Raising Minimum Wage

There is a lot of controversy over whether the minimum wage should be increased to 15$ an hour in all states. Proponents say that current wages in America are not livable because inflation is way higher than the current minimum wage; Minimum wage was 1.60 in 1968, which is equal to 11.60 today. Opponents say that many cannot afford this, will have to close down, make cuts, raise prices and lay off people because they will need to pay them more. Most economists believe that that high of an increase would hurt job growth. I believe that Increasing the minimum wage to fifteen dollars an hour nationwide will do more harm than good. Raising the minimum wage to fifteen dollars an hour nationwide is too big of a jump and would just cause businesses to cut off workers, force small businesses to close and increase inflation.

With the minimum wage set at $7.25 dollars per hour many people are struggling to make do. The average cost of living in America is too much for people, who make minimum wage, to make ends meet. It’s thought that raising the minimum wage will have a negative effect on the unemployment rate but there has been no evidence of that. The value of the minimum wage has dropped immensely since 1960. Raising the minimum wage will be beneficial to America and its citizens. In 1968 the minimum wage was equal to $10.74 today. That means in 50 years the purchasing power of the minimum wage has diminished. From the end of WWII upto 1968 minimum wage was on pace with the average worker productivity rate. If this trend was true from 1968 to today and worker

The debate over raising the minimum wage has been a hot topic ever since President Obama introduced the bill at the 2014 State of The Union Address. He intends to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10, an increase of over 40%. While the President claims this idea to be beneficial to the economy, studies show otherwise.

Minimum wage is the minimum hourly wage an employee can be paid from their employer. The federal minimum wage is set at seven dollars and twenty-five cents an hour in the state of Mississippi. Some states have chosen to raise their minimum wage higher than federal requires. San Francisco, CA, has the highest minimum wage fixed at ten dollars and fifty-five cents. Even though, some states have a higher minimum wage than others. The Fair Labor Standards Act entails every employee to be paid the same amount. If minimum wage was to be raised, it would have advantages and disadvantages.

Who knew that minimum wage could save the world and the people in it? The last time minimum wage was raised on July 24, 2009, and that when it rose from $6.55 to $7.25 per hour, How have we been living on $7.25 this long? We haven't been living on it we were trying to survive and a lot of people can’t survive on a minimum wage that low. Raising minimum wage to an amount that could actually let people live comfortably would help the economy and a lot of people who struggle in this economy. This is not all that can help but raising the minimum wage can be the start of a lot of problems that deal with job growth, reducing child neglect, and poverty.

There will be inflation or rising costs for basic necessities such as housing, food, utilities, transportation and child care. Because of inflation, the minimum wage forces most of the people into poverty. If a person works full-time and his minimum wage is only $14500, and if he has two children this income is more than $4000 below the poverty line. So, increasing the minimum wage would rise almost a million people above the poverty line. But if minimum wages increases, it would result in the loss of jobs because employers would lay off workers to offset the additional labor cost. But, raising the minimum wage has multiple benefits. As an increase to minimum wage moves families above the poverty threshold, their need for public assistance

In 2012 the percentage of poverty fell from 15% to 14.5%. By raising the minimum wage the united states will have less poverty.People who earn minimum wage and have families don't earn enough to meet their basic living expenses. Sometimes people don't have enough money to buy necessities such as food. If minimum wage is increased, more people will be able to afford housing. Earning minimum wage is not even enough to support 1 person. People not only need to buy food and afford housing but also pay bills like electricity,water etc.By earning minimum wage people aren't able to pay all of these necessities.A person working forty hours a week, fifty weeks a year at the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour would earn $14,500, pre-tax. In the area where I live housing is really expensive , houses for rent are usually $400 monthly not including the amount the owner wants for deposit. People with minimum wage will have a hard time to buy their own house if a house is on sale for $100,00 and you earn $20,00 annually you aren't going to have enough money to give a down payment and still be paying for house insurance plus basic living expenses. “According to a 2015 report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a worker must earn at least $15.50 an hour

In addition to raising wages and establishing safer working conditions, enforcing unionization nationwide can also can also create better benefits for the working population. Unions have played a major role in regulating overtime pay and minimum wage. Recently, activists and labor unions have been fighting for minimum wage to rise to 15 dollars. Raising minimum wage would lower the poverty rate in the United States. In a study conducted in 2013 by the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, “economist Arindrajit Dube, PhD, estimated that increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 is ‘projected to reduce the number of non-elderly living in poverty by around 4.6 million’” (Should). Under the Social Security Act of 1935, unemployment insurance (UI)

The economic effects of raising the minimum wage can be damaging, but I believe the benefits of it outweigh the negatives. Those who tend to live on the minimum wage - fast food workers, retail employees, ext. - tend to spend most to all of their income. By raising their wage, they are able to 1. spend more and 2. possibly invest more. This would have a ripple effect throughout the entire economy - leading to raises for everyone. It is

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The first minimum wage law was imposed in New Zealand in 1894; since then other countries have followed. Forty-four years later, the United States enacted The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 which set the United States minimum wage to $0.25 for workers who were covered. Since 1938, as the standard of living increases in the country, the minimum wage has been “raised 22 separate times–most recently, in July 2009, to $7.25 an hour” (Center for Poverty Research UC Davis; 2018), where it currently remains. Although there is a federal minimum wage, states and cities are allowed to set floor rates higher than the federal rate. Minnesota’s minimum wage is currently $7.87 but Minneapolis recently decided to raise their minimum wage to $15.

“No person can maximize the American Dream on minimum wage” (Todd). For several years, minimum wage has been an issue among the citizens and politicians in agreeing on the exact value. This is based on the reason that minimum wage determines living standards for the population as well as the economy of a country at large. Minimum wage is regarded as the lowest level of remuneration that employers are needed to pay their workers under various legal jurisdictions. Currently, almost every person in the US including the wealthy, middle income and the poor have a great urge for having an increased pay per hour due to the current economic demands. Therefore, based on the needs of the populations and looking at recent economic studies and research,

The minimum wage is a topic which has been heavily discussed amongst the people of the United Kingdom. Some think it should be lowered, some think it is at the right amount and others think it should be increased. I was shocked when I found out what the minimum wage was as I thought how could anyone live on such a little amount. I thought how could anyone afford to pay all of their bills and everything else on top of that like food and clothes. But then I looked into it more and I realised that the minimum wage is at that amount for a reason, these reasons are ones which I agree with.

Many people believe that the federal minimum wage is not high enough to support a family. Since the establishment of the federal minimum wage in 1938, it has risen over 22 times by congressional approval. The minimum wage started as $0.25 and is currently $7.25. While this is the federal minimum wage, some states such as California have raised theirs as high as $10.00 an hour. It is important that the minimum wage be raised to help people keep up with the rising cost of living in the United States. No one can support a family on $7.25 per hour (ProCon.org 2016).

The minimum wage has grown twenty two times since it was first introduced in 1938.