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Summary Of The Pay Is Too Damn Low

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The problem with minimum wage
Author James Surowiecki published an article in The New Yorker called The Pay is Too Damn Low. James presents many problems and findings that occur with today’s minimum wage. He presents problems both good and bad about the federal minimum wage. The author explains how people are trying to live off minimum wage and support a family and he thinks the only way to fix the problem is to raise the minimum wage.
Is the pay really too damn low? The problem facing workers that are working a minimum wage job is its not meant for them. Now a day, fast food jobs and minimum wage jobs are being worked by people who don’t have the current skill set to work a higher paying job. The author brings up an excellent point stating
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In the book Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting By in America, journalist Barbara Ehrenreich goes undercover into the world of minimum wage employees to research how difficult it is to live off of their salary. She splits up the book into three sections where she tackles these jobs in diverse areas to be able to compare her data. In each section Ehrenreich plows through several jobs, sometimes struggling to afford housing and food. She takes these first-hand experiences and compiles them into a book that gives readers an insight to the world of minimum wage workers. Ehrenreich begins her journey by taking time to prepare for the hardships she may face along the way.

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In the article, “Minimum Wage Hikes Hurt Low-Income Workers,” Jame Sherk debates how an increase in the minimum wage would impact workers and corporations. Sherk builds his argument by first explaining the recent history of an increasing minimum wage and how much it has risen. Following, he argues why it would hurt businesses and low-income workers. Lastly, after illustrating the consequences, he offers statistical evidence to support his claim and to prove to the reader why the hike would only hurt both businesses and low-income workers. Sherk’s use of evidence and explanation offers a strong argument and a clear stance.

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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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In conclusion, I found that those working a minimum wage job did not apply for the job because it was a desirable one, but because it gave them an opportunity to start small and work their way into a higher corporation. Although the stereotypes held about people working minimum wage jobs are bad, this study can show people that these workers are taking advantage of the opportunities available to them to

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In reality some people don’t have the education or skills to get a well paying job. Those are the people who end up taking minimum wage jobs or becoming homeless. Minimum wage is the lowest wage a worker can legally get. From the start of the law in 1938 the wage has increased slowly(Annalyn Kurtz, CNNMoney). Minimum wage should be kept and raised, it helps people who can’t get a higher paying job live.

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On the other hand, workers who had a hard time finding a second job to make up for their lost hours might have been earning much less. ”(Source 4) The rise of the minimum wage is not working in one place, it does not mean it will see the same results in other places, the first step of improvement is identifying the errors. If Congress can find the issues between why the rise of minimum wage is not working in Seattle they might be able to find a successful way to improve the problem why minimum wage has to rise at all. Minimum wage jobs were created for inexperienced teens but, now there are jobs where you start at the minimum.

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