The Effects Of Minimum Wage On The United States

Several decades of research have focused on the minimum wage and how it impacts low-income workers and the economy. While this phenomenon is not a new study, it is necessary to view the impacts from another perspective. The quality of life plays a vital role in the US.

They do pay a living wage. There is this gentleman named Jacob Lund Fisker. He has a blog Early Retirement Extreme (http://earlyretirementextreme.com)

I have chosen to rewrite my first Story “The Effects of the Minimum Wage”. The story concerns the minimum wage effects at Lansdowne Road, located in Hell’s Kitchen. It is more accessible for me to conduct further investigation, because during my school days I’m in class until 5 or 6pm and I’m usually downtown. Therefore, with the past interview conducted with Chef, Milton Vanegas, I was told I can come back, if I ever needed more information. I am expecting to conduct further interviews on the company’s position on the minimum wage. Since, I have made the company speak about their position of the minimum wage, it is possible that the company has an update their perspective on the minimum wage.

As of right now the federal minimum wage is at seven dollars and twenty-five cents per hour. Minimum wage was implemented into the U.S economy system in 1938 by president Franklin Delano Roosevelt (CNN). It began at a mere twenty-five cents per hour which is the equivalent of about four dollars and eleven cents in today’s money. Minimum wage was introduced to reduce the risk of another depression and to help lower class workers (CNN). Although the federal minimum wage is low, it should not be raised to $15.00 per hour.

Should the government raise minimum wage? Should the government lower or keep the current minimum wage? Minimum wage is a very controversial topic when it is discussed between all parties. For those arguing for minimum wage increase believe that it will bring people living below the poverty line above it. Former President Obama stated, “ no one working forty hours deserves to be living in poverty.” For those arguing against the raise on minimum wage believe that it has more negative effects than just causing citizens to lose jobs. However, I believe that the government should control the minimum wage and if it is to be raised than it needs to be done in a manner that wouldn’t negatively affect the individual or the

“Franklin Roosevelt’s 1937 impassioned speech calling on Congress to help the one-third of Americans who were “ill-housed, ill-clad, and ill-nourished” heralded in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and with it a national minimum wage. Echoes of that speech are still heard today. Senator Edward Kennedy (1989: S14707), in his criticism of the most recent increases in the minimum wage, declared:

First of all, minimum wage was established in New Zealand and Australia (“Minimum”). This was around the 1980s. The government of Massachusetts enacted the earliest minimum wage law in the United States. In 1923, fifteen other states passed minimum wage laws. At the time, minimum wage only applied to women and minors. In 1938, The United States Government enacted the Fair Labor Standards Act for all the residents of the United States (“Department”). President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act. The minimum wage was set to $0.25 an hour.

Ultimately, a combination of historical evidence, economic analysis, and an understanding of psychology suggest that we should not raise the minimum wage. The minimum wage makes low-skill work less affordable to employers, meaning that fewer people can be hired. Since work experience is a vital part of building a successful career, this means that fewer people will have the opportunity to move up the economic ladder. Rather than institute a simple, short-term minimum wage increase, extensive training programs should be implemented to help give low-skill workers real-world knowledge and skills. Likewise, employers should be granted tax incentives for hiring more employees.

Many minimum wage workers are pushing for an increase in the lowest amount that they can legally get compensated per each hour worked. When it comes to raising the minimum wage, people do not take in consideration all the things that could happen as a result of it being increased. Raising the minimum wage could have a disastrous effect on businesses that have a large amount of unskilled workers. These businesses would have to increase not only their minimum wage workers but the wages of all levels of employees. Almost all businesses have minimum wage workers. Therefore, almost all goods and services could increase in price. Everything from food, to games, to toys, and even living expenses would rise in price. Minimum wage should not be increased because people want it to be raised. Increasing the minimum wage would not be beneficial because it would result in an increase in the price of goods and services, result in the reduction in the number of jobs offered to unskilled workers, and cause complacency in the workforce.

Money, the main theme of the American Dream, causes high tension among individuals, especially on the most recent controversy of minimum wage. The minimum wage was established in America in 1938 under the Fair Labor Standards Act (U.S. Department of Labor). It started the minimum wage at $0.25/hour. Currently, it is $7.25/hour. States are able to set their own minimum wages if they like, but it cannot be lower than the national wage. The issue at debate here is whether to raise the national minimum wage, or leave it as it is.

Ever since legislation of the minimum wage law, it has always been surrounded by controversies and debates. During the recent US Presidential election, this controversial political topic of increasing minimum wage was once again brought into people’s attention. In 2012, workers of the major fast food chain McDonald’s started the “Fight for $15” companion (Fight for $15, 2016). McDonald’s workers argued that their current pay was insufficient to support the most basic lifestyles and demanded to be paid minimum $15 per hour. The movement have won many victories since its launch as provinces including California and New York state have already adjusted the minimum wage law to $15 per hour (Fight for $15, 2016).

When the minimum wage rise, if manager still have to continue to employ these low-income labor, the cost of enterprise will increase, however, it does not mean that enterprise need to lay off these people. “Clemens and Wither (2014) compare job changes within states between workers who received federal minimum wage increases because of lower state minimums and others whose wages were low but not low enough to be directly affected. They suggest these longer-term effects arise because new firms are more able to choose labor-saving technology after a minimum wage increase than existing firms whose capital was ‘baked in’.” (Neumark, David. “The Effects of Minimum Wages on Employment” cscc.ohionet.org. Columbus State Community College. 21 Dec. 2015.

The first federal minimum wage was twenty five cents an hour. Which was set in place in 1938 as part of the New Deal passed by Franklin Roosevelt. Now, the federal minimum wage in America is $7.25 an hour. There is a high rate of controversy as to whether the federal minimum wage should be increased or decreased. The federal minimum wage should not be raised because it will lead to a lack of ambition for people to achieve better jobs , increased job competition in teenagers, and most of all hurt small business.

The first federal minimum wage was twenty five cents an hour. Which was set in place in 1938 as part of the New Deal passed by Franklin Roosevelt. Now the federal minimum wage in America is $7.25 an hour. There is a high rate of controversy as to whether the federal minimum wage should be increased or deceased. The federal minimum wage should not be because it will lead to a lack of ambition for people to achieve better jobs , increased job competition in teenagers, and most of all hurt small business.

The issues of the minimum wage are not only a controversial in the United States but also in many other parts of the world. So what is minimum wage? It is a simple legislative policy that requires that pay to the lowest worker is not lower than a certain amount per hour. However, even though much of the other labor regulation policies change now and then, nonetheless, the arguments to this topic have been constant through the years (Bose, 2017). In the United States, in particular, the first legislation on the required lowest pay was in introduced in 1938 by Roosevelt, Franklin Delano and it was set at approximately $25 which if translated today would be around $4 an hour. It was part of the ratified proposals of the FLSA or the Fair Labor principles/ standards Act that addressed alongside various other factors such as overtime compensation, the payment for youth services, record keeping and civil servants compensation at the state, local and federal levels (Eastern research, 2014).