Raising Minimum Wage

“A 15 percent increase in the minimum wage nationwide would destroy about 290,000 to 590,000 young people's jobs, and about 400,000 to 800,000 jobs overall” (Henderson, David R). Due to the Fair labor Standards act, the federal minimum wage, or the lowest you can pay an employee for work, currently stands at $7.25 an hour. Although a number of Americans think that raising the minimum wage would benefit our country, it would actually bring a number of problems to our economy, such as a rise in job loss and high school dropout.

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.

According to Daniel Tencer’s article “Too-Fast Minimum Wage Hike Will Cost Ontario 90,000 Jobs: TD Bank” (2017) on huffpost website, thousands of people might lose their jobs by 2020 as the result of today’s minimum wage hike. Some economists claim that it ‘can potentially generate more benefits to society than costs in terms of any resulting job loss’ (2017) while others concern about short period of time allotted on making these changes. As for minimum wage in the coming years, it will be $14 per hour in January 2018 and $15 in 2019. The author also stated that not only Ontario is planning to raise minimum wage, but also Alberta will increase it to $15 per hour. Furthermore, even though government says that there will be a ‘positive household

At the start of October 2016, the minimum wage will be rising throughout most provinces: Employees will receive a higher rate per hour. For example, Ontario’s minimum wage rises from $11.25 to $11.40 per hour; creating, a 1.3% inflation. However, there are other elements which contradict the minimum wage increase: transport, healthcare, education, shelter and many more components towards living in Canada

First, we are huge fans of yours and we can't wait until you become President of the United States! We are emailing you because we would like you to hear our views on the minimum wage issue. We have learned that the purpose of minimum wage is used to stabilize the economy and to protect the workers in the labor force. We know that you are in favor of raising the minimum wage to about ten dollars which seems fair and reasonable. We also know that you want to create more jobs which would be more attainable with your minimum wage plan. We are all in agreement with your plan for minimum wage and know that it would make life much easier for those Americans whose only source of income is a minimum wage job.

Raising the minimum wage can hurt many people in different aspects of business. Increasing the minimum wage will cause businesses to lay off employees. Matt Zwolinski stated “By increasing the cost of labor, they reduce the demand for it” (3). This essentially means that those who are increasing the minimum wage are also creating unemployment. The increase in lay offs causes the unemployment rate to skyrocket (“Should” 1). Joseph Sabia and Richard Burkhauser estimated that about 1.3 million jobs would be eliminated if the federal minimum wage was increased to $9.50 per hour (“Four” 1). Raising the minimum wage would cause many small, local shops to close their doors. Even many big fast food companies would have to close their doors because they would not be able to pay their employees (“Should” 2). Seattle, being the first US city to raise the minimum wage, has received a lot of attention. A study found that there were many jobs lost due to this wage

The minimum wage has been a topic of discussion for decades. It was introduced in the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938, originally set at $0.25. It has since been raised 29 times. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 and was set in 2009 (11). This is the reason many people are upset with the wage not increasing. It would take $8.09 in 2016 to equal the $7.25 from 2009. The minimum wage needs to be increased to boost the economy and lift families out of poverty. However, the minimum wage should not be increased to more than $10 per hour to prevent an increase in the price of consumer goods and prevent a spike in high school dropout rates.

If there is an increase in minimum wage, it will slowly pull people out of poverty. Poverty level for a single person is just under $12,000 per year, but for a household with two kids, it’s over $23,000 per year. At the current minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, a person’s annual salary would be about $15,000 per year. Also, since cost of living varies in different places in the country, the same minimum wage often does not even cover living expenses. Increasing the minimum wage to $9 per hour will lift 300,000 people from poverty. If increased to $10.10 an hour it will lift 900,000 people out of poverty and reduce the number of non-elderly living in poverty. Since young people are most likely to be working minimum wage jobs, they often face other issues associated with making minimum

Minimum wage is the lowest amount a business is allowed to pay its employers by law. In the past several years, many state legislators have been trying to increase this amount. Currently, in the state of Pennsylvania the minimum wage is $7.25 but in some states, such as California, it is up to $10 already (Whiteman.) This topic is of high interest to myself and others because a change in the minimum wage can have drastic affects on the economy. Many people want the government to pass new laws for a higher minimum wage; some want the wage up to fifteen dollars an hour. Increasing the minimum wage at such a large amount will have a major impact on the economy. This side argues that an increased minimum wage is just what the United States needs.

When people get a job they think that they should be able to afford to financially support their families; however, this is not the case for so many hard working people. There are plenty of people who opposite the raise of 15 dollars an hour, yet there reasons are unsound since just like the business owners try to get their employees are trying to support their families. Many think that raising the minimum wage would hurt businesses, yet how can businesses grow if people do not have money to spend on those businesses. People need to have extra money in order to be able to spend more money and help the economy. Increasing the minimum wage helps many people be able to survive.

Families will have better care, reducing demands on the health care system. More money means people can spend money on better products at the supermarket which means there is less of the chance of them become ill. That leads to them being less of a burden on the government and the government does not have to spend tons of money on health care. When people start spending money the economy starts going and businesses make enough money to pay the higher wages. “Raising the minimum wage would be good for our economy. A higher minimum wage not only increases workers’ incomes—which is sorely needed to boost demand and get the economy going.”(Lester) Low wage workers are most likely spending the money where other low wage worker work at. This would

Bigger is better! While this statement can be true it isn’t always, in the case of minimum wage this is far from the truth. The proposal for raising minimum wage to $15 is not the solution. This would cause inflation, create unemployment, and raising minimum wage will have a very small impact on poverty. A true solution is to revert our economy back to the barter system.

From an early age, kids are taught that they have to go to university to receive a job. That they need basic skills learned in school to have a level of comprehension in the job. Then the search begins for the perfect job. While companies are eagerly waiting to refresh the line-up of workers for new, fresh faces into their organization, the question of how much they pay is highlighted. Thereby, the degree of pay a person can accumulate from a job is handled by the Government and not the companies. It has been agreed upon that in Ontario “The general minimum wage rises to $11.25 an hour, from $11” (Herhalt, 2015, para.2). Obviously there is a decision to be made of how many new employees to be hired. To companies this is the price to do business in the future while employees view this as their monetary income. Alas the conundrum appears, do companies view minimum wage as an investment or a cost to the organization. There are both positive and negative standpoints to this issue. And the best way to understand them is to divulge them into two separate stances. From a company and employee standpoint to bridge their perspectives of the ideal of minimum-wage into an agreed-upon consensus. I will demonstrate how the minimum wage is both an investment and cost by looking into the positives and negatives from both sides of the job.

On June 1st 2014 minimum wage was increased by 75-cents thanks to more than a year of organizing across the province. Even with this increase from 10.25 to 11.00 per hour, more than 16% of full-time workers are still left living below the poverty line. Not only are employees’ lives being deprived but also their families. This is a moral imperative, but also it is an economic issue. How will increasing minimum wage better society? A strong minimum wage can help businesses, our economy recover and working families.

Currently, the federal minimum wage sits at $7.25 per hour. (Alison Doyle). The debate is whether or not the minimum wage should be increased to $15 per hour. Larger states, such as California and New York, are preparing to raise their minimum wage to $15 per hour in the coming years. (Kate Rogers). Due to the size and population of states such as these, a minimum wage increase could actually be beneficial in increasing revenue and the standard of living for many employees. The majority of the United States is not as fortunate and vastly populated as states such as these. Therefore, an increase in the minimum wage could result in layoffs and reduced hiring. (Doyle). Overall, the minimum wage should not be increased to $15 per hour.