Raising Minimum Wage Essay

If you can’t provide for yourself making the current minimum wage, then there is something wrong. Do the math, and don’t forget to include the new Obama Care required health care insurance that you will need to add to your monthly expenses, because most minimum wage jobs do not provide insurance. In the past, when minimum wage has been increased people making over minimum wage also received an increase. I was one of those people who received the raise the last three times minimum wage was raised. I was thrilled to be told by human resources, that I was getting another raise after I already received my yearly raise. Nevertheless, minimum wage has not been raised since 2005, here it is 2013, and the prices of goods has increased significantly in the last 3 years alone. The higher price in fuel has increased the cost of goods and services already, yet the current minimum wage has yet to increase. How are we supposed to provide for ourselves?

The minimum wage debate has been a hot topic over the past year, especially with the Presidential Election. This is a divisive topic that people rarely agree upon. There are essentially two sides you can take when it comes to this argument. Either people are for minimum wage or are against raising, or even having, a minimum wage. Proponents of the minimum wage are typically politicians who are lobbying for the vote of the people who feel that a minimum wage is critical to their wellbeing, and those who sympathize with people who earn “minimum wage”. Minimum wage is destroying America’s free market economy and someone needs to take action and find a better solution to this problem. Without anyone acting on this problem now, it can potentially be worse in the long run. Raising the minimum wage in the United States will do more harm than good to society because of the long-term effects.

The first federal minimum wage mandated by the government was in 1938. When the first minimum wage became law in 1938, it was set at just 25 cents. Today, the federal minimum wage mandated by the government is set at $7.25 an hour. “Many states have their own set minimum wages, which are currently above $7.25 per hour already. Currently, 29 states and the District of Columbia (D.C.) have minimum wages above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. D.C. 's new wage of $10.50 an hour makes it the first jurisdiction to cross the $10 threshold among the states,” (Halvorson). The last time that the federal minimum wage mandated by the government was changed was over 8 years ago. “The last time Congress voted to raise the minimum wage to its current rate of $7.25 an hour was on May 24, 2007. Since then, the cost of life 's essentials has shot up. Groceries cost 20% more, a gallon of gas costs 25% more, and average tuition at a community college increased 44%. But the minimum wage remains at

There are many employees who find themselves working full-time for what the government has so generously termed the “minimum wage”. In Missouri, the minimum wage has been set at a rather appalling $7.65 per hour while in other states there are wages starting as high as $10. Though arguably the economy is not as sluggish and terrible as it once was, $7.65 per hour will not help those who have children, no college degree and debts to pay. It is not only Missouri that has minimum wage laws, but every other state in America has minimum wage laws in place. Both California and Seattle recently established a plan that would see their minimum wages rise to $15 by 2021. The question for all the other forty-eight states remains, should the minimum wage be raised?

Rex Huppke writes, correctly, that raising the minimum wage is a complex issue. The majority of Americans agree to higher minimum wage, most being Democrats, while many owners believe that we should keep it the same. He says that people like to raise the minimum wage because “[I]t appeals to people, and it sounds like the right thing to do” (146).

Concerning the wage rate, the United States government has intervened to maintain a lower limit on the hourly wage rate of a worker’s labor by implementing a price floor known as the minimum wage rate. This legal floor on the market price of labor sets a minimum hourly pay rate for workers in the United States. Effective July 24, 2009 the federal minimum wage rate is $7.25; in states that also have minimum wage laws the employee may be subject to both federal and state minimum wage laws, in which case they are entitled to the higher minimum wage rate (U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division, 2011). Since the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was created in 1938 the federal minimum wage rate has gradually increased from $0.25 in 1938 to $7.25 present (U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division, 2011). Although continuing to increase the minimum wage rate may include potential positive factors, it would hinder the U.S. economy overall.

The minimum wage is intended to protect workers and fight poverty. In the United States, the federal government sets the minimum wage at $7.25 per hour although many states set higher minimums. There is currently a movement to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour. This movement is called the “Living Wage Movement” (Living Wage Resource Center, 2016) or the “Fight for $15” (Fortunato, 2016) and purports to address the problem of poverty in America.

To begin, increasing minimum wage would increase economic activity. With an increase of $1.75 hourly, it has been predicted that there would be increase of aggregate household spending to $48 billion the next year (Aaronson). This increase would boost the United States GDP and lead to job growth, which proves that higher minimum wage equates to higher economic activity. In addition, it has also been found that raising minimum wage would would benefit

A. Since July 24, 2009, the federal minimum wage has been $7.25, but as of 2016 the living wage – the hourly rate a single person must earn to support themselves or their family – is quite a bit higher.

Should minimum wage be increased? Passage one strongly supports and gives details on why minimum wage should be raised. Many workers are asking for a national minimum wage increase to $15 per hour, while others say that a higher minimum wage will stifle business and ultimately hurt the economy. So, should the minimum wage be increased or not? The federal minimum wage was introduced in 1938 during the Great Depression under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It was initially set at $0.25 per hour and has been increased by Congress 22 times, most recently in 2009 when it went from $6.55 to $7.25 an hour. 29 states plus the District of Columbia (DC) have a minimum wage higher than the federal minimum wage. 2,561,000 workers earn the federal minimum wage or below.

The minimum wage in the United States has been an ongoing controversy for many years now. The first minimum wage was established in 1938 (Reich, 2015, P. 3). That minimum wage started out at .25 cents an hour; compared to today’s higher wage of a government standard of $7.25 an hour. Many people believe that the minimum wage should be more so that those who live below the poverty level in the United States will decrease, however in many other people’s opinions the minimum wage should be the same. The minimum wage should stay the same at a low $7.25.

In the 2014 State of the Union address, President Obama called on Congress to raise the national minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour, and soon after signed an Executive Order to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 for the individuals working on new federal service contracts. An increase in the minimum wage has been a topic of

In United States the minimum wage is been set by a network of federal, state, and local laws. Workers are generally been paid no less than the statutory minimum wage as specified by the government. As of July 2009, the federal government officially ordered a nationwide minimum wage level of $7.25 per hour. The federal minimum wage was at its highest at 10 dollars in 1968, as measured in 2014. Since then there were controversial debates over the

Moving along the list of advantages, increasing the minimum wage will also increase the amount of money workers have, which, in turn, will inspire them to increase their consumption and pump their extra money into the economy. If workers have more money going into their pockets from increased wages, the income effect comes into play, and provides an incentive to go out into the market and buy goods and services. In an article printed by The New York Times, it was also pointed out that raising the minimum wage would decrease labor turnover. This is because if workers are paid more, they have less incentive to leave their current job and seek a higher paying job.

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.