The Income Tax Credit ( Eitc ) Is A Better Policy For Lifting Households Out Of Poverty

Raising minimum wage has been an ongoing issue for many years. Similar to every debatable issue, pros and cons are inevitable. In the United States, minimum wage started when the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) was passed and minimum wage started at 25 cents per hour. The purpose of setting a minimum wage is to set a maximum workweek and to eliminate child labor. It is defined to be the least amount of money employers are obligated to pay their employees by law. As the years passed, the minimum wage began to increase to accommodate the growing economy. Although the wage has increased from a mere 25 cents per hour to $7.25 over the course of 75 years, living expenses are much higher causing many people to be poverty stricken (Debate.org). President Obama proposes raising the minimum wage, so that it would help minimize the income gap in America. However, most business organizations and the Republicans oppose to the idea, saying that it could potentially lead to more economic problems. While both sides have valid points, which one provides a more compelling argument? In the United States, the minimum wage should be raised in every state; therefore workers can have a more comfortable standard of living, lower the poverty line, and minimize the income gap.

Family income is the most direct way to evaluate poverty today. As previously stated, approximately 46.5 million Americans were living in poverty as of 2012. Currently, there are two proposed increases to the FMW from $7.25 standing at $9.00 and $10.10. According to the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) projections for 2016, there would be a net income increase of $5 billion for families under the poverty threshold by today’s FMW standards. They also project the increase would lessen the income of families making more than 6 times the poverty threshold, or approximately $116,000, by $17 billion. This creates a $12 billion dollar imbalance making headway in diminishing the gap, and while in the grand scheme of American inequality this is not much, it is needed progress. Economist David Neumark addresses the potential for this exchange in his article “Do Minimum Wages Fight Poverty?”. He writes about the trade off that might happen alongside a FMW raising, stating “over a one- to two-year period, minimum wages increase both the probability that poor families escape poverty and the probability that previously nonpoor families become poor.” Purely in terms of the FMW, this exchange in revenue could lessen the

Raising the minimum wage has multiple benefits. As an increase to minimum wage moves families above the poverty threshold, their need for public assistance decreases. As wages increase, a family’s purchasing power increases for

Supporters may say that raising the wage of minimum wage would be the main solution to consider aiding in the economic struggle of poverty. 14.5 percent of Americans live below the poverty line. This is a result of major employment decreasing due to employers moving towards hiring more and more people that have at least an associate degree in that field of work, young adults starting to have children before they are financially stable, and tax laws seemingly always changing that deems unfit for low class citizens to pay. Though these are valid reasons to raise the minimum wage

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 14% of the nation lives below the poverty line, the current population is 326,474,013, and 45,706,362 of the population lives in poverty every single day. One of the reasons why such a large chunk of the population is in poverty is because they are not being paid a reasonable salary for them to support themselves and their families. Raising the minimum wage can lead to problems, but gradual increases are made over time, it could be beneficial for millions of people around the nation. The positive effects of raising minimum wage is what makes it worth it. A raise in minimum wage can be beneficial; however, it must be a

First reason, raising the minimum wage would help many employees out of poverty . For

I believe that raising the minimum wage would be an effective strategy to reduce the high poverty rates that have been problematic for many years. In 2015, about 172,620 Maine people received an income that was below the poverty line. I have seen how hard it can be to find a job that pays more than minimum wage in rural Maine areas, so finding a better paying job is not always an option.

Many people may believe that raising the minimum wage is a great idea. An employee making federal minimum wage is below the poverty level. But could it be that a decrease in, or not having a minimum wage at all, would be better for the economy?

It seems only logical that providing the poorest segment of society with more pay for their work will improve their situation and give them the working capital they need to work their way out of poverty. With each incremental increase those who are directly affected by the increase will instantly have more money to help them purchase more good and services to improve their living conditions. Additionally increasing the minimum wage would likely have a positive effect on the overall economy as workers immediately increase their consumption possibly increasing GDP and the resulting employment

The Earned-Income Tax Credit program is a credit refund to the low income earners where the government pays for their payroll taxes and income subsides. The major impact of this is felt by the rich who ultimately pay up for the liabilities. This promotes inequality and unfairness in the economic system.

If there is an increase in minimum wage, it will slowly pull people out of poverty. Poverty level for a single person is just under $12,000 per year, but for a household with two kids, it’s over $23,000 per year. At the current minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, a person’s annual salary would be about $15,000 per year. Also, since cost of living varies in different places in the country, the same minimum wage often does not even cover living expenses. Increasing the minimum wage to $9 per hour will lift 300,000 people from poverty. If increased to $10.10 an hour it will lift 900,000 people out of poverty and reduce the number of non-elderly living in poverty. Since young people are most likely to be working minimum wage jobs, they often face other issues associated with making minimum

It is a good economic policy to increase the minimum wage for low income earners. Increase the minimum will help these individuals get out of poverty, make a good living and afford better health care coverage. In addition increase the minimum wage will help individuals to take care of themselves and stop rely on social program and government assistances. Thus at this point the big concern is to decide how much to increase the minimum wage.

The minimum wage needs to be increased. According to the economist “the minimum wage should be about 12 dollars an hour in the us based on our GDP”(Komlos). At 12 dollar an hour it is much easier to stay off of welfare and have a better life.people then have more money to spend on the local level, helping the local economy.”more than 16 million people would benefit directly from the wage increase(New York Times Editorial Board). People working at or just above minimum wage would get a raise. This might enable some people to get off welfare.

Today, poverty is a substantial economic issue in America. The rising poverty levels are raising the concerns of many people across the country. In order to address this issue, we need to get the government involved in the economy so they can provide relief to the citizens who are living in poverty. I propose that we increase the national minimum wage, provide a more generous Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to families with young children, and provide a significant benefit to individuals without children. These policies provide a good way to boost earnings for people struggling to bring in money and it would most definitely decrease poverty rates across the country. An increase in the national minimum wage is important because it will help

Policymakers in the United States continually struggle to create viable and sustainable solutions to the poverty outbreak that is prevalent in our country. This has become a critical part of the road to recovery from the recent economic recession. One of the main approaches suggested to eradicate the pervasive poverty problem is increasing the minimum wage of American laborers. If adopted, this suggestion is expected to be implemented at both the state and federal levels. This approach is based on good intentions as it is projected to have positive effects on the employment, wages and overall poverty levels in the country. However, increasing the minimum wage will only hurt the low-income earners, less-educated and experienced