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Minimum Wage Livable

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Can a Livable Minimum Wage Ever Be Achieved? Raising the minimum wage by just about $2, would bring 4.6 million people out from under the poverty line (The Case for a Higher Minimum Wage 2). There is no question that a person cannot support themselves on the $7.25 national minimum wage; unless you buy the bare bones package. A higher minimum wage would boost the economy and save taxpayers millions of dollars. The problem with all of this information available about increasing minimum wage is that they have a flimsy foundation; the intent is good but the methods and results are untrustworthy. If the United States were to raise the national minimum wage to a livable wage, it would have to be a slow incline and not all at once. There seems …show more content…

The New York Times states, “Employers do not automatically cope with a higher minimum wage by laying off workers or not hiring new ones. Instead they pay up out of savings from reduced labor turnover, by slower wage increases higher up the scale, modest price increases or other adjustments” (4). It would not make sense for businesses to raise prices for consumers because the possibility of losing sales is very real. That argument, that raising the minimum wage would hurt consumers, just furthers the negative sentiment people have towards this topic. Numerous studies have shown that employment increases from the state and federal level had an overall positive effect on employment (Whitaker et al. 631). Higher wages attract more employees and reduces turnover, which results in company’s saving money. In addition to assisting employees to live above the poverty line, a minimum wage increase would benefit owners. A higher minimum wage would benefit people across the board, it should stop being politicized so …show more content…

Both sides have very convincing arguments with specific data to back both of them up. The problem is that because of how politicized this issue is, it’s very polarizing. People on the left want wages equal to inflation, but those on the right argue that it’s too big of a hike and they are not wrong. Another problem is that both sides rely on data that supports their argument, and that should never be the case when talking about people’s livelihoods. It seems that both want to see how the research is conducted and a wage that people can live off of. There is middle ground for the minimum wage, it is just a matter of moving it from being political back to an economic

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Also, when consumers prices rise to a certain level, then the people will want another increase on the minimum wage. Raising minimum wage will just be an ongoing lose lose situation. Efforts should be focused on real solutions, not temporary

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The federal minimum wage should be increased because raising it would increase the economic activity and spur job growth, decrease poverty, and also improvements in productivity and economic growth have outpaced increases in the minimum wage. Increases in job growth and economic activity will happen when the minimum wage is elevated. If the minimum wage was increased it will “inject 22.1 billion net into the economy and create about 85,000 new jobs over a three year period”. (“Raising the Federal minimum Wage to $10.10 Would Lift Wages for Millions and Provide a Modest Economic Boost") Thousands of new jobs will be created and it will put billions of dollars into the economy.

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Ultimately, regardless of how enticing it is to simply raise the federal minimum wage, such an action will doubtlessly provoke economic instability, further limit job opportunities, and certainly will not help reduce poverty. At the moment, the whole country has become fanatical about the federal minimum wage issue. As demonstrated by several protests throughout the country, the majority of the people are in favor of hiking up the federal minimum wage. Surely, being a representative of the people, it would be a

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Increasing the minimum wage will result in many people losing their jobs, and also result in employers not able to find workers. Research shows that “advocates of higher minimum wages confuse cause and effect. They think a higher minimum wage causes incomes to go up for low-skilled workers and doesn’t destroy jobs. Workers are assumed to have higher wages and retain their jobs as a result of government policy — even though they have done nothing to improve their job skills. But if a worker is producing $5.15 per hour and now the employer must pay $9 per hour, there will be little incentive to retain (him or her).

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Although raising their prices is an option it does not necessarily have to go in that route. Business can save money if they increase the wages because they would have less training to do meaning they spend less money on training new employees. Even if businesses raised their prices people would have more money so they could afford to buy the things at the higher prices and there is always the option of price controls to keep things from being too much. Then there is the motivation for advancement. This argument is reasonable in that some people would lack advancement but most would want better jobs as minimum wage paying jobs are not the most decent.

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There are many positive and negative aspects to minimum wage that many need to see from both sides in order to truly make an improvement for our country's well-being.

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Because of inflation, the prices of goods and services has gone up tremendously throughout american history, however, the minimum wage hasn’t. Since minimum wage only changes with congressional action, this results in a low amount of money for families that need to purchase essentials to live conformably. The increase would also boost the economy because of the more money going into these families and individual’s pockets, the more they are wiling to spend, thus creating more stores, jobs, and economic growth. According to the Economic Policy Institute, a minimum wage increase from the current rate of $7.25 an hour to $10.10 would inject $22.1 billion into the economy and create around 85,000 new jobs over a three-year period.

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The opponents that are against on raising the minimum wage say that it would have a negative impact in the long-term according to The Economist. If we raise the minimum wages, it would cost the businesses more to pay for the wages. They say that raising the minimum wage would only make the value slowly go down because of inflation. Low-paid workers could lose their jobs if the businesses raised the minimum wage. According to Drew Desilver from The Pew Research Center, the Congressional Budget Office projects are raising the minimum wage from seven dollars and twenty five cents to ten dollars and ten cents by 2016, it would raise incomes for about 16.5 million low-wage workers but would put five hundred thousand workers there jobs.

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Recently, increasing the minimum wage seems to be the solution constantly talked about publicly. Proponents of an increase in the federal minimum wage believe raising the minimum wage to 15 dollars an hour would lead to less people living at poverty level. This idea would certainly help millions of Americans and allow for families to better support their children by allowing for greater stability and spending power within the economy. The only problem with an increase in minimum wage is that it doesn’t affect those who cannot find gainful employment. Furthermore, it increases the possibility that some businesses would pay below the minimum wage “under the table” which is illegal, but still common in many industries and jobs on the lower end of the economy.

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Another popular argument in favor of raising the minimum wage is that it will increase the purchasing power of the low-wage workers. Again, there is evidence that disproves this almost immediately. In the article “What Are the Pros and Cons of Raising the Minimum Wage?” the author states, “Raising the minimum wage would likely result in wages and salaries increasing across the board” (Maverick).

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The minimum wage could benefit some workers to pull them out of poverty and also some business owners. Consumers will experience paying more because of inflation. Consumers often spend lots of money on gas and food items. The raise in minimum wage will cause them to start spending more money on those

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This problem plagues people everywhere. there is a huge difference between living wage and minimum wage. The question is not should we raise minimum wages t’s when we will raise minimum wage. But some people believe that the minimum wage is fine. Obviously these people have probably never relied on $7.25.It is extremely important to raise minimum wage soon one reason is because while it might take out of the economy for awhile it will also get back in two it will raise people out poverty three $7.25 is no where near a living wage.

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Introduction “Raising the minimum wage has been hotly debated in cities and states for years. Supporters argue that it's a remedy for widening wage inequality and will boost consumer spending, while opponents counter that it could reduce opportunities for employment, particularly for teenagers and others looking for entry level or low-skilled jobs.” According to CNN, minimum wage has been an ongoing debate in politics. Many regions/states have their own take on minimum wage. It is ideal because of cost of living has changed, and employment is still down.

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Lots of people think that getting a high pay wage will help them and the gov’t because then the government won 't have to spend as much because they would be making more money but people also think that would just hurt them more and make the government spend more because if people make more than the cost of living would go up. In no state can an individual working a typical 40-hour work week at the federal minimum wage afford a one-

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In the United States fifty-nine percent of workers earn minimum wage (“Minimum Wage” 2). That is over half the citizens in the United States, which means, raising minimum wage would affect over half of America. It would not just affect the people of the United States; it would affect the businesses, business owners, and families of the minimum wage employees. Raising minimum wage would eventually affect everyone in the United States and our economy.

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