Poverty and food insecurity offer large barriers to American advancement. The US poverty guideline, which measures the amount of money needed to buy the most basic of human needs, is a yearly income of 24,250 for a family of four. However, the federal minimum wage, at 7.25 an hour, offers a full time worker only 15,080 per year before taxes, which is not even enough to keep a family of two above the poverty line. To protect we the people’s life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, the Constitution should be amended to ensure the minimum wage offers a full time worker the consistent ability to keep a family of four above the poverty line. Raising the minimum wage has been shown to have little to no effect on general prices , and morally the United States needs to ensure their citizens are provided for, specifically in their wages. In order to ensure that large companies follow through and honor the minimum requirements across all states and areas of the United States, especially as the minimum wage is adjusted for inflation, an amendment to the Constitution is …show more content…
However, in Seattle, where the minimum wage in in the process of being raised to $15 and currently sits at $13, there is no noticeable increase in prices. Most small business owners actually support a raise of the minimum wage. In addition, a raise in minimum wage would have no measurable effect on employment rates. Raising the minimum wage would spark a huge change in large amounts of workers. There is actually a possibility of businesses saving money with a minimum wage increase due to a decrease in worker turnover. Wages of up to 35 million workers could be raised through a small minimum wage increase. A raise to meet the federal poverty line would only increase the minimum wage to about 11.66, much lower than some states have proposed or already raised their minimum wages