Josh Ilyadzhanov
English 10-2
Ms. Tunick
Minimum Wage Essay Did you know that over forty five million Americans lived under the poverty lines just last year (Census bureau)? Minimum wage is the lowest wage permitted by law for any job in the United States of America, and was established in 1938 by the Fair Labor Standards Acts. Minimum wage started at an all time low $0.25 and over time has changed twenty two times. The current minimum wage in America is $7.25 per hour. Nowadays in America, poverty is at an all time high of 14.5%, which is atrocious for the economy. Thus, the best way is to develop the economy, better reduce poverty rates, and help individuals is by increasing minimum wage.
In the economy today, there are a lot
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A man or women working a full time for the governments the lowest pay permitted by law of $7.25 every hour ears $15,080 in a year, which is 20% higher than the 2015 federal poverty level of $12,331 “for one-individual family under 65 years old yet 8% underneath the 2015 federal poverty level of $16,337 for a single parent family with a kid under 18 years old.”(U.S department of labor). Say the government raised the minimum wage to $9, it would lift three hundred thousand people out of poverty and if it was raised to $10.10 if would raise nine hundred thousand people from poverty which would be great for the economy and the devastating poor people (US Census Bureau). These statistics prove what the outcome of poverty would come to if the minimum wage was raised, clearly shows that the poverty rates will …show more content…
For example, proven statistics from two economic reporters David cooper and Douglas Hall, 47% of US workers are women and they make up 63% of minimum wage workers. U.S Bureau of Labor statistics prove “African Americans represent 12% of the US workforce, and make up 17.7% of minimum wage earners.” The raise of minimum wage would help individuals because it will reduce race and gender inequality. For example according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median income for women is roughly 78% of the national average income. African Americans and Hispanics make 67% and 79% of the median income. Increasing the minimum wage is necessary to create a more “equitable income distribution for disadvantaged groups.” The diagram to the left shows the percentage between the women and the men working for minimum wage and their ages. This clearly shows the separation between gender and even age groups. This is why the best way to put an end to all the segregation in the work field is raising minimum