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Raising Minimum Wage Essay

1283 Words6 Pages

Poverty to Royalty
Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt once said, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are” (“Theodore Roosevelt Quote”). This pertains to everything you do in life, and the minimum wage argument especially. A very popular topic of conversation is raising the current minimum wage. The current United States Minimum Wage is $7.25 per hour. A Washington Post Survey found that the majority of US citizens would approve a minimum wage increase if no consequences arose (Fuller). The Washington post survey proved that raising the minimum wage is a popular idea among the people, but if and only if, it has no negative effects. The Obama administration proposed a minimum wage increase from $7.25 to $9 an hour in 2013 (Holzer). Even though …show more content…

The main issue with raising the minimum wage is, it actually has very little effect on reducing poverty. This is because the majority of minimum wage workers are part-time, young, still in school, and because very few people earn minimum wage. With the minimum wage being intended to help people with minimum skills, its purpose was not to help a person raise a family of 4. Since the majority of minimum wage workers are teenagers, raising the minimum wage to reduce poverty would have very little effects since most below poverty level are not “head of household” workers (Fuller). Out of the 75.3 million workers that are paid hourly, only 4.7% were paid in minimum wage and of those minimum wage workers, 59.4% are between the ages of 16 and 24 (Patton). Of the teenagers earning minimum wage: 79% are part-time, 62% are in school during non-summer months, their average family income is $65,900 annually, and only 22% are below the poverty line. An increase in the minimum wage would also be ineffective because if the pay was bumped up, it would actually lead to less money after taxes (Fuller). An example would be, if the minimum wage were increased to $9 an hour, after taxes you would only be making $8 after

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First, one main reason that the minimum wage should be raised is because the economy will prosper. “Economic Policy Institute stated that a minimum wage increase from the current rate of $7.25 an hour to $10.10 would inject $22.1 billion net into the economy and create about 85,000 new jobs over a three-year phase-in period” (ProCon). This quote shows that the economy will flourish from the increase of the minimum wage and that unemployment will decrease. Another quote that shows how raising the minimum wage will affect employment is “To the extent that through these contour effects it affords as much as 70 percent of the workforce greater purchasing power, it effectively increases aggregate demand for goods and services, which should ultimately lead to the creation of more jobs” (Challenger 19). Bryan Covert supports raising the minimum wage by

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The current federal minimum wage is set at seven dollars and twenty-five cents. Many workers across the country are complaining that the purchasing power of the minimum wage is currently low, meaning one cannot buy as much while living off of the minimum wage. Moreover, citizens are work full time, while earning the minimum wage, are living, on average, several thousand dollars below the poverty line. However, an increase in the federal minimum wage may do more harm than good. It is likely that an immediate increase in the federal minimum wage will lead to an increase in high school drop outs, a large cut in the workforce, mass amounts of inflation, as well as a large amount of jobs being outsourced.

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Today’s minimum of $7.25 an hour is worth 25 percent less than the minimum in the late 1960s. From research, a full-time, minimum-wage worker earns about $15,000 per year, which is below the federal poverty line for a worker with just one child. We need to raise the minimum wage to the point where the lowest-paid worker can afford their basic needs, such as food and other necessities. An increase to $10.00 an hour as proposed by President Barack Obama would actually reinstate the wage factor to the same value it had back in the 1960s. In doing so, it would lift earnings for nearly 28 million workers nationwide roughly 1 in 5 U.S. workers.

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The federal minimum wage should be increased because it would decrease poverty rates, stimulate the economy, and inflation has surpassed current wages. A raise in the federal minimum wage would help pull millions of Americans out of poverty. Currently, there are over forty-three million Americans who live beneath the poverty line (“Should We Raise”). Of those in poverty, many are trying to support themselves, as well as their families, while living off of a minimum wage job.

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Ultimately, regardless of how enticing it is to simply raise the federal minimum wage, such an action will doubtlessly provoke economic instability, further limit job opportunities, and certainly will not help reduce poverty. At the moment, the whole country has become fanatical about the federal minimum wage issue. As demonstrated by several protests throughout the country, the majority of the people are in favor of hiking up the federal minimum wage. Surely, being a representative of the people, it would be a

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There has been a growing controversy surrounding the federal minimum wage and whether it should be raised to $15 dollars an hour or not. Many American minimum-wage working citizens support the notion that the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour should be raised to $15.00 per hour, based on the fact that a job which pays $7.25 an hour will not provide the funds necessary to support themselves or their families. While a pay-raise may seem to be the solution to their problem, raising the federal minimum wage would do more harm than good. The federal minimum wage should not be raised to $15.00 an hour because it is not economically feasible, and would hurt small businesses.

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In 1970, the minimum wage was only $1.60, but this fit along with the price of the economy. Now, there is talk about raising the minimum wage to a whopping $15.00 an hour. While many Americans believe this to be an insane amount, others believe it is accurate and will help the United States in a way different than anything else. Raising the minimum wage amount will increase the quality of life, strengthen the economy, and change the poverty percentage. The minimum wage was established in 1938 as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

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Raising minimum wage is an inadequate decision based on possible ramifications that could occur. Minimum wage workers as well as teens beginning to enter the work field are directly affected by this decision. What people may not notice is these low- income occupations are not meant to be lifelong employers. They are meant to be more of a starting point in the work field. Many jobs today can potentially result in mental and physical stress placed on an individual.

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As of January 1st, 2018, eighteen American states increased the minimum wage because the national minimum hasn’t been adjusted for inflation in years. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 which is worth twenty-five percent less than it was worth in 1968. This has far-reaching effects, whether it be on the economy or poverty levels. Raising the minimum wage wouldn’t just improve these metrics, it would also create income equality for gender and racial income gaps. It is simply is in the United States’ best interest to raise the minimum wage so that our country can thrive.

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The first problem with raising minimum wage is inflation. Inflation is when prices rise because of the minimum wage rising. Setting the minimum wage to $15 an hour, which is what most people are wanting, businesses payroll would go up a lot. Taxes would go up if minimum wage went up because the government would need more money to pay for other jobs.

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