Minimum Wage Debate Essay

Ever since I was young I have heard people around me debate if raising the federal minimum wage was a good idea. I have come to understand that people are either very in favor of the raise of minimum wage or not at all. From listening to other people’s conversations I’ve come to understand that Democrats tend to always argue in favor while Republicans argue against. I have always thought that raising minimum wage would benefit the people struggling to support themselves. I have began to question if raising minimum wage would actually be beneficial. The first job I ever had was working at a small business. I began to wonder if raising minimum wage would make it difficult for small businesses to pay their employees. Is raising minimum wage a

Strain. Strain is the Director of Economic Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute. He oversees the institute's work in economic policy, financial markets, poverty studies, technology policy, energy economics, and other areas. Strain has a lot of experience and knowledge working with the economy. This article he wrote in March of 2013 was not in favor of raising minimum wage. He argued that a higher wage makes it more expensive for firms to hire workers. Making businesses required to pay a higher minimum wage results in fewer employees getting hired. Businesses can not afford to pay all of their employees a higher salary. If minimum wage is increased the result will be more people getting laid off from work. This will increase the unemployment rate, and it will make it more difficult to find available jobs. Strain argues that workers who earn the minimum wage are generally not the primary breadwinners in their households. When these workers are the secondary earners there is no need to raise the minimum wage. Raising minimum wage will make it more expensive for businesses to hire young workers for low-skill

The first pro this article states is that employees who are getting paid at a higher rate will be more likely to stay. These employees will feel more appreciated for their hard work. This means there will be a lower turnover rate,which results in fewer expenses to hire and train new employees. The second pro is the raise in inflation. The federal minimum wage needs to be raised in order to account for inflation. Inflation raises every year while minimum wage does not. A con this article looks at is the layoff rate. If the employer has a small budget and minimum wage is increased the business may not be able to pay all of their employees at the higher rate. As a result, the business will have to layoff their employees to compensate for the increased pay. So, while some employees may be making slightly more money, others will be left unemployed. Another con would be a price increase of products to be purchased from stores. Businesses will increase the prices of their products being sold to generate more income. The business will need to do this to pay their employees the increased minimum wage rate. One business that increasing their prices may result in other businesses doing the same. This would make the cost of living higher. If minimum wage increases, overly qualified individuals will be getting minimum wage positions. This would result in