Persuasive Essay On The Minimum Wage

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.

Imagine a single mother who has has the task of taking care of multiple children, all on a minimum wage budget. This mother’s mind is overwhelmed with worries. Will she be able to pay next month's rent? WIll she be able to put food on the table for all of her children. The single mother lives each and every day with this anxiety, and even with government assistance: Is it enough to live comfortably?

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.

I decided to write about how I felt regarding the federal government's involvement in controlling the minimum wage and that I felt they are disconnected in their understanding of the impacts on communities when they raise the minimum wage. I work for a manufacturing company in the U.S. and I understand wholeheartedly what the impact of salary increases due to our bottom line. In very competitive markets the difference between success and failure can be separated by the difference of only a few dollars per part, and while in other countries, their manufacturing bottom line is subsidized by their governments we are forced to generate profits the old-fashioned way through supply and demand. This is why I decided to take a stance in my persuasive essay and challenge the status quo of the Department of Labor and Wages. No longer should the federal government dictate a national minimum wage but should allow each state to establish their own minimum wage based on the economic condition of their counties and their state, as a whole.

It is a popular opinion that increasing the minimum wage would reduce income inequality by the process that an increase would have a ripple effect, raising the incomes of people who make slightly above the minimum wage, and then slightly above that and so on and so on, thus changing the distribution of wealth within society. As a result, a minimum wage increase would help reduce gender and race inequality, since a greater representation of women and minorities work in the low-income labor force. Minimum wage advocates maintain that the current minimum wage is not high enough to enable people to afford housing and everyday essentials. They believe raising the minimum wage would combat poverty and lead to a healthier population. Improving the level of poverty in the United States would increase school attendance, and decrease crime and high school dropout rates. Finally, defenders of the minimum wage argue that the minimum wage helps to reduce the federal deficit. Raising the minimum wage would reduce the federal budget deficit by increasing tax revenue and lowering government spending on public aid programs. Payroll and income tax revenues would rise as a result of an increase in the minimum wage, and the federal deficit

Minimum wage is the minimum hourly wage an employee can earn from work. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the minimum wage law on June 25, 1938. However, the United States has not always had a minimum wage. The United States minimum wage has been in effect since the Great Depression. Before then there was no minimum wage and there certainly were not any legislation to look after workers from development. Many of workers had to work in awful environments such as factories and sweatshops and they were only paid a few pennies a week. The minimum wage started at 0.25 cents per hour and the maximum workweek at 44 hours in 1938. As of today, the federal minimum wage is at $7.25 an hour, part of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Minimum wage is basically a wage that a company must pay the employee. This was put in place by the Fair Labor Standard Act in June 25, 1938 (Lal, 12)It was made for the workers in the mines, manufacturing, farms, and any other basic skill jobs. The wage itself was only 25 cents, which is roughly $4.04 in today’s money. Since that time it has been raised repeatedly and from this the cost of living has increased dramatically to follow it. (Lal, 13)

Currently the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour in most states. Recently, people have been lobbying to raise the minimum wage. Those petitioning do not recognize how raising the minimum wage will affect the economy and many people’s lives in a negative fashion. Endorsers believe that raising the minimum wage will help those who are poor, but in reality it will cause more people to succumb to poverty. For the sake of all Americans, we must educate the lobbyist regarding the effects of raising the minimum wage.

If there is an increase in minimum wage, it will slowly pull people out of poverty. Poverty level for a single person is just under $12,000 per year, but for a household with two kids, it’s over $23,000 per year. At the current minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, a person’s annual salary would be about $15,000 per year. Also, since cost of living varies in different places in the country, the same minimum wage often does not even cover living expenses. Increasing the minimum wage to $9 per hour will lift 300,000 people from poverty. If increased to $10.10 an hour it will lift 900,000 people out of poverty and reduce the number of non-elderly living in poverty. Since young people are most likely to be working minimum wage jobs, they often face other issues associated with making minimum

Humanity reaches unbelievable heights, discovers old civilizations, creates supersonic aircraft, launches every day new high tech gadgets, but fails to resist the challenge of the 21st century- the poverty. The U.S.A. has experienced crisis and prolonged period of economic instability which threatened first of all the economic security of individuals, families and whole communities. The minimum wage becomes a wealth inequality and economic segregation that endangers the ability to eat and remain healthy, have access to education and new opportunities. In these circumstances, replacing the minimum wage with a living wage will serve as a relief for the poor and will bring benefits to the local businesses and the economy as well.

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.

“A nation will not survive morally or economically when so few have so much and so many have so little” (Sanders 1). One of the controversial topics in American politics today is the decision whether to increase minimum wage. Some people think raising minimum wage can only benefit them and our economy. You may be thinking nothing could be bad about having a few extra bucks in your pocket. What could be so bad about raising minimum wage? Minimum wage increasing would cause various issues in today's economy.

Many people currently earning minimum wage are clamoring for an increase while others do not want an increase to keep wages competitive. A minimum wage increase would help out the ones that are currently earning a minimum wage “If the federal minimum wage were increased, the disparity in the minimum wage and tipped workers' hourly wage could grow larger.” (Leah Cayson). A minimum wage increase would let workers have more hours which in turn means more productivity for the business, more money for the employee, and the employees would be happier. The amount of people living in poverty is high enough with many of them living on welfare checks but if the minimum wage does increase that could go away completely reducing taxes for everyone. Many people also believe that the minimum wage should stay where it currently is “Going to $15 adds $128,000 to labor costs, almost 3 times the take-home pay of the owner. Ask yourself how one of the 5 million small businesses with fewer than 10 workers would handle this” (William Dunkelberg). Small business owners are already having to pay a lot of money for labor, supplies, and advertising. Increasing the minimum wage up to $15 will decrease wages for

Contrary to these beliefs, I believe that raising the minimum wage will not only benefit the company and employee immensely, but overall increase the productivity of workers. The raising of the minimum wage will help these low income families support their families, which decreases the poverty level too.

The signs are everywhere (no, really, the employers raising wages are screaming it from their rooftops) that the hourly wages of America’s lowest paid workers are on the rise, leading to many people wanting to know if this is real, or merely a smoke and mirror show. Experts can only speculate, so, don’t expect any definite answers anytime soon, however, the initial reaction is available now.