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Raising Minimum Wage Essay

466 Words2 Pages

Living off of the minimum wage is virtually impossible even though it is the national guideline of a wage you can live off of. According to Dr. Amy K. Glasmeier and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s living wage calculator the amount of money one adult should make in order to support them self in the boise area is at least $10.34 an hour. But would raising that minimum wage mean eliminate job opportunities?

Raising minimum wage to $15 an hour is nearly doubling the current minimum wage and could bring unemployment “If a particular McDonald’s employee earns the company $10 an hour, but the law forces McDonald’s to pay him $15 an hour, the employee won’t get any richer, but he will get fired.”( Tyler O’Neil) Raising the minimum wage …show more content…

So is it worth raising the minimum wage to $10 or even $9 so that we could bring so many more people out of poverty or is it too much of a risk for the smaller businesses?

Increasing the national minimum wage would also raise the prices of consumer goods. In order for businesses to make enough revenue to stay in business while paying their employees $15 an hour they would need to significantly raise the prices on things we purchase every day. This could mean buying the store brand detergent instead of the name brand that you have always used.

Raising the minimum wage could also make our society healthier by making more food accessible. If people are getting the proper nutrition they are more likely to exercise. More exercise means better mental health and less smoking. Less smoking and better nutrition means less premature babies and miscarriages. People who make minimum wage are less likely to buy healthy food because it's too expensive and are less likely to seek medical help. “Edward Ehlinger, MD, State Health Commissioner for Minnesota, stated that raising the Minnesota minimum wage from $6.15 an hour to $9.50 by mid-2016 was probably "the biggest public health achievement in the four years I've been health commissioner. If you look at the conditions that impact health,

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