In 1938, President Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act also known as FLSA. This act shielded workers in the United States from being misused and introduced the first federal minimum wage: 25 cents per hour. Since FLSA was created, every few years, Congress revise it to account for inflation. Currently, in the United States, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. Millions of people in the United States are either living in poverty or debt. Some of these people also have families to take care of and living on the minimum wage is not enough. People argue that raising the minimum wage would hurt businesses, force companies to close, and create competition for jobs. Despite this, it is necessary for the federal minimum wage to increase to boost the economy and help millions of individuals struggling in poverty.
The main reason why people do not want to raise the minimum wage is that they believe raising it would result in a higher unemployment rate and it will increase the expense of hiring inexperienced people. New minimum wage job positions give young people an experience on how the real world is like, and it makes them learn skills to become more constructive, and if the minimum wage increased, it would be challenging for them to find a job. Economists argue that “young people would be harmed the most by increasing the minimum wage. Almost half of minimum wage workers are under 25, and 19 percent are teens. This group’s unemployment rate is already higher than
“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.
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.
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
The federal minimum wage in the United States is currently $7.25 an hour. Increasing the minimum wage would lift approximately 900,000 people out of poverty. Forty-three million Americans are living in poverty due to low income, health care costs, childcare costs, college costs, and housing costs. The federal minimum wage should be raised because it keeps up with inflation and would scale down poverty levels.
Opponents of raising the minimum wage argue that employers will refrain from hiring future employees and firing those who do not add value. They claim the young an inexperienced will end up without work or the ability to
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.
It's still a relatively new topic, minimum wage. Introduced in 1938, by President Franklin Roosevelt, it was a part of the creation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This act established “minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor standards affecting full-time and part-time workers.”(United States Department of Labor). At the present time of 1938, 25¢was quite a significant amount of money. However, now, the federal minimum wage has been set at $7.25 by President Obama in 2009. Within the past seventy years, many states have desired to raise their own minimum wage higher than that of the federal minimum. Presently, twenty-nine states have elected to pay their workers more rather than giving them the short-end of the stick.
Political analyst and civil rights activist Benjamin Todd once said: “No person can maximize the American Dream on the minimum wage.” Today, I have chosen to speak on the controversial topic of whether or not the United States should raise the federal minimum wage.
As the cost of living is raising every day, it is really important to raise minimum wage as well. Through the years, there have been questions about this topic, but no changes have been made. Some people do not realize the importance of minimum wage or even its history. It is a real struggle for many people because they are living in poor conditions making around $200 a week. That is a real struggle for those trying to provide for their family. They have a really hard time trying to make it till the end of the month. They are afraid and worried at the same time because they cannot pay their bills in time or even go to the doctor if they get sick. Increasing the minimum federal wage could make a difference for those living in unfortunate conditions.
The minimum wage was created in 1938 in order to give the people some sort of fair labor standards.the minimum wage should not be increase because it will hurt individuals and businesses and hurt the socio economic of equity by increasing the minimum wage some workers are gonna gain some but other are just going to be laid off because the businesses need more money for their employees.
In the USA thousands of employees live under the poverty line while working full time jobs
During the 2008 Global Recession, the employment rate for young adults and low skilled workers disproportionately, and once the recession had eased the employment gap based on education worsened significantly. In 2016 Presidential election raising the minimum wage became a key policy issue for the Democratic Party to help give those workers who were hit the hardest during the recession a much needed income boost. During the 2016 Democratic National Convention the Democrats agreed to add a $15 minimum wage into the party’s platform, taking a pivotal step sought by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and labor Unions. When it comes to raising the minimum wage and what it would do to U.S. employment, prices and productivity. Economists are willing
On November 9th, the voters of Maine chose to boost the states minimum wage. Raising the minimum wage intends to increase the living standard of low-level and low-skilled workers, specifically in service-sector jobs. However, sometimes it hurts the people it intends to help. Many economists have debated what the minimum wage should be that would benefit both the economy and society. Starting with John Maynard Keynes, economists have argued about the minimum wage for decades. Traditional economists argued that the labor market is in balance at equilibrium, however, Keynes argued that settling at equilibrium would not improve the labor market situation or properly stimulate aggregate demand.
Nevertheless, there is still the argument that raising the minimum wage will impact the unemployment rate negatively (Roberts). One concerns are that business may not have the necessary assets to pay their workers anymore than the current $7.25 an hour wage. Another concern is that a portion of businesses rely on cheap labor so that their profit margins are greater (Smith). Raising the minimum wage to $9.00 an hour various employers are forced to lay off workers, which increases the unemployment rate and hinders the economic growth. Furthermore, with people’s pay being increased they are now able to afford the current demands, which can cause prices of the demands to increase. Teenagers are also negatively impacted due to the increase of minimum wage because the demand for jobs will rise and employers will be more willing to higher an adult versus the teenagers (“Raising the Minimum”). Additionally, when a business is required to abide by the national minimum wage, there is a sense of government control over businesses. The United States offers a free market so businesses enjoy the luxury of being able to make their own choices. Businesses have the right to choose what they would like to pay their workers, but once the new minimum wage is set they will not be able to pay below that amount. A small business with 5 to 20 employees will not experience a noticeable impact from a
The minimum wage has grown twenty two times since it was first introduced in 1938.