, as well as other public assistance, to sustain themselves and their families.”(Cardenas). As described in the article people do not get the opportunity to have enough money for their family. These low-income families have to get help from the government to get food and help to pay bills. Working at a place with nearly no money made from the minimum wage and having to raise children is a problem with the low salary now at $8.25. Raising the

Many fast food workers and minimum wage employees have been protesting recently, in hopes of increasing the federal minimum wage. States such as Seattle, that have already increased the minimum wage to $15 per hour, and California, that has approved a bill that will change the minimum wage to $13 per hour in 2017, have already jumped on board with the movement. President Obama and many other protesters around the country who are fighting for the increase in the minimum wage believe that the raise will decrease poverty among Americans and provide a stable income to support a family, or serve as a livable wage (Lee). Instead of creating a positive impact on those in need, increasing the minimum wage will affect the lives of lower-income, lower-skilled workers in a negative way. According to conventional economic analysis, employment levels for lower-income workers in jobs such as fast food, or any job that pays minimum wage, have steadily decreased with the rises in the wage (“Effects of Raising”). While it will negatively affect the lower-income workers, the other half of Americans who work for higher wages and are not in poverty, will have increased incomes (“Effects of Raising”). Raising the wage will not produce the desired outcome and will consequently make the situation worse. Also, these types of jobs are not meant to be supporting families or be a livable wage. These jobs are stepping stones for teens and young adult workers to gain

WOW! The world’s economy has been down for so long that many people have lost their jobs, and became homeless. Which led the United States economy to drop making poverty rate numbers increase drastically since 1938. Many people strive to make a living for their families but it’s very hard to do so if they have no financial income coming in to provide for their families. Which for many families has to be the most devastating thing ever knowing that you can’t provide enough money for your family to survive the proper way. Which is why many people all across the United States believe that minimum wage should be raised. Furthermore, minimum

A primary problem with the minimum wage being increased is that it doesn’t provide a salary intended for people to live off of. Since the minimum wage’s inception, the goal has shifted from protecting unskilled workers pay, to giving high school and college students job experience before they build careers. For most people, minimum wage jobs are simply a way for inexperienced teens to make some money so they can start building the foundation of being able to finance themselves. In fact, although workers under age 25 represented only about one-fifth of hourly paid workers, they made up nearly half of those

jobs”.(Patricia Smith #3).However, it can be clearly shown that if the minimum wages get raised

It is truly a saddening sight to see men on the street in this day and age in cities everywhere both big and small begging for spare change with a cup and sign saying "Unemployed will work for food," and it is even sadder when the person is a woman with her children by her side. As of now, there are approximately 325 million people in America and of them, 1.7 million live off of minimum wage. 4.9% of those people are unemployed and .5% of them homeless. The number of jobs available are constantly shrinking, faster and faster and minimum wage is being less and less effective as a means for survival. To answer this problem, I propose a modest and efficient proposition. My proposition would be to abolish the minimum wage and reallocating pay elsewhere, or in simple terms remove minimum wage. There are many reasons to do so but the main reasons to remove the minimum wage are that it slows job growth and opportunities for jobs, it is not helping to curb poverty but worsen it, and it is hurting low-wage workers.

Minimum wage is different across the United States and varies depending on the cost of living for that particular state. There are currently 5 southern states who have not adopted a state minimum wage. Those states are: Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee. Presently, there are 29 states have minimum wage rates above the federal minimum wage. I currently live in Germany but my home of record is Arizona. The minimum wage in Arizona is $8.05. Arizona is one of America’s fastest growing states. With a booming economy and a diverse population, Arizona’s cost of living is somewhat low compared to the rest of the United States.

3.3% of Americans aged sixteen years or older earn at or below the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. With an estimated 45 million citizens living in poverty, I will attempt to prove why we must increase the minimum wage to at least $10.10 an hour. In this paper, I will discuss the history and definitions of poverty and minimum wage as well as the pros and cons of implementing a higher minimum wage. I will also examine the economic and social effects of the minimum wage and how it pertains to our day to day lives. In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established The Fair Labor Standards Act or FLSA as a part of The New Deal. With this, a federal minimum wage of $0.25 was introduced. The act also provided overtime pay, a maximum workweek of forty-four hours, recordkeeping requirements, and a restriction on child labor. Before its passage, one in four children were working sixty hours a week for a median salary of $4.00 per week. Over 700,000 workers were affected by the Fair Labor Standards Act and Roosevelt called it the most important legislation since the Social Security Act of 1935. (Grossman) Since its introduction, the minimum wage has been increased twenty-two times by twelve different presidents. (Bose) The act was specifically intended for those working in manufacturing. Only about 20% of the population was covered by the minimum wage law. Other industries were exempt from the law due to concerns that it would restrict employment. The FSLA faced judicial opposition from the very beginning and has never been without controversy. The National Association of Manufacturers or NAM, denounced the new laws as “a step in the direction of communism, bolshevism, fascism, and Nazism.” (Cole) Many politicians and merchants vehemently opposed the Act and considered it an attack on traditional American values. Roosevelt addressed this apprehension in a fireside chat where he is quoted as saying, “Do not let any calamity-howling executive with an income of $1,000.00 a day, who has been turning his employees over to the Government relief rolls in order to preserve his company’s undistributed reserves, tell you […] that a wage of $11.00 a week is going to have a disastrous effect on all American industry.” (Tritch)

The government has set a minimum wage for labor market, businesses are forced to pay the least amount. An individual working full time only earns $15,080 due to the minimum yarn of $8.05 per hour, this is below the federal poverty level for a family of two. They will have a difficult time supporting a household. With minimum wage it is not enough to pay bills like energy, water, cable, health insurance, and our necessities. As a student, I know minimum wage is not enough to pay school owns or tuitions, that is the reason why most students are in dept. Many people will get a second job. Even though having two jobs to support their family and household, it is still not enough with minimum wage. We all have responsibilities and many bills to pay.

Minimum Wage has been a debacle for a long time, it has been rising at a steady rate rate but it is not high enough for many people, but many economically driven people are worried that the economy will crash if we raise the minimum wage gap up to $15 like many people want. The last minimum wage increase was in 2009 with it being changed to $7.25 instead of $6.55. With inflation $7.25 is worth less now than it was in 2009 which is a problem for the minimum wage workers. Every time the minimum wage gets increased though it affects the economy in a negative way and people who are just barely earning over the minimum wage will get caught with the raise then they will start getting paid minimum wage for work that deserves more than minimum wage pay. Many people have different views on how minimum wage works, many people think that it should be raised by more than double what it is right now, and many people also want it to stay how it is currently due to the stock market and how stocks would all go down causing another recession.

A study done by the US Department of Labor found that a full time employee working $7.25 an hour makes only $15,080 in an entire year. For a single person, their yearly wage is only 20% above the national income at poverty level. On the other hand, someone supporting a child is considered to be below the poverty level for a household income by 8%. A report done by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found “for families whose income will be below the poverty threshold under current law... moving about 900,000 people, on net, above the poverty threshold” However, the report also states that, “Once fully implemented in the second half of 2016, the $10.10 option would reduce total employment by about 500,000 workers”. So, although a large amount of families would rise above the poverty level, a significant portion of people would have to be let go so businesses could still afford the increase in payroll.

The American society has made huge developments since the Civil War era. Advances in technology, transportation, and home quality have had a wonderful effect on the economy, but at a hefty price. While the standards of living have rose dramatically, it has become harder to produce enough income to acquire them. In the 1930s, a minimum wage act was established to help the victims of the Great Depression out of poverty which is still running today, but now it is hard to live of minimum wage while trying to support a good health or a family. There has been a high demand for the increase of minimum wage, but politicians fear the effects of this drastic change. Writer Rex Huppke and “The Economists” have wrote detailed articles concerning politicians’ ideas on minimum wage and how they plan to address this issue. The narrators address these controversy in their articles, but their writing is varied on the facts, opinions, and main idea of increasing minimum wage.

Can you live off $7.25 an hour? Would you be able to pay all your bills, and have plenty of money left over for food, as well as personal pleasures? Imagine your salary was cut down to a forty-hour work week at the minimum wage salary in your state. Can you save money while on a minimum wage hourly salary? These same questions are on the minds of many Americans that are currently facing these struggles every time they receive a paycheck. For several reasons, the minimum wage should rise to $10.10 nationwide. This would be an adequate amount for most employees to support themselves and have some money to save or spend in the open market which would in