How much should a person flipping burgers or washing dishes earn per hour? $7.25? $15.00? This ongoing debate on minimum wage continues to pose the question many Americans ask; should the federal minimum wage be raised? The minimum wage has been $7.25 since 2009. Some Americans argue that the wage isn't high enough to support themselves or a family. On the other hand, there is also many people who oppose the heightening of minimum wage. The federal minimum wage should not be raised because it would hurt small businesses, increase unemployment rates, and decrease youth employment. If the federal minimum wage was to be increased, small businesses would take the hardest hit. One of the dreadful effects of moving wages up from $7.25 is that businesses would have much less revenue; which would be coming …show more content…
For example, if an owner was making $100,000 in profit per year and wages went up, their profit could go down a considerable amount to say $60,000. Granted the staff would have more money, but the boss may have been relying on that income for a house payment, car payments or supporting their child. The owner would need to bring their profit back up so he/she can continue to live the life they’ve been living. One way a boss would increase their profit is to raise the prices of their services, another negative effect of raising minimum wage. In the article “Should the Federal Minimum Wage Be Increased?” it says that in fast food restaurants nearly 100% of increased labor costs would be pushed into their prices. Therefore, even if people are making more money, there will still be more money coming out of their pockets to pay for goods and services. So hypothetically wouldn’t they still be just as poor if they’re spending more while making more? But that isn’t all of the negative effects raising the minimum wage would have on small businesses. If the minimum wage was to move to say $15.00 per hour, then the business would have to