Minimum Wage Sociology

Introduction More numbers of state are joining to take action to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour in a few years even though there is a high disputing controversial all over the nation. The federal has set the minimum wage level to $7.25 on Jan. 1, 2015. In less than a year the index number of the minimum wage is going up automatically with cost of living. And eventually it will be likely to increase year by year with automatic and expectation index. Is it really a good thing to raise the minimum wage to meet the basic need for poor people? Is it the best way to prevent poverty rate and income inequality? Answers must vary from skeptical to comprehensive response depending on whoever answers these questions. Amid a debate on this

Because taking into account negative employment effects and increases in consumer prices induced by the minimum wage would wipe out any positive direct effects on household affected by the minimum wage. The minimum wage becomes even less effective in reducing income inequality when negative employment effects are taken into account. I will address the negative effects in sociological aspects by the

We find no evidence that minimum wage increases between 2003 and 2007 affected overall state poverty rates.”(Leigh, A. (2007) Proposals to increase the minimum wage are politically popular because they are widely seen as an effective way to help the working poor. In spite of it, state and federal minimum wage increases between 2003 and 2007 had no effect on reducing the poverty rates. “Minimum wage increases have thus far provided little more than symbolic support to the working poor.” (Card and Kreuger 1995, p. 593) This finding shows that the minimum wages fail to reduce poverty because many poor Americans do not work. Also, this increase would not be well targeted at low income households, and would only influence negligible effects on the income inequality. All these evidence suggest that the minimum wage increases do not reduce