Poverty In The United States: Policy Analysis

People all across America believe that minimum wage is a good thing and helps people without an education have a normal life, however others believe it is causing poverty and homelessness among the citizens. Minimum wage was made to provide enough money to live just above the national poverty line.But over the years the cost of living has increased while the minimum wage hasn’t. Today, the national minimum wage is $7.25, which is less powerful than the minimum wage was in 1968. This is because the minimum wage was $1.60 per hour, which seems low but back then $1.60 was enough to support a three person family, whereas today the minimum wage can barely support one person. All throughout  the U.S., workers have been fighting for a higher minimum

Right now,according to Victoria Smith,over 40 million people are living in poverty. This could be changed if they were able to get enough money from their jobs, but the minimum wage isn’t high enough right now. Even if only by a little, if minimum wage were raised, the amount of

Many Americans work solely to pay for food, electricity, and housing. In response to this “nearly 30 states have raised their minimum wage to combat job loss, poverty, and economic inflation.” (http://www.pewresearch.org). This just goes to show that more than two thirds of the country are willing to raise their wages, because the local government thinks that it is absolutely necessary in order to allow people to live sustainably. States such as California have raised their wages up to as high as $15.00! Raising the minimum wage has helped many people begin to start to live healthy lives, and it provides a way for families to expend for necessities if they work at or near minimum wage,

Poverty in America The current poverty rate in America is 13.5 percent (US Census Bureau). That measures out to roughly 43.1 million Americans. What exactly is poverty? Poverty means not having enough money to meet basic needs including food, clothing and shelter. However, poverty is so much more than just not having enough money. Poverty is not having access to a doctor or medications you may need, poverty is not having access to a good education. Poverty can be the people who are barely able to pay for food and shelter and simply can’t afford other expenses such as car repairs, field trips with their children and any other extracurricular activity.

The current minimum wage is $7.25, which equals two gallons of milk, one fast food meal or two gallons of gas. Can you imagine yourself working 12-hours a day and only having enough money to pay for rent and put food on the table for your family? With working all

The federal minimum wage in the United States is currently $7.25 an hour. Increasing the minimum wage would lift approximately 900,000 people out of poverty. Forty-three million Americans are living in poverty due to low income, health care costs, childcare costs, college costs, and housing costs. The federal minimum wage should be raised because it keeps up with inflation and would scale down poverty levels.

To begin with, the minimum wage should be raised at least above 8.50 an hour. According to The US Department of Health, the current poverty level is 17,000 a year, which is about 8.50 an hour (Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism). The current minimum wage is 7.25 an hour, a full dollar and a quarter less than the current poverty level. With this, the average American is not able to afford the basic living standards that America herself has set. The need for a work force has been on the decline in America with cheaper sources of labor being created. Ironically, the unemployment payment an American can receive is in some

In today's society it's expensive to live in America and even getting day by day is very difficult if you are living on minimum wage, of course it's more difficult for some people than others depending on their situation and their living conditions. America should raise minimum wage because it would make things easier for people who are struggling. A higher minimum wage not only increases workers’ incomes, it will also be good for our economy. A quarter of people working minimum wage are at least raising one child. This change will help a lot of people it would make our country a better place.

Maggie Doherty Ms. Lee English 2 16 May 2017 Minimum Wage Needs A Change According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 14% of the nation lives below the poverty line, the current population is 326,474,013, and 45,706,362 of the population lives in poverty every single day. One of the reasons why such a large chunk of the population is in poverty is because they are not being paid a reasonable salary for them to support themselves and their families. Raising the minimum wage can lead to problems, but gradual increases are made over time, it could be beneficial for millions of people around the nation. The positive effects of raising minimum wage is what makes it worth it. A raise in minimum wage can be beneficial; however, it must be a

Taking a look at the problems facing Americans and how they live may have sprung up from the fact that the federal minimum wage is too low to support anyone, minimum wage is the lowest possible wage permitted by law or by a special agreement. In America, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour for an employer to pay their employees. Not enough to sustain a human, with regular daily functions, such as affording a roof over his or her head, and to put food on the table for them to eat. "A new study by the Organization of Economic Corporation and Development has found that the U.S. minimum wage lags most rich countries. As a share of median income, the U.S. minimum wage ranks 24th out of 25 rich countries"(TheRealNews). So America can stand to give more money to the common low-paid workers in America. Many people, who work for this pay per hour, suffer to support themselves and

Many people say raising minimum wage to fifthteen dollars in California is a horrible idea,but it can actually help lots of people. 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

Because now a days many teens and young adults are starting to have big families two plus kids. And making around two- hundred dollars a week is not going to help the mother or father be able to afford his/ her own place. Because housing cost and maintaining and trying to care of her/ his kids is going to be a lot on them. So I strongly suggest that the minimum wage be raised up way more than what they have it at right now. First and foremost, many critics around the world has been protesting on “Donald Trump” and his plans on minimum wage. According to (pbs.org) they claim that Trump made a statement saying that “the minimum wage in this country was too high”. And clearly that’s not true because minimum wage is only $8.05 which isn’t that much for a part time job. My point is that many people like myself who want a job, and to buy me a nice car, and move out very soon as an adult that wouldn’t be enough money to do all those things. And even if they save up money they’re going to have to save up money for a long while just to see five thousand dollars. However, I feel like raising minimum wage is for the people who is making the least fortunate or barely enough to make it by or to make ends meet when it comes to paying bills. So raising the minimum wage shouldn’t be for all

Many reforms in the UnitedStates have been passed to help fight against the “War on Poverty”; but it has not been effective in eradicating poverty in the U.S. There are about 46 million people who are living in impoverished conditions and poverty continues to be a social issue in this country (Heritage Foundation, 2011) In the beginning, our country was formed under the belief that “this land is the land of opportunity and if we worked hard enough the American Dream can be gained” (Schwarz, 1997). People immigrate to this country today in hopes of becoming rich so they could gain a better life. In spite of coming to this country for a better life, many are faced with the lack of skills and money to succeed. In the end, most will end

Many struggle to support their family, pay bills, and buy food on $15000 a year. Minimum wage has been causing a lot of controversy for years now, but nobody does anything to fix the problem. The main reason minimum wage is not being fixed is the rich business owner will have to spend more.People say that minimum wage jobs are easy and pay too much, but they are actually very underpaid and hard for many. One person can survive fine on $15000 a year but three or four can’t. This is one of two reasons why minimum wage should be

A wage increase in our country would do a world of good rather than harm. This country is in dire need of a wage increase but just because it needs one doesn’t mean people shouldn’t read in between the lines and how it will be helpful. Minimum wage was always the status quo in this country there was a time where it didn’t exist. With time however, it established itself into our modern day society. Because of the growth of the country the minimum wage was left untouched forgetting what it was made to do in the first place. There are some negatives pertaining to raising the wage, some fictional others factual. Before, it was raised to compliment the normal amount money required for the standard of living for Americans. However, it never raised