Numerous numbers of individuals and families will be relieved following a minimum wage increase. Around 25 million people will see the benefits firsthand (“Why Raise the Minimum Wage?”). Five million workers, after getting a raise, will no longer be in poverty, along with fourteen million working women, six million working mothers, and three million single working parents (“Why Raise Minimum Wage?”). With the well-deserved raise, all of these people can better support their family, pay off those growing bills, get food on the table, and worry less about the future. Looking at the numbers, it is evident that many people who have minimum wage jobs are living with tough situations at home whether that be poverty, living in a single income family, or both. As a result, many children are left with hungry bellies, not knowing when they will get their next hot meal because their hard working parents do not have enough capital to sustain the family. Not only will raising the minimum wage benefit millions of people that desperately need money, studies show that the effects would be evenly distributed among states still following the federal minimum wage. This is because the minimum wage sees no color and sees no gender. The federal minimum wage does not change depending on where you live; it doesn’t matter if you live in a red or blue state, or a rural area compared
An increase in the state’s minimum wages will have a dramatic change in the percentage of unemployment within specific areas, mainly the ones that are generally poor and undeveloped. In reality, it is a common sense to understand that this types of changes will take place since, “when you raise the price of something, in this case labor, less of it will be demanded, or in this case hired”(Neumark). The true nature of this idea can be explained by understanding that the less reachable something become, the more competition will be out there to get it, and once you get it you want the best one, which will be the skilled and experienced workers. In this case, all
Next there's more job opportunities because if minimum wage employees are getting a good pay then people
Although America is known as the richest country in the world, 43 million of its citizens are in poverty. Unfortunately, some of them work full time, yet are still in poverty due to the low minimum wage (“Should We Raise”). In 1928, the first federal minimum wage of 25 cents per hour was set by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to prevent workers from being underpaid. Since 2009, the federal minimum wage has been $7.25 (Smith). The age old debate of whether or not to raise it is still going on in the US. The federal minimum wage should be increased to keep up with inflation, help support the poor, and stimulate the economy.
increased employment would help reduce the use of food banks and improve the quality of life
Basically, as long as they are getting paid to not work, many people will put off accepting a job.
What we can gather from this is that a minimum wage increase may initially lower employment, but in the long run the
II. Second Argument: A raise in the national minimum wage will help all low-wage earners and lift some families out of poverty.
As of March, 2013 the U.S. National Unemployment rate was 7.6%. A total of 11.7 million people were reported as unemployed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This rate is improved from the height of the recent recession, where the statistic floated around 9%, but it is still not the usual 3-4% figure we are used to seeing in regular market conditions. (bls.gov, US, 2013)
For supporters of the wage being raised they are excited for what the White House’s Council of Economic Advisors stated. “White House’s Council of Economic Advisors came out with a briefing that was trumpeted for its claim that we could raise the minimum wage by almost 40 percent (from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour) with no loss in jobs.” (Dorfman, “The Minimum Wage Debate Should Be
“An increase in the minimum wage will boost income for the poorest workers without the danger of creating more unemployment.” (Obama). The argument whether the minimum wage in America should be increased of not has been a debatable topic for years. If the leaders of county could manage to increase the minimum wage, millions of families would profit from such an outcome.
chances of getting a certain job helps fix economic issues. If the employment is low that means
Holly Sklar, director of ‘Business for Shared Prosperity’ and a syndicated columnist, has written many articles that have been published in many online outlets and newspapers. She has co-written a book called “Raise the Floor: Wages and Policies that Work with All of Us,” with authors Susan Wefald and Laryssa Mykyta. Sklar believes that the minimum wage is not enough for even the lowest standard of living in many areas. Sklar wrote this article to inform the general public about minimum wage. She wants to get her point across to people that there are only benefits if the minimum wage is raised. By using understandable language, the audience is informed about the people who are working hard, and not making enough to support their families. She
However, this move is not always a wise one because when an enterprise has fewer workers it would reduce its productivity which would mean more
In any economy, no matter whether it is controlled by the government or by free markets, people need to work in order to support it. The government does not generate tax revenue by magic. There have to be people in that economy earning an income to ensure that the government continues to collect taxes. In a free market economy, the same applies because there are some services which only an organized government can supply (such as protection from extra-national threats), but there also those which the people get for themselves because of the working of the markets. In any scenario, unemployment is, at the very least, a drag on the economy, and it can be much worse. This paper examines how the unemployment rate in the United States is underreported, and how that fact effects the sluggishness of the present economy.