Raising Minimum Wage In The United States

Jason Furman and Parrot Sharon explain why raising minimum wage will help families. The wage has to be elevated to just the point where a family can actually afford all the necessities they need in order to survive. The cost of living in houses for poor people makes it difficult for them to afford it and is difficult to stay on task with all the bills. Many minimum wage workers have families to support. The cost of raising children is very expensive. It is an average of $7,100 per year. Minimum wage workers can barely afford to pay child care for one child, let alone two. Increasing minimum wage will also make life easier to those who have food stamps and child care needs. Which can also help them get into college a lot faster so they can go out and pursue a better paying job.

Raise the minimum wage: In the United States, studies show that women tend to make up a disproportionate share of low-wage workers. In the field of education, men tends to go more to STEM than women and that also leads to high paying jobs for men. If we raise the minimum wage, this will help hardworking women to support their families. Approximately, women made up two-thirds of all minimum-wage workers in 2012. With the current federal minimum wage i.e. $7.25 per hour, someone working full time, only earn $15,080 a year round. People working full time with minimum wage is still below the poverty threshold for any family with children and single person is also not far above the poverty line. So, increasing the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour would help increase the wages for about 15 million women, which will help close the gender wage gap.

When there are millions of Americans living at or below poverty lines, something has to be done. Billion dollar companies and businesses that employ workers, paying them low wages is hurting the economy. The reality is, unless the minimum wage is raised, the cycle will only continue. With higher minimum wages in place, the entire country does better and, therefore, should be raised. There needs to be laws put place to raise the minimum wage. Doing so would boost the economy with all of the money that Americans would put into it. With higher minimum wages, millions of Americans can get out of poverty, not having to rely on the government for assistance such as food stamps, public housing, child care, and health care needs. They can afford better housing options in which they want to live. Communities would see less crimes in neighborhoods creating a safer environment. Aside from that, Americans can afford a good education, health care, as well as healthier eating and exercising habits.

The idea of raising the federal minimum wage that has developed nation wide attention, including protesting and arguments, has caused many discussions on why it could potentially help the economy grow and how it could result in the crash of the economy. Many people feel like raising the federal minimum wage is a must, while others think it will destroy the economy. There are many benefits that come with raising the federal minimum wage, but those benefits also come with many disadvantages.

“According to a 2015 report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a worker must earn at least $15.50 an hour (over twice the federal minimum wage) to be able to afford to rent a "modest" one-bedroom apartment, and $19.35 for a two-bedroom unit (more than 2.5 times the minimum wage).” The report stated: "In no state can an individual working a typical 40-hour work week at the federal minimum wage afford a one-or two-bedroom apartment for his or her family." It is obvious to conclude that minimum wage is a problem, but what solutions can be produced to fix it? “A survey by the Small Business Network found that 82% of small businesses agreed that "’the government should not be setting wage rates.’” This statement shows how conservative business owners are about their money. If they want to decrease the minimum wage past what it is already, then there’s a serious conflict. These workers are barely making a living, and if they are affected negatively anymore, they are in serious trouble.

minimum wages are struggling to live on a salary that is below the poverty threshold. In 2012, the U.S census posted that in a family of three; their income is 18,552, (U.S Census). In most case, one member of the family is working on a minimum wage salary which is below 18,552, (U.S. Dept. of Labor). It has been almost a five years since congress has raised the minimum wage (Huff Post). Throughout my argument, I will share my thoughts as wells as facts on why congress should agree to raise the minimum wage. We

Have you ever thought about feeding a family and paying the necessary bills on $7.25 per hour? If you answer “no,” then think about this. With this type of salary you could not cover your rent in most parts of the United States, much less feed your family. In this day and time this feat cannot be achieved without raising the minimum wage. If our current government does not raise the minimum wage than a person earning minimum wage would need to work two or three jobs just to keep up with inflation.

II. Second Argument: A raise in the national minimum wage will help all low-wage earners and lift some families out of poverty.

By raising the minimum wage some people will no longer live below the poverty line, the amount of consumer spending will increase and more people will be in better health.

Even with the hike of minimum wage to $7.25, workers were still $3,000 under the poverty level. An average family of four would be $6,000 under the poverty line. There is a popular belief that most minimum wage workers are teenagers. The truth is that 79% of minimum wage workers are 20 or older.

For many years now, president Obama and Congress have taken up the issue of minimum wage laws because lately it has become a sort of conflict in our society as well as our economy. There has been much discussion about what good can come to America’s low-wage workers and there has been the same amount of discussion on what possible negative effects this legislation may bring. Full-time workers should receive enough to support themselves and their families. The purpose of the minimum wage law is to lift up the under paid workers but those workers see themselves as being underpaid(). If the economy is constantly changing should not our wages?

Minimum wage has been a topic that has caused mixed feelings from all parts of the United States and other countries and it continues to be a topic of interest to many. There are some that feel minimum wage it is not high enough to survive, while others feel if minimum wage is raised, so will the cost of goods, such as food, housing and cost of living in general, resulting in no change regardless of increase. There are many families that are living off minimum wage and can barely survive on it. The majority of these families are on either on government assistance and considered in the poverty lines thus impacting the lower class American population the most, or they are single mothers raising their families on one income. The purpose of

I think minimum wage is important because brings families with a lower income out of poverty. Mr. Sherk says “it is ineffective because it keeps some workers from on “the bottom rung of the ladder” little chance. When they keep upping the minimum wage some workers get the benefit while others get left and do not get the higher paying jobs. With increasing the minimum wage older workers get left for younger teenagers which leaves a high unemployment rate. On a statistic taken by the BLS or Bureau of Labor Statistics says that the people getting minimum wage are 16-24 year olds, the teens wanting a summer job or single mothers trying to support their families. Nine percent of adults under the poverty line are working full time.

There’s a very simple solution to a increasing poverty level, a raise in the federal minimum wage. People who live at or below poverty level did not have the opportunity to develop job skills, build an education, or invest in financial assets. The little opportunity given to the low poverty populate is due to the absence of a low income, and how many of them could only afford a minimum wage job. If an increase of minimum wage was given, many low income workers could develop skills, that could help them progress in their career. Once these workers succeed in their career, one could hope that they will go on a earn a education, or build their financial assets. These financial assets include loans, savings accounts, and the purchasing of houses or other expensive items. An investment of these financial assets will led to an overall boost in the surrounding economy and crime rates in the area. A federal wage increase has many benefits compared to cons, these benefits include: helping the life of low income workers, who make up most of America, and the overall boost of the economy and the area surrounding it.

A 2015 CBS/New York Times survey found that 71 percent of Americans favored an increase to the minimum wage. (Doyle, pg 2). What if I tell you that raising a minimum wage is not a good idea for our society? Would you believe that increasing a minimum hourly rate might cause more harm than good in a long run? What if setting a high minimal wage will actually kill many jobs and increase unemployment? Did you think that this “raising minimum wage” games are the never ending loops, and are created to manipulate people, as they do not really improve or raise the quality of people’s life?