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Should Minimum Wage Be Raised Essay

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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

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Just think about how many more people are negatively affected . {PAUSE} Alyssa: A higher minimum wage wouldn’t cause any significant impact on prices and would instead help businesses and the government. In fact, “The government would save forty-six billion dollars over ten years since people would earn enough to no longer qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.”

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According to William Dunkelberg, a writer for Forbes magazine, by raising minimum wage there could become less jobs than before. Though the people who have jobs would be making more money, smaller companies wouldn’t be able to pay for their employee’s, and would have to let people go. “Small businesses stay in business

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Raising the minimum wage has been one of the biggest debates during the 21st century. One side of the spectrum argues that raising it will make it so they have a living wage, while the other argues that raising it will hurt the economy. Whichever the case is, people are clearly divided on this issue. Before Oregon passed the 15 dollar minimum wage law, people wrote arguments to try to either prevent or pass this law. The article, “How a $15 minimum wage would affect a real business: Guest opinion” by Lee Spector argues that raising the minimum wage would hurt small businesses like the one he earns.

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When you raise minimum wage you raise the price in everything else for instance if minimum wage was raised ten percent that also raises restaurant prices 0.7 cents that may not sound like a lot but it starts adding up sooner or later and who knows then it could raises prices a whole dollar. Some people think that because the cities they live in are so expensive that minimum wage should be raised but if you live in an expensive city and are also living off minimum wage and can not afford it then you should not be living there. Also women think that they can not have a good lifestyle for their children with what minimum wage is paying. If you are living off minimum wage and trying to raise children then maybe you should find a different job where you can afford a life for your kids. Minimum wage should be raised because the economy is at a point where if minimum wage is raised there would not be a drastic change.

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1183 Words | 5 Pages

A company's goal is to make money. If they are paying more, they are charging more. One who does not learn from history is doomed to repeat it. Make note that an increase of the minimum wage in the past was followed by an increase of the product prices. The inflation rate grows higher than the rate of wages, causing the economy to be in a worse shape than before.

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878 Words | 4 Pages

They said that they are not able to raise their prices to afford this and cover their expenses. Also, they state that they have reduce the amount of the minimum wage employees or reduce their work hours which will effect both the owners and employees negatively. Furthermore, raising the minimum wage will effect economic negatively. The economists concluded that as a result of the wage increase, "many prices will increase, including those that lower-income households commonly face; wages will raise for those in minimum wage jobs that remain employed; employment opportunities for those at the bottom of the skills ladder will be diminished and employment growth will

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733 Words | 3 Pages

A minimum wage increase from “$7.25 to $10.10 would result in a loss of 500,000 jobs”. ("The Effects of Minimum-Wage Increase on Employment and Family Income”) This claim is better because it shows how raising the minimum wage will decrease job growth instead of increasing it. But, the minimum wage should be increased because increasing will also increase economic activity and spur job growth, decrease poverty, and improvements in productivity and economic growth have outpaced increases in the minimum

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Admittedly, if wages were to increase, smaller businesses may not be able to afford as many employees. This could result in businesses hiring less people and laying off other. If this happens, then there will be more unemployed Americans who fall beneath the poverty line (“Should the Federal”). However, with an increased minimum wage there would be more people who have a higher income than people who are unemployed. In fact, according to a study by Alan Krueger and David Card, there was “no indication that the rise on minimum wage reduced employment” (“Should the Federal”).

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To begin with, the federal minimum wage should be raised because it would increase jobs and economic activity. Economists from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago believe that raising the minimum wage to $9 an hour would increase household spending by 48 million dollars. Increasing the amount of household spending would help the economy by injecting more money in the economy. In addition raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour would create 85,000 more jobs for the United States. Creating new jobs would help the economy because people would have more money to spend which would increase the economy.

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598 Words | 3 Pages

The minimum wage is especially difficult on small businesses, and there is no evidence that it reduces poverty. (Federal Minimum Wage 1) Finally, if we raise minimum raise it will make the economy better because people will have more money to spend. When people have more money they will buy more products for business. When people buy more things other companies will make more money and that helps them.

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435 Words | 2 Pages

Small Businesses could go out of business if we raised the minimum wage to a higher price. This is a widely debated subject of money, income, and the effect raising the minimum wage can have on businesses and the economy. Currently, the federal minimum wage is seven dollars and twenty-five cents and have been established that way since 2009. It has been said minimum wage should be increased to accommodate living expenses and travel time to places of work. The problem with raising minimum wage , that many people do not realize, is how it affects big and small businesses.

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On account of the increased wage, employers of businesses struggle with the increased cost of labor. This leaves them few options such as letting workers go or raising the price of their product. For example, “Former McDonald’s CEO Ed Rensi says a higher minimum wage will cost jobs and lead to the closing of many small businesses. In theory, raising minimum wage forces businesses to raise prices, which spurs inflation. But since wages are only part of the product costs that consumers pay, it’s not that simple.”

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First and foremost, job loss would hurt the economy if minimum wage was raised. James Sherk, the author

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James Letts Mrs.Murphy Writers workshop 2/17/23 Why the minimum wage should be raised The debate about raising the minimum wage continues to rage on in the United States, with no clear consensus in sight. Lawmakers have long avoided this issue, claiming that raising the minimum wage will lead to job loss and higher costs of living. However, the reality is that raising the minimum wage holds many benefits for both workers and employers, and should be a priority for lawmakers. Currently, the federal minimum wage stands at $7.25, and 21% of workers in the U.S. are making less than that.

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1002 Words | 5 Pages

They also argue that increasing the minimum wage shrinks the gap between low-wage and higher paid employees, which decreases the income inequality. Another argument they make is that if the minimum wage is increased, then more money will be put into the economy due to low income workers being more likely to spend their money than high income workers (Mejeur, 2014). Those that want a higher minimum wage view it as a way to better the economy an believe it is a better way to do so than by keeping the minimum wage at the same level. Although those may seem to work on paper, in practice they fall

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