SHOULD THE CURRENT MINIMUM WAGE BE RAISED TO $15.00?
Fred Wehmer
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
Author Notes
Fred W. Wehmer, Professional Aeronautics,
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
Contact: wehmerf@my.erau.edu
ABSTRACT
Fred W. Wehmer
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
Rolf Hemmerling /ECON 211
11 October 2015
This paper will explore the pros and cons of raising the current minimum wage to $15.00. It will start with the history and reasons for the minimum wage. It will cite the positive aspects for raising it, as well as the negative consequences of that action. It will then touch on actual cases presently, within the U.S. economy. Finally, I will present my conclusion.
In the United States, the minimum wage is the lowest hourly rate that employers may legally pay to workers. It is a price floor. The forbearer to the minimum wage can be traced to medieval England. In 1348, the Black Plague decimated the English people. This caused a serious labor shortage and caused wages to sky rocket. King Edward III was inclined to set a wage ceiling contained in the Ordinance of Labourers (1349). Mihm, S. (2013, September 5). How the Black Death Spawned the Minimum Wage. The laws were eventually used to set a living wage. In the U.S., mandatory minimum wages were first introduced nationally in 1938. Department of Labor (2014, April 17) Grossman, Jonathan. "Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938: Maximum Struggle for a Minimum Wage". Many states also have
The reason of the fall in oil prices are the constant change of demand. The need for the oil is actually stagnant. Crude oil is becoming a product of the past. Today, you can harvest energy from solar, wind, water, heat, and waves. According to The Economist, “The use of fossil fuels in the rich world is mostly falling. Emerging economies are not currently taking up the slack”.
Right now,according to Victoria Smith,over 40 million people are living in poverty. This could be changed if they were able to get enough money from their jobs, but the minimum wage isn’t high enough right now. Even if only by a little, if minimum wage were raised, the amount of people living in poverty could be reduced by at least 5 million according to Mike Konczal . Originally, the minimum wage was at only .25 cents an hour. Due to causes such as inflation, this wage has been raised to meet the current standard. Although interest in raising the wage has gone away until recently. Minimum wage should be increased because it would increase job growth and economic activity,it would reduce government spending on welfare, and reduce poverty.
Everyone agrees that it is time to raise the U.S. Federal Minimum wage, but if we listen to the ‘Fight for 15’ movement and increase it to $15; will that much of an extreme increase hurt more people than it helps? The current U.S. Federal minimum wage is set at $7.25 per hour and was signed into law in 2009 by then President Barrack Obama. An increase to $15 per hour would be more than double the current rate and would have to be implemented in stages or it could have catastrophic consequences for our economy and lower wage workers. The minimum wage is the basis for the wage structure across the states. The population could see a decline in their living standards if the minimum wage
The issue of the minimum wage has recently come to the forefront of the debate on social policy. There is much disagreement over the wisdom of an increase in the minimum wage in the current fragile economic recovery. Some argue that a dramatic increase is what is needed in order to lift the standard of living for those in the bottom of the economic pyramid. Economists reason that the basic principle of supply and demand mandates than an increase in the wage would result in the loss of available jobs. Small businesses maintain that it would spell their doom.
The issue of raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour is a heavily debated topic. Both sources against or in favor of the minimum wage refer to a “growing gap” between low-income workers and high-income earners. Sources against the minimum wage believe raising it will increase this gap, whereas those in favor of the minimum wage believe it will decrease this gap. The arguments in favor of the minimum wage rely mostly on ethical beliefs, such as “pay should reflect hard work,” to advance the need for a higher minimum wage. Whereas, the arguments against the minimum wage use quantitative data like unemployment rates and economic analysis involving supply and demand to undermine the policy behind the minimum wage. Ultimately, the
There has been many conversations about what the positive impacts can come to America 's lowest income workers as a result of an increase in the minimum wage, and there has also been equally as many discussions over the negative effects the increase can have on similar people. This paper’s purpose is to combine each viewpoint and objectively analyze the arguments for and against an increase in the minimum wage. I will first discuss the benefits for an increase, then the disadvantages, and in the last paragraph, I will
On July 24th, 2009, the United States of America raised the minimum wage to $7.25. However, six years later the minimum wage rage remains the same. It is time once again for the federal government to raise the minimum wage to spur the economy. Raising the minimum wage would help the American economy and the daily life of the citizens for a variety of reasons. The first topic is that it not only would help the people but it also would help the economy as a whole. The second topic is that companies are already raising the minimum wage because of the lack of money workers get. Finally the third supporting idea is that the states are also raising it over the federal minimum wage and also how can help poverty. There are many more topics on why the minimum wage should be raised but these reasons are the most important.
Many case in USA suffering from the very low hourly payment according to Talk poverty: As wages go down, the percentage of workers relying on public assistance gets higher: 60 percent of workers earning less than $7.42—only slightly higher than the $7.25 federal minimum wage—receive some form of means-tested public assistance. Overall, 70 percent of the benefits in programs meant to aid non-elderly low-income households—programs like food stamps, Medicaid, and the Earned Income Tax Credits—go to working families.and it help some people get out of the food stamp Because the low minim wage many low income worker live with their children under a poverty.
The income inequality gap is a huge problem when 1% makes more than the 99%. The Debate that is happening right now is whether the United States of America should raise the federal minimum wage or not. They are plenty of pro and cons for raising the federal minimum wage. The federal minimum wage is 7.50 an hour, but many states and cities have a different minimum wage depending on the states, city, and cost to living in that city/state. The Los Angeles city council has passed a city ordinance to raise the city's minimum wage, which would increase the minimum wage to fifteen dollars an hour by 2020. Other citizens across the country have been rallying for their cities to raise the minimum wage to fifteen dollars an hour, while some a little
Minimum Wage Minimum wage has plagued a majority of teens and young adults for years and has never truly let up on them. Minimum wage is a huge part of how Americans live our lives. Many sources used in this paper were U.S News Articles and get information from a chief economist. Minimum wage should be increased because people want to have better lives than they have now which means that they are really fighting big government reps because they need to get better support from people to help increase minimum wage for their own lives. Minimum wage affects many Americans and how they can continue to make a living or how they live their lives.
The topic on whether the minimum wage should be increased our untouched has been a hot topic in the media and political scene lately. Both the republicans and democrats have spent some big bucks lobbying their insights on the matter. There has been a lot of subjective and objective arguments that are reasonable on both the pros and cons of increasing our national minimum wage. To add to the drama associated with this topic, President Obama endorsed a bill proposing a nearly 40% rise from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour. The President has been campaigning around the country ever since his State of the Union address, pushing congress to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. Many say this is too high due to the costs of enacting such an increase, and many say this is a little low due to the increased cost of living. After looking into both sides of this debate, I realize that overall it would be better for the well-being of our nation to increase the minimum wage due to the short term and long term costs that an increase of the minimum wage could lead to. In terms of helping out the lower class and poor citizens of the United States, increasing the minimum wage level is not the answer.
Donald Trump, the favorite candidate for this years election, recently claimed that wages are too high in America. One may wonder if he was lost in some sort of day dream or maybe he was talking about his own wages? As someone who has never had to worry about money, considering his families wealthy background, how would he possibly know what its like to live barely get by living off the federal minimum wage? Consider someone who is able to work a full time job being paid minimum wage, after taxes are taken out of their paycheck they would be looking at approximately a $13,000 salary per year. $12,000 is the poverty line in America for an individual. This is the life of a working class citizen in America. Constantly struggling to pay the bills and having to worry about how they are going to feed their children every week. The numbers show that minimum wage is clearly not sufficient to sustain a normal way of life and a raise would not only benefit millions of americans lives but also boost the economy.
Proponents of raising the minimum wage claim that if the minimum wage was raised, then many economic and social problems would be alleviated. This contention is at odds both with economic principles and years of creditable research. The effect of raising or even having a minimum wage has been studied extensively and the majority of studies have proven that raising a minimum wage does not have the desired effect. Both micro and macroeconomic forces affect the results of raising the minimum wage. The secondary effects of raising the minimum wage are bad both for
There has been many conversations about what the positive impacts can come to America 's lowest income workers as a result of an increase in the minimum wage, and there has also been equally as many discussions over the negative effects the increase can have on similar people. This paper’s purpose is to combine each viewpoint and objectively analyze the arguments for and against an increase in the minimum wage. I will first discuss the
In recent times, Congress has been spending a great deal of time advocating increasing the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10. Most democrats support the proposal; however, most republicans oppose it. The greatest reason republicans have to oppose a minimum wage increase is that the jobs lost from an increase outweigh the benefits of paying higher wages to workers who keep their jobs, and that a majority of those earning the wage are students who are not using their income to support a family. Democrats respond that the job losses from a wage increase would be minimal and an increase would boost productivity