Raise Minimum Wage

When it comes to cash options everyone has their hands out and people are asking for more. Money situations can make life easier and less stressful, especially when minimum wage is concerned. Many jobs argue whether minimum wage should be raised or lowered. The minimum wage should be raised because people want to make more money, others believe that some people make too much money, and some individuals feel it should be raised according to job qualifications.

Others studies also report that women are impacted more than men. Two thirds of all workers being paid at or below the federal minimum wage are women. This has been continued in a lot of companies, where there still give more rights to men than women for the same position. This means that 67% more women work minimum wage jobs than men. So, this will really affect women because they will be still doing the same amount of work or more work than before and getting paid less than men.

Throughout history, the lower class of society has always gotten “the short end of the stick” and been taken advantage of by the upper and more wealthy class. Hard working citizens that work long hours, yet receive low pay. Sometimes the person might have to work two jobs to provide for their family and put food on the table. The movement for lower class to strike back is happening and is growing every day. The movement for a raise in minimum wage is on the rise and the people are supporting it. Raising the minimum wage helps with the many problems associated with minimum wage jobs. Minimum wage presents many problems for the average lower class citizen including shelter, health insurance, and food.

It is a good economic policy to increase the minimum wage for low income earners. Increase the minimum will help these individuals get out of poverty, make a good living and afford better health care coverage. In addition increase the minimum wage will help individuals to take care of themselves and stop rely on social program and government assistances. Thus at this point the big concern is to decide how much to increase the minimum wage.

According to Gallup, a surprising seventy-four percent of Americans are in favor of an increase on the issue of the federal minimum wage, points out Eliza Gray from Time magazine (Gray 39). Liberals strongly believe “that people who work full-time should not live in poverty” (Dreier 86). America’s working poor and the economy can be better off if the minimum wage increases.

The federal minimum wage was introduced to the United States in 1938 during the Great Depression. The minimum wage was at first $.25 and has since been raised 22 times by Congress. The last time the federal wage was raised by President Obama to $7.25 back in 2008 . However, this low wage has been a problem for those just trying to support their families and dig themselves out of poverty. Raising the minimum wage will not only help these families that are working hard to live a good life, but also hard-working individuals .

Imagine working for a little company off the street in a small town for a set amount of money in the 1900s. This was the beginning of becoming a successful businessman. People have been working for a set amount for as long as the people of this country can remember, but as years progressed that set amount turned into a something called minimum wage. More years progressed and it kept rising higher and higher, and that is why this countries economy is as bad as it is. Although many Americans believe raising the minimum wage will benefit this country, the economy and poverty line may be devastated.

In their April 2016 Health Economics article, “Introduction of a National Minimum Wage Reduced Depressive Symptoms in Low-Wage Workers: A Quasi-Natural Experiment in the UK,” authors Aaron Reeves, Martin McKee, Johan Mackenbach, Margaret Whitehead, and David Stuckler examine how an increase in minimum wage in the UK improves health through an examination and survey of a few different groupings of the population. The authors assessed mental illness, smoking habits, blood pressure, and hearing ability on groups that received in an increase in minimum wage compared with control groups that were not affected by an increase in minimum wage because they either already had a higher wage than the minimum or because their firm did not increase wages.

In early 2017 the Democratic lawmakers introduced a policy that would increase the federal minimum wage to $15, more than double the current minimum. While Democrats and other supporters of the proposal argue that the higher wages will have an overall benefit to these wage earners. Economic experts like David cooper say, “the minimum wage would no longer be a poverty wage. It would enable tens of millions of millions of adults to improve the conditions of their families and in turn their communities.” Despite all of these positives, more economists have determined that the overall impact of a higher minimum wage would negative. These economists are against the raise in wages because the higher cost of labor will make it harder for vital small businesses and even large corporations to grow and expand, it will also drive prices up, and will reduce the overall skill of the work force. Overall, the federal minimum wage should not be increased because the higher price of labor will cause a slower rate of growth in the number of jobs, increases prices, and decrease the skill of the labor force.

Throughout the years, the talk about increasing the minimum wage has been a matter of predominant insight amongst the economy. Minimum wage causes the slightest businesses to prevail, then would be the case without it. If we raise the minimum wage it will end up causing the American economy to suffer more than benefiting it. If there is an inflation on minimum wage the expenses rise, and the price of living will go up. Although, minimum wage jobs do not allow people to make enough money to live off of. These low, cost jobs require very little knowledge and or schooling. They require the bare minimum skills, according to The Bureau of Labor Statistic stated that “In 2015, 78.2 million workers age 16 and older in the United States were paid at hourly rates, representing 58.5 percent of all wage and salary workers. Among those paid by the hour, 870,000 workers earned exactly the prevailing federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. About 1.7 million had wages below the federal minimum.” (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.) Getting paid $15 dollars for flipping hamburgers, with minimal judgement is absolutely ridiculous. If one wishes to get paid more, they should have a wide range of knowledge and a lot more schooling.

Increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour would cost the economy between 500,000 and 1 million jobs and an increase in $15.00 per hour would cost 6 million jobs. In 1938, Congress first enacted minimum wage that started as $0.25 per hour as a part of FDRś New Deal during the Great Depression. Today, 21 states have a minimum wage that is higher than the Federal minimum wage. The federal minimum wage should not be raised because there will be drastic and negative effects on society.

In the United States there are 29.6 million Small Business which is 99.9% of United States Businesses. Those small businesses employ 57.9 million which is 47.8% of United States employees. The national minimum wage has a huge effect on small business and the employees of those businesses. The federal minimum wage should not be raised because it will ruin small businesses, increase poverty in america, and give a disadvantage to young adults.

A big topic of discussion recently has been the question of increasing the minimum wage. Raising the minimum wage is seen as an opportunity for people in poverty to advance in life. It is also conveyed as a simple way to boost the economy. Some cities such as Seattle and San Francisco, have already increased wages in hope to see improvements. What many naive people do not realize though, is that hidden underneath the glorified minimum wage raise is numerous flaws. US citizens would be forced to pay higher prices day to day to make up for the immense pays. Workers may also end up making even less money than before or end up not having an income at all. The hike is too major for many reasons. Raising the minimum wage is not necessary for many unskilled jobs because it would result in inflation of prices, workers having less hours, and employees being laid off.

The minimum wage will see a drastic change this January. With minimum wage increasing from $11.60 to $14.00 in January and plateauing at $15.00 in January of 2019. Student minimum is also rising to $14.10, and liquor servers will just surpass thirteen dollars at $13.05. This change not only supports minimum wage workers through an income increase, but Ontario is also hiring 175 employment standard officers. These officers will benefit minimum wage workers by enforcing the new minimum wage and as well as other labour laws. Critics believe that this increase in minimum wage does not reach the intended demographic of low-income families and will result in a loss of jobs and positions. With a substantial change occurring this January, raising the minimum wage to $14.00, the effects of this raise will begin to ripple throughout Ontario. Although raising the minimum wage has been critiqued by many economists, it is essential to improving the lives of the lower class in Ontario.

The minimum wage for workers should be increased. First of all, raising the minimum wage would reduce the amount of people who are in poverty. Moreover, raising the minimum wage would lead to less premature deaths and allow many people to live healthier lives. Finally, raising the minimum wage would reduce the amount of crime the occurs. Let's take a look at some proof.