The Benefits Of Raising The Minimum Wage

One of the biggest negative effects of raising the minimum wage is that it would severely hurt small businesses. If the minimum wage were to be raised it would force the owners to pay their employees more money that they might not have. In order to pay the employees the newly raised minimum wage they are gonna have to raise the prices which will lead to the loss of consumers, and might eventually lead to the store going out of business. According to a Gallup poll done in 2013, 60 percent of small-business owners said that raising minimum wage will “hurt small business owners. James Richardson, MBA, Vice President of the fast food chain White Castle, said that the company would be forced to close

Raising the minimum wage is a very important public policy issue. Raising the minimum wage is a responsible policy that is supported by research and demanded by the American public. Each day, minimum wage workers across the country struggle to make ends meet and provide a decent life for their kids (Scott & Perez, 2016). Raising the minimum wage is a controversial issue, many believe that raising the minimum wage would only provide low wage workers more money to spend. However, the benefits can be endless for low wage workers. If minimum wage is increased across the United States it would afford the people effected more opportunities for financial freedom. Increasing the minimum wage would raise the standard of living for low wage workers, allow families to be removed from poverty, allow for government welfare spending to be reduced and lastly additional income being spent would positively affect the economy.

The topic of raising the minimum wage has many different viewpoints. It is thought to be affected negatively and positively. Some believe it increases unemployment and poverty. Others believe it creates jobs, helps the economy and low-income families by giving them more money to give back to the economy.

Now the question is what is minimum wage. “An amount of money that is the least amount of money per hour that workers must be paid according to the law” (Merriam Webster’s learner’s dictionary). According to United States department of Labor “The federal minimum wage for covered nonexempt employees is $ 7.25 per hour effectively July 24, 2009” (Department of labor/ Minimum wage).

Franklin Roosevelt introduced minimum wage as a part of Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. The purpose of minimum wage were to prevent poverty and to stimulate the economy by increasing consumer’s purchasing power. However, in 2015, 78.2 million workers were paid hourly, representing 58.5% of all workers in the United States. Among those people, 870,000 workers earned the minimum wage, $7.25 per hour and 1.7 million workers earned below the minimum. In total, 3.3% of workers earned exactly or below the minimum wage. For years, there have been heated debates about whether the government should raise the minimum wage. In 2016, California, New York, and Washington D.C. agreed to increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour. Some people think raising the minimum wage will decrease poverty and improve the workers living. Instead, raising the minimum wage will make the job market more competitive and it will increase the poverty level. When minimum wage was raised to $10 per hour, it benefited 16 to 24 million people while half a million workers lost their job. Rather than improving, Faces of $15 will damage the U.S economy and deeply hurt living condition of Americans.

For many years, there has been an ongoing and strong debate in the United States on whether or not minimum wage should be raised from $7.25 an hour to over $10.00 an hour. Minimum wage is the lowest amount a company or employer can pay their employees. Many argue that the benefits of raising minimum wage surpass the negatives, yet many also disagree. But as a whole, the benefits of a higher minimum wage clearly outweigh the costs that come with it. Minimum wage should be raised because it would increase economic activity, reduce poverty levels, and allow for less government spending.

The controversy over minimum wage has been ongoing. However, as explained in a Time article by Chris Lu on the subject, now is the prime time to raise the federal minimum wage. “Three out of four Americans support an increase; the economy is healthy; and many employers are already raising wages.” It’s reasonable to be worried about the consequences that raising the minimum wage might have in a time of crisis or unrest, but this quote mentions a healthy economy that would be able to handle the shifts in wages if things went south temporarily. Another argument made by opposers of raising the minimum is that businesses will be unable to survive. On the contrary, a good business will find it beneficial. “‘It’s a simple, but critical, concept: take care of your people and they will take care of your customers.’ For &pizza, higher wages reduce employee turnover, increase productivity and improve customer service.” Rather than hurting the economy, raising the minimum wage will help workers, business owners and the economy itself. A higher wage for all is

There are a lot of opinions about raising the minimum wage, “a higher minimum wage may actually boost job creation” by Harold Meyerson, points out the benefits of increasing the minimum wage across the country, but also mentions the opinion of Republicans that are against of this issue. “A recent study by the Congressional Budget Office argued that a raise would increase the wages of 16.5 million Americans — at least 33 times the number of those who might lose jobs — and elevate 900,000 people out of poverty.” (Congressional Budget Office,

Many argue that raising the minimum wage makes hiring workers more expensive, eliminates jobs at the bottom, slows growth and ultimately raises unemployment. Economic studies show that raising the minimum wage to keep pace with inflation creates little additional harm, but what the president is

Another thing business might do in a reaction to the raised minimum wage is increase prices. This will indeed make the poverty-stricken poorer. With food and other goods costing more, and jobs being hard to find, it will be extremely difficult for people to survive in the economy.

Minimum wage is the lowest wage paid or permitted to be paid (1). Americans have been debating raising minimum wage for years. The people that want the raise in pay believe that it will help workers who are not as qualified and need a salary they can support themselves on. The people who do not want the raise realize the damaging effects it will have on this country. These jobs do not require a great amount of skill so having a low pay is understandable. Minimum wage jobs were not created for people to support themselves and a family with. Raising minimum wage would hurt Americans more than help them because in the end prices of goods will increase and people will lose their jobs.

Changing the minimum wage is a common debate and many politicians argue if the wage should or should not be raised. The minimum wage is an example of a price floor and is the lowest legal wage that can be paid to many workers. With the increase in jobs, it is shown that more people will vote for those in favor of raising the minimum wage in the upcoming presidential election. I have to agree for I believe that an increase in the minimum wage is good for the economy. Boosting the minimum wage will help increase the consumer spending that stimulates our economy and that local businesses need to grow. Realistically, if the majority of voters think that the minimum wage is too low, then it will be raised. While some people think that the minimum wage should be raised, others do not. If more people vote in favor of keeping the minimum wage at the same rate, then it will remain at that price until the majority of the people vote in favor of a change.

There have been many questions raised about increasing the minimum wage in the United States but not many people have the knowledge to understand how their lives will be affected. People are more concerned about increasing the minimum wage into living wage. Everyone should be educated and have concerns about the politics of raising minimum wage to a living wage.

Minimum wage affects everyone. The current minimum wage is at $7.25 and President Obama announced that he wished to see a change in the minimum wage, he wants to raise the hourly wage to $10.10. A rise in the income of those who are employed will also raise the cost of hiring unskilled labor and can potentially reduce the number of people hired by businesses. Also, if minimum wage is raised then the price of the products that the companies are making might increase which will continue the cycle of minimum wage not being enough to survive on. The increase of minimum wage will result in negative effects that will have a significant impact on national economy.

The most prevalent and steadfast myth surrounding the raising of the federal minimum wage is that it will doom the economy. This might seem logical at first, but just think about it for a second. Why do minimum wage employees need more cash? The answer is simple: To spend it, to buy the things that they and their families need to survive. “Most minimum wage workers need this income to make ends meet and spend it quickly, boosting the economy. Research indicates that for every $1 added to the minimum wage, low-wage worker households spent an additional $2,800 the following year” (Fair). Furthermore, EPI estimates that if the federal minimum wage were raised to $10.10 an hour, it would result in over