Raising Minimum Wage Essay

The year 2007 marked the creation of the Fair Minimum Wage Act which incrementally raised the minimum wage over the next two years; the first enactment of change in ten years (“Federal Minimum”). The minimum wage is the lowest hourly rate at which most employers may legally pay their workers and it is meant to protect employees from labor exploitation in the United States (Encyclopedia). The current minimum wage is $7.25, a person who works a forty hour work-week earns approximately $15,000 yearly; although some states have a higher minimum wage. The controversy of raising the minimum wage has been in the headlines for the past couple of years; the argument relates to the impact it would have on all pay grades, not just the 2.5 percent of low

Living on a $15,000 salary is not cutting it for what families need in America. Proponents of the pay raise argue that paying low class workers more money would result in that money being spent, spurring economic activity and growth (“Federal Minimum”). While some supporters argue raising the minimum wage to $15.00 an hour, just raising it to $10.10 would give Americans more equality compared to other workers in the United States (“Federal Minimum”). Opposers say that requiring businesses to raise the minimum wage would force layoffs and prevent employers from hiring more workers because small businesses can not afford it. They also say a raise would encourage employers to substitute skilled workers for their least-skilled employees especially since most minimum wage workers are not primary earners but rather high school students or the secondary income of a household (Levin-Waldman 60). Some say a pay raise will distort the labor market by forcing employers to pay certain workers more than their work merits (“Federal Minimum”). Although people have concerns about the effects a pay raise would have on the economy, minimum wage workers still deserve to be paid enough to support their