"I think Britain can afford a higher minimum wage. I think we have worked hard to get to this point and we can start to enjoy the fruits of all that hard work."
This was said by George Osborne the Chancellor George Osborne of the Exchequer and Second Lord of the Treasury of the United Kingdom. Gorge Osborne, through his statement above has shown that he is willing to increase the national minimum wage from £6.31 to £7 per hour which is above inflation. The National Minimum Wage was set up in 1998 to protect low-paid workers, which I think was a good idea. However, an increase in the UK National Minimum Wage will cause more harm to the economy, employment sector and even the society than the proposed good. Students may leave their primary aim of getting educated to go in search of jobs; employers will employ less numbers of people thereby increasing unemployment; and the economy will suffer lack of growth that might get Britain into bigger debts and quite possibly a recession. It is not a good move!
Firstly, researchers from the Respected Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said Britain has more teenage dropouts than in most other countries. Almost one in five young people in the UK are not educated to A-level standard which is a shocking figure. Increasing the national minimum wage will encourage high school student to drop-out and go in search of jobs. What does the future hold for the upcoming generation? The society of today is looking to this
“I can’t, May won’t eat her chicken without mayo. Can’t you make an exception sir?”
We are arguably living in the aftereffects of a country that reached its heights of Capitalism during the Industrialization era. Prior to the introduction of machinery and railroad systems to America, the economical framework relied on a warped version of lasseiz-faire and featured wealthy descendants of British merchants who joined the colonies. Others worked menial jobs and apprenticeships to guarantee their source of income and it is safe to say that many were unhappy with their predicament --- even if they had no platform to voice this opinion. While the Industrialization Era introduced centuries of wealth to America, it also severely tipped the wealth distribution scale which can be seen extremely in events like the multiple depressions of the 19th Century and recessions in the 20th Century. In a 2013 statistic, researchers found that 53.5% of people despise their jobs. If you ask around, you 'll find that many overqualified Americans are still working menial jobs to provide for their families and that even office jobs are not that promising in terms of salary. The wealth cap for most of these citizens is around $60k~ and many, many Americans are living in poverty. There seems to be a socio-economical propaganda that is being spewed around for many years that many workers of minimum wage are lazy, entitled teenagers who have nothing better to do than sit around and collect
From the article, what I have gathered that there has been a detailed deliberation and
Would raising minimum wage benefit our society? Changing minimum wage could potentially hurt the economy. It would be nice to have an increase in pay; However it would only lead to inflation (The act of inflating or the state of being inflated Webster dictionary) with the economy.
Imagine being a single mother of three. Now let's say someone didn’t finish high school because they were pregnant with their first child. They are also paid at minimum wage, which is $7.25 an hour where they live. Would it be possible to live like that? 1.3 million people in the united states are paid at minimum wage. In some states the $7.25 an hour is lowered or there is none at all. Minimum wage should be raised, although some argue it shouldn’t because of consumer prices.
The government shouldnt raise minimum wage because though you would get more money minimum wage jobs are temporary jobs and meant to be treated as such. The minimum wage was never designed to be a "living wage" it was for all intent and purpose to be a safeguard against legalized slavery. If a company wants decent workers they will pay a decent wage. If the jobs are too low paying no one will want them and it will force the rates to be increased. Also if the rates are too low it will also discourage illegal immigration which we all know is a problem. A minimum wage job is a starting point not a career. And continuously increasing that wage only raises the costs of all goods and those earning that minimum wage will have their income
“When we talk about the kind of folks whose lives will be made better by raising the minimum wage, we 're not talking about a couple teenagers earning extra spending money to supplement their allowance. We 're talking about providers and breadwinners. Working Americans with bills to pay and mouths to feed” (Perez 2015). Minimum wage is a problem to America because some people cannot live off it and some people say businesses should not pay extra. Should the minimum wage be raised ? “A native of Detroit, Cecil Euseary, 52, moved to Holland, Michigan in 2007, after his mother died — he had to get out of town. He moved back to Detroit in 2014.He works at Burger King working minimum wage there. He can only get about 25 hours of work per week at Burger King. Cecil has been active in the "D15" campaign to increase the minimum wage in Detroit to $15 per hour. He once met with U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez, when he was visiting Detroit. "It 's hard. If it weren 't for my god mom — this is her house; I get a room upstairs — if it weren 't for her, I don 't know what," Cecil says. "I 'd probably be out on the street, in a shelter." (Euseary 2014). The minimum wage should be raised from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour because if you raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour it would lift people out of poverty, it would increase the federal purchasing power and not as many families struggling to make ends meet. Here’s another story, Enriqueta works as a housekeeper for minimum wage in the
The question that ponders many people’s minds is whether the federal minimum wage should be increased or not. The current U.S. minimum wage is $7.50 and this wage has not increased since 2009. Families with minimum income wages are suffering due to the fact that they cannot provide everyday needs for their families. This is the reason why many people are rioting. They are frustrated with the government’s nonchalant attitude towards the hard situations in which they are living in. A final decision must be made about this topic because at this rate people’s purchasing power will diminish while inflation will keep occurring. The federal minimum wage needs to be raised in order to help improve the living conditions of poor families, increase the economy’s stability, and decrease the unemployment rate. However, some people believe that increasing the minimum wage will cause small or large businesses to fire some of their employees because they are not able to pay everyone the same wage. This will stop economic growth causing an opposite effect than what was intended. These people need to realize that increasing the minimum wage will create more positive effects rather than negative effects. The federal minimum wage need to increase to at least $10 so families are able to keep up with inflation and the cost of living.
Recently, the call to raise the Federal minimum wage has gotten stronger. Some states have taken the initiative recently to raise their state minimum wage above the federal guidelines. Currently someone who makes $7.25 an hour working full time under the Federal minimum wage earns $15,080 annually before any taxes are taken out. Critics of the proposal to increase federal minimum wage believe that increased labor costs force businesses to cut jobs to make up for the decrease in profit (Mejeur). However, others believe an increase in federal minimum wage to even $9 an hour would impact 700,000 workers in North Caroline alone and have a positive GDP (Gross Domestic Product) impact of $495 million, which would help to grow the economy nationwide (Schoenbach). The federal minimum wage should be raised so that adults would not need to rely on government assistance programs to live above the poverty line.
The rent is too damn high! At least that’s what the slogan of “Rent is too damn high” political party reads. As its name implies, “Rent Is Too Damn High” Party is that rents in the city of New York are too costly. However this issue goes beyond greedy landlords; in fact it starts with one simple statement: The federal minimum wage in America is simply too low. According to a national study in 2015, for a family to be just above the poverty level, the head of the house would be required to earn 8.50 an hour, while the current federal minimum wage is 7.25. Not only does the current minimum wage not cover the poverty line, it is more than a dollar less than current poverty levels. A raise in the minimum wage would reduce the number of working Americans who are below the poverty line, decrease unemployment, and help stimulate the economy.
This paper gives an insight on the debate whether the minimum wage should be raised to $10 an hour or not in the United States. There is a big debate in the United States regarding as to whether the minimum wage should be raised to $10 per hour, but before we go into details of the debate lets first understand what is meant by a minimum wage and how did it come into existence. A minimum wage is the lowest wage that is paid to workers by their employers, and the government legally sets it. A minimum wage is a price floor, workers are not allowed to sale their services below price, and the government legally sets the price (Neumark et al 2008). Although the minimum wage is put into effect in jurisdictions, there exist different opinions
This quote suggests that an important factor of a booming economy is the worker. A simple fact is that the more the worker makes, the more goes into the economy. Moreover, in President Obama’s State of the Union address back in 2013, he notes that raising the minimum wage means that “for businesses across the country, it would mean customers with more money in their pockets” (Luhby 1). This proposes that an increase in the minimum wage helps businesses as well as the worker. As of right now, American people whose sole income is through a minimum wage salary can barely afford to pay for basic needs such as groceries and rent. With not a dollar to spare, every single penny of their already small paycheck goes towards these basic necessities. With an increase in their salary, the more Americans making minimum wage can spend on things outside of their basic necessities, which would in turn help out businesses in America and contribute the economy of the country as a whole.
Is the minimum wage too low? Can it support families these days? Minimum wage should be raised for more affordability because of all the rising rates these days. Increasing the minimum wage allows adults and parents to afford an apartment. The rise in minimum wage would allow people to afford necessities and more jobs are created. Raising the minimum wage also attracts people for businesses as well. The minimum wage should be raised so that people can afford apartments, they can afford necessities and more jobs are created, and attract people for business.
What if a 16 year old was making $18,000 a year after taxes, working only 25 hours a week? Most likely you would expect that teenager to have a pretty prestigious job at such a young age. However that is not the case, if the minimum wage is raised to $15 an hour, a 16 year old could make $18,000 yearly working only 25 hours a week at McDonalds. Now for teenagers that have goals for college or a car, that would money to set aside for the future, however most 16 year olds do not have those goals in mind yet, so that extra money turns into wasted money. As of February 2016 the minimum wage ranges anywhere from $7.25-$10 across the United States. Florida’s rate is at $8.05 an hour, however some believe the minimum wage should be raised to $15 an hour in all states(Raise).” People working in minimum wage jobs may feel as if this $7 bump would be a great advantage to them, but there are possible negative results of doing this too. As a manager of a restaurant where employees start at minimum wage, I can only imagine the effects our company would feel. Raising the minimum wage is not the solution to helping people out of poverty , I feel it will only be enabling them to stay in the same position they are in and give less motivation for teens to further their generation. Increasing the minimum wage will harm businesses and will decrease the motivation to get a further education.
The topic on whether the minimum wage should be increased our untouched has been a hot topic in the media and political scene lately. Both the republicans and democrats have spent some big bucks lobbying their insights on the matter. There has been a lot of subjective and objective arguments that are reasonable on both the pros and cons of increasing our national minimum wage. To add to the drama associated with this topic, President Obama endorsed a bill proposing a nearly 40% rise from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour. The President has been campaigning around the country ever since his State of the Union address, pushing congress to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. Many say this is too high due to the costs of enacting such an increase, and many say this is a little low due to the increased cost of living. After looking into both sides of this debate, I realize that overall it would be better for the well-being of our nation to increase the minimum wage due to the short term and long term costs that an increase of the minimum wage could lead to. In terms of helping out the lower class and poor citizens of the United States, increasing the minimum wage level is not the answer.