Pros And Cons Of Minimum Wage Laws

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.

On July 24th, 2009, the United States of America raised the minimum wage to $7.25. However, six years later the minimum wage rage remains the same. It is time once again for the federal government to raise the minimum wage to spur the economy. Raising the minimum wage would help the American economy and the daily life of the citizens for a variety of reasons. The first topic is that it not only would help the people but it also would help the economy as a whole. The second topic is that companies are already raising the minimum wage because of the lack of money workers get. Finally the third supporting idea is that the states are also raising it over the federal minimum wage and also how can help poverty. There are many more topics on why the minimum wage should be raised but these reasons are the most important.

The idea to raise the US FMW has been gaining traction in recent years. While some states and cities taken it upon themselves to enact legislation to raise minimum wage in their jurisdictions, to raise it across the entire country is a different debate. In this paper I will provide history pertaining to when and why minimum wage came to be in the US. ...

Presently, the citizens of the United States of America are involved in an impassioned debate over the federal minimum wage. As of October 5, 2016, the federal minimum wage is set at seven dollars and twenty-five cents an hour. There are numerous amounts of stakeholders when it comes to minimum wage. The three stakeholders mentioned in this essay will be Companies, Employees, and the Economy. In addition to the stakeholders, this essay will also dig into the history of the United States Federal Minimum Wage and see how it has progressed over the years and if it kept up with inflation over the years. With this information, society will see what an increase to the federal minimum wage will have on the United States economy and labor force.

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.

There are 156. 4 million people in the US workforce, however 5.2% of those are unemployed. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour; however, each state has its own laws regarding minimum wage and the amount can be higher or lower than the federal minimum, but the employee receives the higher of the two (2015). A higher minimum wage means that employers are less apt to hire someone. Some experts explain this by saying that if an employer values the job at a lower wage per hour than the minimum wage set by the government, then the employer is less likely to hire someone to fill that role. The employer only wants to hire someone when that person will be able to generate some sort of value for the company and positively affect the bottom line. Another problem with a high minimum wage is that potential employees are less likely to want to work if they are able to receive unemployment benefits from the government that will almost equal that which they would receive from working a minimum wage job (Gillikin).

Raising minimum wage has been a debate for quite some time now. President Roosevelt started minimum wage in 1938. When minimum wage was first set, Roosevelt had set minimum wage at $0.25 an hour. Since then, minimum wages had gradually increased to $7.25 an hour and has not been risen since July 2009. According to an article on ProCon.org, “congress has increased federal minimum wage 22 times.” When making such a decision, pros and cons should be weighed. People should also remember that minimum wage may be different from state to state. For Example, Michigan is where I’m from and minimum wage has increased to $8.90, as of January 1, 2017. Other examples include; California at $10.50, Arizona at $10.00, and Massachusetts at $11.00. Because everyone has different feelings about whether to raise minimum wage, weighing the Pros and Cons is very important for congress in making the right decision. For the citizens of the United States and for their future. I believe that the Pros outweigh the Cons.

The action of raising the federal minimum wage has been cast as a necessary change for the United States, and would result in ensuring that America’s workers are able to receive a reasonable living.Though the controversial issue has turned more complex, with many implications beyond just those who bag groceries, flip burgers, and clean offices. The issue is believed to have various pros and cons, and consequently sparking the ongoing debate on to, or to not change to wage.

A minimum wage is the lowest hourly wage that employers have to compensate the workers for their service. Currently the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. However, many states also have their own minimum wage laws. In those instances, the employee is entitled to the higher of the two minimum wages. In this paper we will discuss the brief history of the minimum wage law and its current legislation. We will also analyze the pros and cons of raising the minimum wage, and the merits of each argument.

The idea of minimum wage is that workers are guaranteed enough money to live off of. The price of minimum wage is determined by the state, but a federal minimum wage is set. Some states choose to go above the minimum wage, while others, such as Alabama and Louisiana, choose to not have minimum wage at all (Root). Minimum wage is important to society, because it can affect many people’s lives. There are many pros and cons to having minimum wage in the United States. Furthermore, various stakeholders are also impacted by this policy in numerous of ways. Minimum wage is a microeconomics and macroeconomic problem that has many consequences. Therefore, minimum wage has been a great economic issue because of people’s support and opposition to the policy.

Twenty-Two years ago, President Clinton announced that his administration intended to seek an increase in federal minimum wage. The general consensus was really positive, and the public agreed that the increase was actually very overdue. However, many had reservations regarding how a raise in minimum wage would cause problems while the country was in a state of economic recovery. Both sides had political and economic merit, and an ongoing debate of the minimum wage continued into the next century. Today, the minimum wage has been pushed to the forefront of economic discussion again. To the average American, minimum wage could likely be how one makes

Minimum wage is something that is so hard to decide on because it affects different citizens in different ways based on how much they make. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the man who introduced minimum wage by creating a law called Fair Labor Standard Act of 1938 which was intended to increase the standard living of lower class workers. According to Minimum Wages by Linda Gorman, minimum wage laws set legal minimums for the hourly wages paid to certain groups of workers. As of right now, the federal minimum wage in the United States is $7.25 per hour, but state minimum wage is different based on their laws. For example, Nevada’s sate minimum wage is $8.25 per hour and California’s is two dollars higher sitting at a whopping $10 per hour. This has been a controversy that has been troubling everyone. We always find ourselves watching politicians argue with politicians, as well citizens arguing with other citizens, on what should be the minimum wage that would benefit the economy and our society we live in. Though these factors are not the only things we need to have in mind, we need to think about whether raising the minimum wage is something that we need to do, or what is going to be impacted by raising minimum wage. These questions have had many researchers beyond interested, figuring out what will change before it happens could lead us to prevent bad things from happening. There are several things that researchers have realized would be impacted by

In New Orleans, “nearly 60 percent of low average workers earn less than what is needed to cover household costs, while roughly half are forced to commute out-of-parish for low-wage jobs. As a result, one in three children live in poverty despite having at least one parent in the workforce,” according to Richard Webster. Furthermore, most people view New Orleans as the center of parties, celebrations, and being bombarded with tourists. While, it is one of the most popular tourist destinations, this city ranks second in income inequality among three hundred of the largest cities in the United States. New Orleans has added more than thousands of jobs in current years, but most of the positions offer wages below the range of a minimum wage worker. Low-income workers like Yet Walker, struggled to make a living in New Orleans. He was working two jobs at two hotels in Central Business District. Still, he couldn’t afford the rent, and sadly he became homeless. At some point, he didn’t have any choice but to sleep in the hotel room break or sometimes he even spent the night at the bus station. Walker is only one out of all the low average workers in New Orleans who suffer from low paying jobs. Since Hurricane Katrina hit the city, many of the job opportunities available to people living in poor communities were in low paying fields, which reduced

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.

Around the world, and for more than a century now, “since the first minimum wage law was passed in New Zealand in 1894” [1], economists, policymakers, business owners, and many others, have never ceased debating over the varying advantages and disadvantages of minimum wage laws, and like often in economics, there is no consensus among economists.