The Minimum Wage Should Be Increased
In 2015, 78.2 million workers were paid at hourly rates. Which makes up 58.5 percent of all the wages and salary workers in the United States. Amongst those 870,000 workers earned exactly $7.25 per hour. The average household earns about $15,080 annually for a full- time minimum wage worker. ("Increasing the Minimum Wage: Pros & Cons"). Minimum wage is the lowest wage that employers can legally pay their employees. The United States minimum wage was initially set at $0.25 per hour by The Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938. ("UC Davis Center for Poverty Research"). Due to a drastic increase for the cost of living since the early 1900s it has then been increased to $7.25 an hour. The minimum wage should
Rex Huppke, a journalist for the Chicago Tribune, deftly discusses the pros and cons of raising the minimum wage in the last of a two-week series in “In the Minimum Wage Debate, Both Sides Make Valid Points”. Although I am for raising the minimum wage, Huppke’s presentation of the opposite argument does make one think beyond the gut reading that everyone deserves more money. Huppke’s argument that a large number of minimum wage earners are student of the elderly leads me to believe that a tier of wages would take care of the issue. For example, anyone working less than 35 hours a week would be paid at a certain rate; with full time getting an increase. I am not concerned by the argument that a higher minimum wage leads to lay-offs or price increases when most products sold in America are manufactured by cheap foreign labor. There is already a huge profit margin that could sustain such an increase. Rather than give discounts on goods and services, thus preventing employees from exercising the right to shop, stay or eat wherever the employee chooses, these employers trap workers into giving back the very money they have “slaved” for.
The federal minimum wage was officially established in 1933 as a law. However, in the article Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938: Maximum Struggle for a Minimum Wage, Jonathan Grossman stated that it actually was struck down after two years by a Supreme Court case and was not reestablished until 1938. Grossman explained how the formation of this law had to endure many so called “Supreme Court disasters”. The Supreme Court at the time voted against many cases regarding state level minimum wage laws and declared them unconstitutional. Grossman put in his article that several of these decisions were among the most unpopular ever rendered by the Supreme Court. Only three years later though, thanks
Raising minimum wage has been a debate for quite some time. This Essay will go over Pros and Cons. I will research both sides of this ongoing debate. Listing a few from each side. Coming to a conclusion that raising minimum wage is what would be best for the citizens of the United States and for the economy.
Raising minimum wage will help reduce crime because it will encourage teenagers and young adults to be motivated to work for $15 over approximately $12. Hence this will allow young teenagers to focus on making money compared to selling drugs and being a part of violence in society.
Raising the Federal Minimum Wage to fifteen dollars an hour has caused a major dilemma in the fast food industry. Minimum wage jobs were originally created for high school students, and were never intended to become full time jobs. Over many years they have turned into being full time jobs for anyone. The Federal Minimum Wage should not be raised to fifteen dollars an hour.
Did you know minimum wage was $0.25 per hour in 1938? Since then it has raised to a whopping $7.25. Most readers will agree that there is a problem with this current minimum wage, considering the cost of living and salaries, Etc. However, they might not understand the complexity of the issue. In fact, the topic is not simply a question of if the minimum wage should be increased or kept the same, but more of a complex issue involving the different viewpoints on why people agree or disagree. Some reasons why people might agree is: decreasing poverty, increase in government aiding, and cannot afford basic needs. In opposition, opponents of the minimum wage might say it increases poverty, increases unemployment (specifically among unskilled or
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
Although it is not a new topic in America, the decision to raise the minimum wage continues to be controversial, especially in the political realm. The political parties still move to block the opposing party from successfully implanting their ideals, causing either nothing to be accomplished or the situation to worsen. Research shows that raising the minimum wage a reasonable amount would lessen the gap between the rich and the poor, continue to fulfill its original purpose of protecting workers and keeping the economy in a healthy state, and contain more advantages with a minute influence on employment rates.
In the United States, the minimum wage has been a controversial issue and one of the major debates among politics over the years. Leaders in both the House of Representatives and the Senate have discussed some possible advantages to raising the minimum wage along with the possible disadvantages of an increased minimum wage. Members on one side of the debate believe raising the minimum wage could hurt America’s lowest income workers and small businesses, while people on the other side believe the current minimum wage is not a living wage – therefore needs to be raised. In this report, information on both sides of the debate has been considered. As John Stuart Mill (One of the most influential thinkers in the history of liberalism, he contributed widely to social theory, political theory and political economy) once said, “The only way in which a human being can make some approach to knowing the whole of a subject, is by hearing what can be said about it by persons of every variety of opinion, and studying all modes in which it can be looked at by every character of mind. No wise man ever acquired his wisdom in any mode but this” (Mill 12). In this report, we will look at a short description and history of the United States’ minimum wage policies. In addition, we will discuss the status of the minimum wage and present the arguments for and against raising the minimum wage. Research involving minimum wage increases have proved that the minimum wage is an ineffective antipoverty tool. Studies also show that replacing the minimum wage with an expanded Earned Income Tax Credit would be much more effective (Sabia). While, members on both sides of the debate have strong arguments, the United States government should repeal, replace, and redefine minimum wage to reduce poverty among low-income workers and help America’s small businesses succeed.
Many citizens in the U.S. have struggled living with minimum wage and making a living for decades. Issues involving poverty, inflation, inability to pay bills, taking care of their family and hard labor are just some of the negatives that relate to minimum wage. People have gone as far as working two jobs to maintain stability and be able to take care of themselves and others as well. However, many officials refuse to raise the wage due to the decrease in jobs, the inability to decrease inflation and the raise of living in their state. What are the pros and cons of raising minimum wage? Will it be more beneficial than harm if the law is passed? The history of minimum wage provides a broad prospective as far as where it started and the reasons behind the laws of minimum wage. Many say that it can bring a toll to the budget and cause more issues with the inability of others to even receive jobs. The minimum wage should be raised due to conflicts with living and maintaining stability. As far as minimum wage concerns, there
Since 1938, when the minimum wage was first introduced (at a rate of $0.25 an hour), the federal minimum wage has increased 22 times. The minimum wage is the salary floor, or the lowest possible rate that employers can pay employees.
According to United States Department of Labor, minimum wage was first introduced by President Roosevelt in 1938 at $0.25 cents an hour (Apruva 1). Since then minimum wage has risen over 20 times throughout the years. Minimum wage has always been a debatable topic; one side of the argument says increasing minimum wage will only alter minimum wage employees in a negative way, such as the loss of employment, or by an increase in inflation. President Obama felt differently about the topic back in 2015 when he raised the Federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour in January 2018. Since the last minimum wage increase, the debate has become a greater controversy. Although increasing minimum wage might have some negative repercussions, it mostly benefits the economy and the average worker. Increasing minimum wage will mainly benefit minimum wage workers by helping them keep up with economic inflation, which is constantly increasing. The economy will benefit from the increase of minimum wage due to the upsurge of sales, as well as reducing the expense for social assistance programs.
The minimum wage is the lowest possible wage that employers can legally pay their workers. Today, it seems like everyone has their own opinion on the minimum wage. Should it be abolished, raised, or should it remain the same? I will talk about the pros and the cons of raising the minimum wage as well as my own opinion if it should be raised or if it should stay the same.
In the US, wages for almost all workers are set either by market forces or by collective bargaining. The body referred to as Fair Labor Standards Act determines the minimum wage that is abided by all states. As per the 2015 data, the minimum wage per hour is 7.25 USD. However, this is not the case with the fourteen states and some cities with their own minimum wage at federal level. For instance, in Florida the minimum wage per hour is 8.10 USD and in California its 10.50 USD per hour.
Minimum wage was created almost 80 years ago during the period of the Great Depression by President Roosevelt. Raising the minimum wage has been a point of contention lately and some states have taken matters into their own hands. In 1995 as a 16-year-old in Tampa, Florida, I worked at Foot Locker and received $4.75 an hour. That seemed like a lot of money for the times however it is no longer 1995. It was initially set at $0.25 per hour and has been increased by Congress 22 times (ProCon.org, 2017). Congress last raised the minimum wage to $7.25 in 2009 and now workers would like to see it become $15 an hour. Is this a good move, or could it hurt us in the long-run?