The Canadian Constitution And The Minimum Wage

A study by John Schmitt of the Center for Economic and Policy Research explores the other possible reasons a modest increase in the minimum wage may not significantly impact employment levels. According to his study instead of hiring less workers the labor markets can respond in

Ira Knight, who is an author of article “Let’s Make the Minimum Wage a Living Wage”, expresses an opinion that increasing the minimum wage would help all struggling workers and at the same time improve U.S economy. On the other side, Janice Steele in her article “Keep the Minimum Wage Where It Is” argues that raising the minimum wage would have bad effects on workers, consumers and small businesses. Ira Knight’s article seems to be the stronger of the two positions because her arguments are based on several recent studies, and last but not least, she had a personal experience with the minimum wage job.

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.

It was mentioned the standard capitalist argument against a minimum wage has come under empirical attack lately and it must be said there is no consensus on the matter. The law of minimum wage interferes with the law of comparative advantage and monopolizes the affected labor markets in favor of the higher-skilled laborers whose labor is worth the higher wage. Some argue that the effect that the minimum wage is merely a huge, hidden tax paid by small minority. On other hand employers chose other methods than simple layoffs to offset the added cost of more expensive workforce. The theoretically include hiring fewer employees in the future not replacing all employees who resign, retire or are fired not making capital expenditures to improve their business raising price on the goods and services they offer and decreasing the number of hours worked per employee. The moral argument against minimum wage is based on the ideas of self-ownership and freedom, grounded in the ethical concrete of self-interest. One of the most interesting things I discovered while researching this topic was the historical nature of the argument. Some empirical studies appear to lend weight to the claim that these laws don’t cause unemployment, but they aren’t comprehensive enough to fully gauge the

One of the main arguments made by those in favor of raising the minimum wage is that there are studies showing little to no effect on the employment rate as a result of the increase. In the study “Why Does the Minimum Wage Have No Discernible Effect on Employment?”, author John Schmitt makes the statement “…Two recent meta-studies analyzing the research conducted since the early 1990s concludes that the minimum wage has little or no discernible effect on the employment prospects of low-wage workers” (John). Those in favor of the raise explain that although it may not decrease unemployment necessarily, it would improve the living conditions of those who are already employed and working for a wage that is too

The minimum wage is a political issue on many levels with consequences that are predictable, as long as politics controls the choices of this issue. Minimum wage comprises of receiving around $6-7 dollars per hour and the question concerning whether “the standards and guarantees are still being met” is still in the air. The Fair Labor

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

At this point of time, the minimum wages are at a good rate because otherwise if the wage is increased too much the companies will go into debt. Not everyone earns the minimum wage but in fact most people earn more than that hourly. Since Canada is in debt, it’ll be a good thing if people have a higher income from these type of basic jobs because then they’ll have to pay more taxes. In my opinion, rich people should have higher tax rates depending on how many people they have in their household. It would make more sense if the people who have a lot of family members living with them in the same house should have a lower tax rate even if they are rich. Then, rich people with less members in their household should have a higher tax rate. This

Minimum wage is the lowest legal a person can pay for labor. This amount of pay is determined by the country’s government. Currently, the minimum wage in the United States as a whole is $7.25, but in California minimum wage is at $10.00 statewide. One country that has a minimum wage is Canada. Their current minimum wage rate is $10.01 as of 2016. The reason they have a current minimum wage is because this rate either adjusts of increases based on the average of the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index (Gov of Canada). This helps the people of Canada because of the wage on average increases with consumer demand and intake.

Today our society encounters multiple controversial issues that generations before hand would have never dreamed of having. A common controversy in America is the issue over minimum wage. The main issue over minimum wage is whether or not it should be raised or if it should stay the same. Personally I feel that it should remain the same. Minimum wage jobs were not created to become careers. Increasing minimum wage can lead to many things such as the loss of jobs, the increase of prices, and could also keep people from reaching their true potential.

Minimum wage is a very controversial topic that a great deal of people have strong opinions on. Some feel that by raising minimum wage the standard of living will increase, poverty will go down, and businesses will be more efficient. Others believe that increasing minimum wage will result in an increase in poverty and unemployment. People implement many different ethical theories when producing their stance on minimum wage. The utilitarian, libertarian, and deontological ethical theories are three of the most popular ethical theories people point to when forming their stance on minimum wage. It is important to gain an understanding of these ethical theories before making an argument for or against minimum wage.

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

In this globalization era, as various countries see growth in their economy, there has also been significant differences in the wages set to employees in different countries. The lowest wages set by the law that are fixed to a particular amount which is also defined to be the price floor below which workers shall not sell their labor, has its own effects. The minimum wage law came into force as a matter of social justice amongst the low-wage workers, also to reduce exploitation and see that workers can afford the standard basic living expenses and necessities, not to increase the unemployment rate, indeed to increase the employment rate.

I agree with this article, written by Niels Veldhuis, to the extent that minimum wage negatively affects the economy, by increasing unemployment. However, if I were Veldhuis I would have added that the social values of minimum wage may outweigh the negative effects on the economy. This matter is a value judgement, which cannot be proved right or wrong by economics. Veldhuis supports his statement with proof from studies; I will explain these findings with further microeconomic theory. I will discuss the following to reflect upon the accuracy of his arguments: theories of producer behavior and cost minimization, market equilibrium, welfare, and the importance of value judgements.

In a paper titled “Four Reasons Not to Increase the Minimum Wage,” the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, offers four empirically backed consequences of increasing the minimum wage; these consequences include: the loss of jobs, low skilled workers being disproportionally affected and priced out of the job market, a minimal effect on reducing poverty, and higher prices for goods. The paper compiles a number of studies to support these