Raising The Minimum Wage Essay

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.

“A 15 percent increase in the minimum wage nationwide would destroy about 290,000 to 590,000 young people's jobs, and about 400,000 to 800,000 jobs overall” (Henderson, David R). Due to the Fair labor Standards act, the federal minimum wage, or the lowest you can pay an employee for work, currently stands at $7.25 an hour. Although a number of Americans think that raising the minimum wage would benefit our country, it would actually bring a number of problems to our economy, such as a rise in job loss and high school dropout.

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 minimum wage debate has been a hot topic over the past year, especially with the Presidential Election. This is a divisive topic that people rarely agree upon. There are essentially two sides you can take when it comes to this argument. Either people are for minimum wage or are against raising, or even having, a minimum wage. Proponents of the minimum wage are typically politicians who are lobbying for the vote of the people who feel that a minimum wage is critical to their wellbeing, and those who sympathize with people who earn “minimum wage”. Minimum wage is destroying America’s free market economy and someone needs to take action and find a better solution to this problem. Without anyone acting on this problem now, it can potentially be worse in the long run. Raising the minimum wage in the United States will do more harm than good to society because of the long-term effects.

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.

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.

Many argue that raising the minimum wage makes hiring workers more expensive, eliminates jobs at the bottom, slows growth and ultimately raises unemployment. Economic studies show that raising the minimum wage to keep pace with inflation creates little additional harm, but what the president is

Minimum wage is something a lot of people want to change. Some want to change it to $15.00 an hour, that is double of what it is now, others argue that it should stay the same. Many things would change if minimum wage was raised. People argue that it should be raised, but they don’t stop to think about what the consequences would be. Raising the minimum wage would not only affect many of us in this room, but many people around the United States.

Low minimum wages affects everyday families and lives, more than the average person would think. A small minimum wage could have an very small effect on someone’s life, such as not being able to afford a new pair of boots or that new phone, contradictory to this low wages could also have a very serious effect on someone’s life . Meaning that a parent or single individual could not support their family because a lack of income, it could also mean the difference of living under a safe roof, or living in the streets. In 2016 alone, 40.6 million people in the United States

Increasing the minimum wage helps people, right? That is the topic of discussion in the recent discourse held by Professor Joe Silverman. With so many differing opinions it was a topic that needed to be addressed. The listeners, most of whom had minimum wage jobs, were exuding anticipation as this topic truly applied to them. Who “wins”, and who “loses” were the focus of the talk that addressed both the benefits and disadvantages of a raised minimum wage.

In America, a country which believes that hard work leads to success, more than forty million people live below the line of poverty. Many factors contribute to this statistic such as geography and childhood background, but the most significant factor is minimum wage. In the article, “Four consequences of a $15 minimum wage”, Don Lee for the LA Times, argues how increasing the minimum will ultimately hurt the nation. He points out the negatives of a minimum wage increase such as lower employment, divide between the nation and more illegal activity within companies. While reasonable, his points are not completely accurate when it comes to the subject of minimum wage. In reality, increasing the minimum wage will financially benefit millions of Americans, the country as a whole and the companies who mistreat their employees will finally be held responsible for their actions.

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.

Did you know that 29 states and Washington, DC have minimum wages higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25? Washington, DC has the highest minimum wage rate of $11.50 per hour whereas, Georgia and Wyoming have the lowest minimum wage of $5.15 per hour. Rate of unemployment and low-income workers are increasing these days. Due to low-income, people turn to public assistance to fulfil their basic needs. The economic policy institute said low-income workers receive $45 billion in government assistance each year(Cooper). The minimum wage should be increased because it has numerous benefits such as, increasing the employment rate, reducing poverty, better school performance, decrease in government welfare spending, in the federal deficit, race and gender inequality, crimes and increase in a healthier population.

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

Minimum wage is defined as the lowest gross hourly pay rate that an employee can get from an employer. From its introduction in 1938, the rise of minimum wage has become a well-known controversial and debatable topic. Before the proposition of minimum wage, many employers and company owners would take advantage of paying their workers a degradable rate, this was especially common for young children and women. On another hand, in today’s world, people constantly bring about the idea of raising the hourly pay rate due to the positive effects that it could have on the economy. In true response, the good does not necessarily outweigh the harmful consequences that will be faced. As a result of raising the minimum wage many adverse outcomes can be expected to take place such as the inflation of the market, higher qualifications for entry level jobs, and all together a rise in high-school drop outs.