Raising The Minimum Wage?

Minimum wage is a topic of considerable controversy and a significant source of economic stratification. Essentially, the minimum wage policy is what defines the baseline income of “low level” or “starting positions.” Here in the U.S. most individuals will at some point in their life hold a minimum wage position. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 58.5% of U.S. citizens were paid at hourly rates, and about 2.6 million workers are actively working in positions that earn the federal minimum wage or less. Unfortunately, in certain circumstances, minimum wage income is not sufficient to support individuals’ and families’ cost of living. Arising from this issue is the

A big argument in california today is whether or not to raise the minimum wage to around $15 an hour. At face value why would anyone be opposed to getting more money for what they do. But the hubris in that is that raising the amount of money earned per hour for a low skill position would have huge economical effects. Some of the effects that raising the minimum wage include lowering the amount of hours given to an employee, lowering the chances of employers hiring on new workers, and causing the dollar to lose its value caused by inflation. Each of these play a large part in the destruction of not only our local economy but also the country's economic growth.

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 minimum wage debate is always a big topic in the United States politics. Studies show over 3.8 million Americans are paid at or below minimum wage (Dickinson 33). Many have looked back on past wage systems and have questioned wage’s relationship to current market inflation. In response to this inquiry, a large majority of the general population, relatively unrelated to their degree of income, support legislation to increase the minimum wage. However, the issue has split into debate in Washington D.C. Liberal ideals stem from the belief that raising the minimum wage is positive and helps close the income gap; alternatively, conservatives feel raising the minimum wage causes unnecessary harm to employment situation. Raising the minimum wage is a necessary course of action to aid the bottom half of an economically diverse society.

The federal minimum wage began during the Great Depression in 1938 starting at $0.25 an hour. As of today, Federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour and it hasn’t budged since 2009 when it took effect. The intent of this paper is to illustrate the reasons behind raising minimum wage and the downfalls economically of raising minimum wage. Do the positive impacts outweigh the downfalls?

In today’s society, there has been many arguments as to whether the minimum wage should increase or not. Although the minimum wage appears to only impact individuals, once we look below the surface level, we see that an individual's income affects the household’s income and therefore, inadvertently affects the family unit and the society as well. Therefore, it is an implicit policy. The argument surrounding an increase in minimum wage is that increasing the minimum wage will positively impact and benefit the community. On the other hand, some feel that it could harm the economy and may even hurt those who it is intended to benefit. In this paper, I will argue that it is not possible for families to survive and remain healthy on a minimum wage salary, and an increase in the minimum wage could positively impact students’ school attendance. Furthermore, the minimum wage should be raised so that employees of large fast food industries will be paid a fair amount in compared to the profits that they generate for the companies.

The minimum wage has many effects on the labor market. According to a research conducted by Belman and Wolfson (2014) indicated that monetary incentive to the minimum wage affects about thirty percent of the entire labor force. It can be indicated that just a small factor in the policies related to minimum wage could affect a major fraction of the labor force.

From looking at the Economic Policy Institute alone, the proposition for raising minimum wage is a good idea. Based on the article, Raising the minimum wage to $15 by 2024 would lift wages for 41 million American workers, reported by David Cooper; a gradual raise of minimum wage can vastly improve the living of standard for a variety of Americans. Senators Bernie Sanders, Patty Murray and Representatives Bobby Scott, Keith Ellison have introduced a new process in aspirations to gradually increase minimum wage. Their reasoning behind this stems from the fact that anyone working full-time on minimum wage does not earn enough money to be above the federal poverty line. An increase in minimum wage would result in an increase of earnings for 22.5 million workers. In addition, increasing minimum wage would also create a reduction in the unequal race and gender wage gap. This is because an increase in minimum wage projects an increase in wages to 40.1% African-Americans, 33.5% Hispanics, and 33.8% of women. Cooper also claims that an increase in minimum wages would reduce poverty, he states, “the majority of poor people age 18 to 64 who can work (i.e., they are not in school, retired, or disabled) do work, and over 40 percent work full time. Moreover, increasing the minimum wage is an effective tool for reducing poverty.” In conclusion, many EPI articles agree with Cooper and his claims that an increase in minimum wage would positively affect Americans.

The minimum wage for workers should be increased for a number of reasons. Generally speaking there are many benefits and circumstances on raising the minimum wage, but if we don’t take action on changing the amount people are getting paid then there will be some consequences. First of all, raising the minimum wage would reduce the number of people who are in poverty which is far greater than it needs to be. Moreover, raising the minimum wage would lead to less premature deaths and allow many people to live healthier and longer lives. Finally, raising the minimum wage would allow many high school students that are in poverty and working to attend school more often than they already are. There are many pieces of evidence that will prove my point

Three-quarters of Americans favor a higher minimum wage (Smith). Although so many favor raising the federal minimum wage, it is still a highly debated topic in today's politics. The federal minimum wage was enacted in 1938 as a result of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. One of the main goals of minimum wage was to establish a standard living wage for employees. However, over time this living wage has turned into a starving wage. The federal minimum wage should be raised because it has not kept up with inflation, would reduce poverty levels, and would stimulate the economy.

The current minimum wage in the United States is a wage which Americans cannot live and provide for a family. Americans are forced to live in poor living conditions because of the low wages they earn. The low wages that workers earn result in poor healthcare because they cannot afford the proper treatment. The minimum wage leaves little, if any, for any unexpected expenses. The minimum wage in America affects American workers trying to make ends meet. The minimum wage needs to be raised and changed to the living wage.

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.

Minimum wage has been an issue that is highly debated and has created controversy. The debate is one of the most controversial issues in economic policy and labor economics. The set minimum wage will influence the labor market, labor force participation, and social welfare. A minimum wage is meant to improve labor market conditions and increases social welfare. The wage that both maximizes social welfare and worker’s social effort is seen as beneficial to workers even if it increases unemployment. When evaluating the United States labor market, the federal minimum wage has a large effect on jobs. Minimum wage attempts to support low-wage workers, consequently fighting inequality and poverty. Evidence suggests that a higher minimum wage causes adverse effects on employment. Research from both past and present evaluations of a minimum wage increase have demonstrated an adverse effect on the labor market and employment. Overall, an increase in the minimum wage is a problematic policy that does not support the task of handling poverty and inequality. Increasing minimum wage leads to an increase in unemployment among the youth and vulnerable workers and forces the workforce towards informal jobs leading to lower job security and lower earnings.

According to the Wall Street Journal, “more than one-half of the people earning the minimum wage are from 16 to 24 years of age.” This statistic clearly shows that most of the people in America making minimum wage are young adult that just got out of high school or college and are trying to find work experience. Why should a low-skilled young adult with no work experience make as much as a teacher? They are doing a job that any other low skilled human could do. Jobs making the minimum wage should not be considered to be a career, they should be a stepping stone towards your future career. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour and the state minimum wage is $8.10 an hour. An increase in the minimum living wage in the United States will ultimately result in increased unemployment, increased prices for goods and services, and essentially becoming ineffective at reducing poverty.

The minimum wage has been established to dictate the lowest hourly pay employers can pay their workers. According the the Fair Labors Standards Act the Federal Minimum Wage has been $7.25 since 2009 (Krulick, 2013). However states individually can differ in their minimum wage. For example, the State Minimum Wage for California is $10.50 (2002). When the state and federal minimum wage are different amounts, employees are entitled to the higher rate of the two. A State's Minimum Wage is usually higher than the Federal State minimum wage, depending on the costs of living (Krulick, 2013).