The Minimum Wage Should Not Reduce Poverty

The minimum wage debate has been a hot topic over the past year, especially with the Presidential Election. This is a divisive topic that people rarely agree upon. There are essentially two sides you can take when it comes to this argument. Either people are for minimum wage or are against raising, or even having, a minimum wage. Proponents of the minimum wage are typically politicians who are lobbying for the vote of the people who feel that a minimum wage is critical to their wellbeing, and those who sympathize with people who earn “minimum wage”. Minimum wage is destroying America’s free market economy and someone needs to take action and find a better solution to this problem. Without anyone acting on this problem now, it can potentially be worse in the long run. Raising the minimum wage in the United States will do more harm than good to society because of the long-term effects.

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.

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.

The minimum wage is intended to protect workers and fight poverty. In the United States, the federal government sets the minimum wage at $7.25 per hour although many states set higher minimums. There is currently a movement to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour. This movement is called the “Living Wage Movement” (Living Wage Resource Center, 2016) or the “Fight for $15” (Fortunato, 2016) and purports to address the problem of poverty in America.

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

Mike Durant once said, “Making it more expensive to create new jobs is a perfect way to guarantee fewer of them.” The recent, “Raise the Wage” campaigns have sparked an interest in many low-wage workers. However, those who support this initiative are unaware of the economic problems that will arise if this is successful. Several cities have already raised their minimum wages and some, like Seattle, are raising it as high as $15 per hour. Currently, supporters of this campaign argue that the government should implement this increase federally. However, doing so will have broad and adverse financial implications. Ever since the Great Depression, the minimum wage has been in effect — to reduce poverty and solidify that

A minimum-wage increase would put billions of dollars into the U.S. economy, benefiting businesses. It may not result in a surplus, but it will benefit the economy. Workers who are affected in any way by the minimum-wage being raised even to just twelve dollars an hour would see nearly eighty billion dollars in increased earnings over the next five years. Because low-wage workers tend to spend increased earnings locally on basic necessities, this will benefit businesses that rely on consumer spending. It still won’t come close to the equilibrium price, but it will help. The minimum wage last year was twenty-four percent below the level it was just about fifty years ago despite the fact that American productivity has more than doubled over that period and low-wage workers now have much more experience and education than they did back then. Now it’s the time to address this weakness in the minimum wage by raising it and lifting the earnings of low-wage

Almost 3.3 out of 76 million workers in the US receive minimum wage (Source: BLS reports). Activists for raising the minimum wage claim that the federal minimum wage of $7.25 is the reason they are living in poverty, and that the wage must be raised for a better standard of living. Many people who take on minimum wage jobs are young and work in companies that don’t carry much prestige; however, they still take pride in their work and demand higher pay (BLS reports). On the other side of the issue, there are claims that raising the minimum wage will actually have more drawbacks than benefits such as hurting the economy (Opposing Viewpoints). The

“When’s our next meal?” asked a local eleven-year old boy to his mother, who works three jobs to provide for her four children. “I don’t know.” she responded back. Unfortunately, this is reality for some people in America. Despite the stereotype, the majority of people getting by on minimum wage are not teenagers in high school working part-time, but adults working full-time, often multiple jobs, to sustain their family. Raising the minimum wage would help people in need get out of poverty (and thus reduce inequality and help them afford basic essentials), spur economic growth and reduce federal spending, and keep up with inflation and productivity gains.

"Raising the minimum wage does not increase the value of the worker 's labor. It increases the cost of the worker 's labor. And as everyone knows, the more something costs, the less of it we buy...” (Antony Davies, PhD, Associate Professor of Economics at Duquesne University, and James R. Harrigan, PhD, Senior Fellow at the Institute of Political Economy at Utah State University). In this day and age, the federal minimum wage is a very prevalent topic among Americans. Should it be raised? Or will a change like that be detrimental to our society? Facts and research both invariably prove the later. Common misconceptions about the raise must be cleared up in order to help citizens understand what is best for this country. Raising the minimum

“As efforts to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour have stalled repeatedly, several states and cities – from Los Angeles to New York state to Washington, D.C. – are acting on their own to raise minimum pay rates” (4). Fast-food workers being the primary targets, anti-poverty groups and organized labor are aiming for as much as $15/ hr. as the new minimum wage for workers. Statistics show that the vast majority of republicans, democrats, and independents are in favor of raising the minimum wage, but when the opportunity came up in 2014 it “failed to move past congress” (4). Since the last rise in the minimum wage, the U.S. “Since it was last raised in 2009, to the current $7.25 per hour, the federal minimum has lost about 8.1%

Minimum wage should be increased to help reduce poverty in the United States. Increasing the minimum wage would also help stimulate the economy by giving low-income workers, who often live paycheck to paycheck with little or no savings, more money to spend. The national minimum wage has not been increased since 2009, and over the years has not kept pace with inflation, leaving a large gap between minimum wage and the cost of living. A boost in the national minimum wage would also encourage higher education and lower unemployment rates. The national minimum wage should be increased to help reduce poverty, boost the economy, encourage workers to join the workforce and continue their education, thereby raising the standard of living of American

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

Legislation to raise the minimum wage in the United States is a necessary tool to assist working impoverished families. Mike Konczal states, “Raising the minimum wage to $10.10 would lift 4.6 million people out of poverty" (33). As well as lifting millions from poverty, the increase would greatly impact those living in extremely poor conditions and shrink how far below the poverty line others are. These figures display the minimum wage’s necessary role in the alleviation of poverty. It is well known that families who emerge from poverty are unlikely to return to their former conditions. Economists argue that the poor can be helped in better ways

In my opinion, the minimum wage increase would have a negative impact in employment, us the consumers and families receiving benefits. In this speech I plan to discuss why the minimum wage shouldn’t be raise to $15 an hour.