Why Is It Ethical To Raise Minimum Wage?

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.

Paying for a college education creates a dilemma when a student only earns minimum wage flipping burgers at a local fast food restaurant. The current federal minimum wage stands at $7.25 per hour before taxes. The debate on whether it should increase or remain constant has been occurring for many years. Raising the minimum wage to match the current cost of living seems like a good idea, but this could cause some negative effects. John Komlos’ article “Why raising the minimum wage is good economics” delivers a more effective argument than Rex Huppke’s article “The argument against raising minimum wage” through the use of ethos, logos, and a valid conclusion.

Raise the minimum wage: In the United States, studies show that women tend to make up a disproportionate share of low-wage workers. In the field of education, men tends to go more to STEM than women and that also leads to high paying jobs for men. If we raise the minimum wage, this will help hardworking women to support their families. Approximately, women made up two-thirds of all minimum-wage workers in 2012. With the current federal minimum wage i.e. $7.25 per hour, someone working full time, only earn $15,080 a year round. People working full time with minimum wage is still below the poverty threshold for any family with children and single person is also not far above the poverty line. So, increasing the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour would help increase the wages for about 15 million women, which will help close the gender wage gap.

Rex Huppke, a journalist for the Chicago Tribune, deftly discusses the pros and cons of raising the minimum wage in the last of a two-week series in “In the Minimum Wage Debate, Both Sides Make Valid Points”. Although I am for raising the minimum wage, Huppke’s presentation of the opposite argument does make one think beyond the gut reading that everyone deserves more money. Huppke’s argument that a large number of minimum wage earners are student of the elderly leads me to believe that a tier of wages would take care of the issue. For example, anyone working less than 35 hours a week would be paid at a certain rate; with full time getting an increase. I am not concerned by the argument that a higher minimum wage leads to lay-offs or price increases when most products sold in America are manufactured by cheap foreign labor. There is already a huge profit margin that could sustain such an increase. Rather than give discounts on goods and services, thus preventing employees from exercising the right to shop, stay or eat wherever the employee chooses, these employers trap workers into giving back the very money they have “slaved” for.

What kind of pay would you demand if you were expected to clean dirty toilets, pick up germy trash, and deal with customers who are nasty, rude and disrespectful to you while you are serving them? Would you do it for three dollars an hour? What about seven or eight dollars an hour? Well, many minimum wage jobs involve such duties as these. However, the minimum wage here in Illinois is only $8.25 per hour (US Dept. of Labor, 2014). In Indiana, the state where I work, it is a dollar less than that (US Dept. of Labor, 2014). The following information will discuss reasons why this wage should be increased and the benefits that accompany an increase for all of us regardless to whether we earn the minimum wage or a higher a wage.

It 's the year 2014, and we are in the state of the financial crisis which is still being felt

The issue of raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour is a heavily debated topic. Both sources against or in favor of the minimum wage refer to a “growing gap” between low-income workers and high-income earners. Sources against the minimum wage believe raising it will increase this gap, whereas those in favor of the minimum wage believe it will decrease this gap. The arguments in favor of the minimum wage rely mostly on ethical beliefs, such as “pay should reflect hard work,” to advance the need for a higher minimum wage. Whereas, the arguments against the minimum wage use quantitative data like unemployment rates and economic analysis involving supply and demand to undermine the policy behind the minimum wage. Ultimately, the

The reality is that salaries have not been increasing fast enough to keep up with inflation. In the article “PRO/CON: Living Wage for Fast-food Workers?” it states that “It would be $17 per hour today instead of a meager $7.25” proving that salary is not increasing as fast as inflation. In “Mcdonald’s Raising its Minimum Wage, but Some Say it’s Not Enough” it is said “Mcdonald’s projected by the end of 2016, the average wage rate for employees at its company-owned locations would exceed $10 an hour.” Even with this slight increase wage theft that is being performed by many fast food companies makes it difficult to support a

The world is filled with luxuries such as personal islands, gold-plated cars, or crystal pianos. What about everyday items like food, clothing, and shelter? Families in the United States can barely afford such items because of an American tragedy: the minimum wage. Though the sights and sounds of fluttering money is alluring, it is also elusive. The minimum wage is a tragic loss for the United States because it cannot even provide the bare minimum for employees working tirelessly for it. Opposition of raising it can be negated by statistics that show how the country can move into a brighter future. Data from economic research shows

Have you ever thought if you were a worker and you think you should get paid more an hour? Well the fast food workers at Mcdonalds get paid (their minimum wage is $7.25 an hour). And some people think it should really be $15 an hour because they really do work hard like making sure everything is clean to have a space to work with, practice their skills to get their food ready fast and so they can enjoy, and lastly knowing how to welcome their customers. Like so, “A first wave of fast food strikes began in November 2012 in several New York city restaurants”. They are protesting to this cause because “That for many would boost their hourly pay to $15 from the current federal minimum $7.25”. (Article ½)

Supporters of an increase in minimum wage, the McDonalds employees that demand $15 per hour, argue that they need a “living pay”. Furthermore, they state that it will bring workers out of poverty and will have little negative effects. There is evidence to support this claim. One of them being that when the minimum wage increased from $6.25 to $7.25, there was no immediate negative effect.

Supporters of an increase in minimum wage, the McDonalds employees that demand $15 per hour, argue that they need a “living pay”. They state that it will bring workers out of poverty and will have little negative effects. There is evidence to support this claim. One of them being that when the minimum wage increased from $6.25 to $7.25, there was no immediate negative affect.

In the United States, most teenagers are encouraged to get a job. Usually it is for extra money to pay for their own gas, but sometimes they are helping to support their family. Their starting wage is usually the minimum wage that our nation has set for businesses. Many large corporations start people at or around this wage and may increase it from there. The United States is unique because most of its jobs come from small businesses. America has given great opportunity for ambitious people to be their own boss and sell their own products. This is great for the economy and many people can find jobs through these small businesses. However, small businesses face a greater problem with wages. When the government begins to talk about raising

There have been many questions raised about increasing the minimum wage in the United States but not many people have the knowledge to understand how their lives will be affected. People are more concerned about increasing the minimum wage into living wage. Everyone should be educated and have concerns about the politics of raising minimum wage to a living wage.

“Paying your employees well is not only the right thing to do, but it makes for good business”-Jim Sinegal, CEO of Costco. Many of America’s employees are not being paid well, however, for the annual income of a full-time employee who works year-round is less than $16,000 (about $15, 080) according to the current federal minimum wage (Rebuilding). To put into retrospect how out-dated the federal minimum wage is, consider that the minimum wage of 1956 amounted to exactly $7.93 in 2009 (Henderson). How progressive is it that our nation’s workers being paid less today than workers from the 50’s? The federal minimum wage should be raised in order to assist families out of poverty, to ensure the effort and loyalty of workers, and