The Current Minimum Wage is Too Low
Increasing the minimum wage has been an issue that the government has not addressed since they increased it in 2009 (Procon.org). It has been 8 years since they have increased the minimum wage and year after year we, the people, ask to increase it. Increasing the minimum wage will impact many people in a positive way. The minimum wage should be increased because it will help get people out of poverty, improve school attendance , and make sure that minimum wage has kept up with inflation.
Increasing minimum wage will get people out of poverty. With the current minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, people would make $15,080 in a year if they worked full time. This puts someone over the poverty level of a one person household, which is $12,331, but would put someone who is a single parent under the poverty level,which is $16,337 (Procon.org). If the minimum wage was increased, the people that are in poverty would be lifted out of the poverty level. According to a 2014 Congressional Budget Office report, raising the minimum wage to $9 would get 300,000 people out of
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According to Procon.org, in 2014 a study showed that when California raised its minimum wage to $13 an hour would increase the income of 7.5 million families therefore lifting many families out of poverty. Kids that live in poverty are more likely to miss more school days than those that don’t (Procon.org. If more kids are able to go to school due to raising minimum wage, then the minimum wage should be raised. Another study by an Assistant Professor of Economic at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point showed that raising the minimum wage from the current minimum would lead to a 2-4 % decrease in dropout rates (Procon.org). Going to school and getting a high school diploma is an important achievement for many and if there was a chance to decrease the rate of kids that dropout of school then the government should do