Persuasive Essay: Raising The Minimum Wage

Okay, so some people may lose benefits, but at least they are able to bring home more in their pockets. Fair enough, but what if that wasn’t enough to compensate for the profit loss in companies? So now what? Well the company’s only option is to fire some employees. Sherk (2007), states “that most estimates suggest that each ten percent increase in the minimum wage reduces employment in affected groups of workers by roughly two percent.

The first reason that America should not raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour is that millions of jobs being potentially lost. Do you remember the great depression ? Do you remember how millions of people lost their jobs? My father lost his job and our family had to dig into our life savings to stay afloat. Millions of jobs were lost and many people were forced on the streets because they could not pay their bills. This is related to raising the minimum wage in the way that this same effect may happen. More than 8.4 million americans work for minimum wage. If the minimum wage is suddenly increased to $15 per hour people will be fired to pay for the raise of the other workers. That will then cause jobs to become tighter and many people will be forced on the streets because they don't have a job to pay their bills. That will then have an effect similar to the great depression regarding jobs.

America is a place where the people strive to create equal opportunities in every avenue of life. Every American should have unrestricted access to the options presented before them, allowing them to pursue their life goals and die happy deaths. However, this principle only stands for access to options, it has nothing to do with the advantages and disadvantages of said choices. The American dream is the idea that if you work hard enough, persevere, and really believe in yourself, good things will come. Drastically raising the minimum wage goes against all of those principles, rewarding lethargic actions and poor life choices. Raising the minimum wage to $15 will do more harm than good for middle class americans by decreasing the value of the money in their pockets, driving out big companies, and generally increasing unemployment.

Raising it to $10.10 an hour isn’t enough to lift all workers and family out of poverty. If we raise minimum wage to $15 an hour,people will be earning more money, and the more people earn, the more that they spend. If people buy more, then businesses earn more and the more our economy benefits from it too. ” Having a healthy economy can keep our country stable, and that is what we want.” (http://thelawdictionary.org/article/the-pros-cons-of-raising-minimum-wage/)

First off, minimum wage will not support the economy it will actually raise unemployment. Businesses will be forced to pay extra money to workers and therefore will fire others to keep making a revenue. Raising minimum wage will get lots of hard workers fired due to these extra costs, and jobs will be harder to find. This does not prove good towards the economy. More will be jobless and therefore it will increase poverty.

The economic effects of raising the minimum wage can be damaging, but I believe the benefits of it outweigh the negatives. Those who tend to live on the minimum wage - fast food workers, retail employees, ext. - tend to spend most to all of their income. By raising their wage, they are able to 1. spend more and 2. possibly invest more. This would have a ripple effect throughout the entire economy - leading to raises for everyone. It is

Minimum wage has always been a controversial issue among policy makers and economists in the United States. Recently, the topic has become an increasingly hot debate whether it should be raised to help the minimum wage earners in America to make ends meet. The Seattle City Council has voted to gradually raise the minimum wage to a nation’s highest at $15 per hour starting from January 1, 2015(www.usatoday.com). While the state Washington already has the highest minimum wage among other states at $9.32/hour, and the average inflation rate in the United States in the last five years was 11%(www.bls.gov), it is very hard to comprehend why such move was taken by the Seattle City Council to raise the minimum wage by more than 60%. I believe that

The words “raising minimum wage” typically strikes fear into the average person because they can’t imagine a high schooler making more than 10 dollars an hour. However, they’re missing a crucial key word to this plan – minimum. Yes, that guy that messed up your burger at McDonalds would be making 12 to 15 dollars an hour. But that doesn’t mean that you also will, or that your mother, father, sister, what have you, will be making that same amount. By raising the minimum of something, you also raise everything above it by proxy. Someone who makes 15 dollars an hour will be making up to 23 dollars an hour or more. This change would, of course, happen gradually, so our economy has time to

As published by Alison Doyle in “Pros and Cons of Raising the Minimum Wage”, “An increase in the minimum wage raises the standard of living for impoverished workers.” Furthermore, workers that make more than the minimum wage are also effected due in part to the ripple effect, which means that the rise of the minimum wage positively effects higher wage brackets. Katie Lobosco of CNN Money said in the article, Minimum wage hike could mean a raise for all, “As a result, the Economic Policy Institute estimates about 4.6 million workers will see their wages increased, 2.6 million of whom are directly affected as the new minimum wage exceeds their current hourly pay. The other 2 million already make slightly more than the new minimum wage but will benefit from the ripple effect. “ Employers will give valuable employees more money to stay competitive and retain those with valuable skills. people will not want to take job positions where they make almost the same amount as their subordinates. With everyone seeming getting more money the economy could flourish. Alison Doyle painted a great scenario in her article where “Additional income would be spent by consumers and would ripple through the economy if overall budgets for salary were increased under a gradual increase in the minimum wage scenario and Government expenses for social programs aimed at the poor would be reduced causing slightly lower taxes for other

An increase of the federal minimum wage would improve the lives of millions of Americans. It is a step towards lifting these people out of poverty. The federal minimum wage is supposed to enable Americans to earn a living wage, but it has not been raised in 8 years, and many people who make wages at or close to this wage are not able to survive on this pay alone. They rely on subsidies from the government and the community to provide some of the necessities they cannot provide for their families. An increase of the federal minimum wage is going to make these families more self-sustaining (CBO, February 2014).

Desilver states that, “over 50 percent of low income workers are younger and have no more than a high school education” (“5 Facts”). Statistically, it is known that those without a higher education would not make wages much more than minimum wage unless, they have a specific skill set. Raising minimum wage will give people more money in their pockets which should increase spending. All around that is a good thing for everyone

Minimum wage is just bad to the economic policy to even start. Its unfair, raises prices, and more. They should not consider to raise minimum wage.“The government has instituted a price control related to wages for labor. This price control is called the minimum wage.” Many citizens believe that by raising minimum wage it will help and improve how the world runs. Will it improve though? I believe that we should not raise minimum wage, not only would it be harmful, it would stop the process of full employment, economic growth and more. Is raising minimum wage really worth all he consequences. Take a look for yourself on the reason being why we shouldn’t raise minimum wage.

Imagine a country where you can do a job that requires no skill whatsoever and get paid fifteen dollars an hour. That sounds amazing, right? Well, you’re wrong. Raising the federal minimum wage to fifteen dollars an hour will cause more issues than it solves. Raising it will cause an increase in the unemployment rate, an increase in the standard of living, and an increase in business loss.

The minimum wage in this country has been a controversial issue. Many people believe it will help reduce poverty and boost the economy. However, they are not looking at the downfalls this will bring to our country. This could make the unemployment population rise, it will raise prices of other things, and would have little effect on reducing poverty. Raising the minimum wage would have a negative influence on our country.

According to Maclay “Overall payroll costs in the state will increase by only 3.2 percent, since many businesses already pay over $15 and many workers getting a raise already earn over nine dollars, the state’s current minimum wage. Also, labor costs average one-fourth of business operating costs.” Businesses are already paying their employees a lot of money over fifteen dollars and it is not affecting it. “Three industries account for nearly half of the workers getting increases: retail, healthcare and social assistance and restaurants.” said Maclay. Increasing minimum will benefit with the living standards and help widespread with