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Raise Minimum Wage Essay

1341 Words6 Pages

Raise My Pay!
Should mom and dad have to work 60 or more hours a week in order just to provide the basic necessities to their children? The minimum wage needs to be raised for many reason. “The federal minimum wage had been frozen for a decade, meaning that workers earning that wage were well below the poverty level despite working full-time” (Ford and English). Due to this freeze in the minimum wage many families were falling below the poverty limit causing them to lose their homes, jobs and families. This means more and more people are ending up on the street. With a raise in minimum wage people will be able to support themselves financially, and feed their families. A raise in the minimum wage will also stimulate the economy causing an …show more content…

"It's not acceptable," Holly Sklar, CEO of the advocacy group Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, said about the seven-year stretch at $7.25. "The whole point of the minimum wage is to have it go up regularly. It shouldn't sit still every year when the cost of living is going up. The minimum wage is losing value,"(Rodgers). With the minimum wage low and the inflation rates rising many people are struggling to afford the cost of living. Say someone earning the federal minimum wage, which is $7.25 an hour, is renting a home for $800 dollars a month the whole pay check would mostly be spent on affording the house alone and non would be left for food or other necessities.If the minimum wage was raised it would allow people to afford the cost of living and it would raise the minimum wage rates up to the inflation rates. “Despite periodic increases, the buying power of the federal minimum wage hasn't kept up with inflation, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Data show that in 1968, the federal minimum was equivalent to $10.90 in 2015 dollars, nearly $4 higher than today's rate,” (Rodgers). The minimum wage isn’t nearly high enough to counteract the rising inflation rates or even keep it up with it. If the minimum wage was raised it would not only counteract the rising inflation rates but surpass them allowing Americans to buy more things with their

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