California Minimum Wage

Is it a dream to make more of a minimum hourly wage? Or is it considered a nightmare? California legislators and Governor Jerry Brown have decided to increase the minimum wage by fifteen dollars by the year of 2022. With an increase in the minimum wage, residents of California are worried that they would lose more than they will actually receive. The people of California are actually making good points as to why the minimum wage of fifteen dollars should not be instated. The reasons why California residents are so worried is because they assume that there will be a decrease in employment, have an increase in the price of the products, and it will have little to no effect on reducing poverty. First of off, with the new minimum wage being presented

Many citizens of California would naturally think about prices of products when they hear that the minimum wage will increase. An online article, by PewResearchCenter, says that “..Since it was last raised in 2009, to the current $7.25 per hour, the federal minimum has lost about 8.1% of its purchasing power to inflation”. Even though this was news a few years back, it still shows the effects of having a raise in minimum wage. It shows that 8.1% being purchased have been increased into products. There will be no point in raising the minimum wage if the price of products goes up. It will just be canceling out the changes. Another online article by Los Angeles Daily News, states that “To survive, more profitable businesses will have to reduce workers’ hours to a bare minimum, automate as many positions as possible and raise prices as high as the market will bear”. The only way for business people to live in these conditions is to raise their prices, but that will also mean that they will not make as many sales. Not as much sales, means that they won’t make as much

Overall, it is supposedly a nightmare. Even though it seems like if helps get people out of poverty and also homeless to become employed, it backfires and gets others laid off and into poverty and to become homeless themselves. Some people might be laid off, so there’s a chance that it might not work out for some people. This is not a guaranteed way of reducing poverty. That’s why when the time comes, we should use similar solutions as the ones here to handle the complications. It would of been more suitable if the change was not instated, but now there is a lot of controversy. There are people protesting that the fifteen dollar increase in minimum wage will benefit overall. There are others, like myself, that believe that the increase will backfire on everybody by taxes increasing, product and items increasing, poverty increasing and unemployment increasing. With that being said, if nothing is done, there will be people going from riches to