Minimum Wage Argumentative Essay

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Argumentative Essay Rough Draft

Raising the minimum wage to just $9 would benefit about 28 million workers across the country and bring about 300,000 Americans out of the state of poverty. Minimum wage and poverty have been in the front running of U.S. controversial problems recently. Minimum wage was only originally supposed to be for things such as young teens at fast-food restaurants who have not had working experience yet. But today, more and more Americans are suffering, and barely getting by with earning minimum wage. With the cost of living rapidly going up, the minimum wage must be increased to help families support themselves. Boosting the minimum wage would reduce income inequality, increase economic growth and activity, and reduce poverty. …show more content…

Income inequality has become a major problem in the U.S. In fact, the richest 1% of the U.S. population earns 22.83% of the country's pre-tax income. That's the widest it has been in about 100 years, or since the Great Depression. The richest 8 men on the globe own as much wealth as the poorest half, 3.6 billion, of the world’s people. (Oxfam; Income Inequality “Cannot Continue”) This means that America and others are suffering greatly from income inequality. There are many ways to fix this problem. For example, we can make the richest 1% pay their fair share of taxes. Additionally, we could make companies pay their employees a living wage of $15. Research has shown that $7.25 an hour is not enough to live and support yourself now of days. A living wage of $15, instead of a minimum wage, is necessary in today’s society for basic