ipl-logo

The Minimum Wage Debate

824 Words4 Pages

The federal minimum wage has long been a topic of controversy in U.S. domestic policy. In fact it’s been in contention since its inception. The U.S. followed the models lead by Australia and New Zealand, which established the world’s first minimum wage policies in the 1890s. The Progressive faction here at home introduced the idea of a U.S. minimum wage; their argument was that a wage should be sufficient enough to support a common worker's necessities. This resonates just as arguments used today, and proponents even go further in prospects of increasing the Federal minimum wage. Advocates for raising the U.S. Federal minimum wage such as presidential candidate in the 2016 election Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders ran on a platform that coincided …show more content…

Later came the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA), which was approved by Congress and authorized by President Roosevelt in 1933; this was the first legislation that attempted to introduce a federal minimum wage. However, this wouldn’t last long as the (NIRA) was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1935 it was judged as an "unconstitutional delegation of legislative power." In spring of 1937 the constitutionality of state minimum wage laws was again to be deliberated in the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court would over turn its previous anti-minimum wage ruling in favor of a federal minimum wage. This was an immense accomplishment for the progressives of this …show more content…

This is especially true due to the devaluation of the U.S. dollar in the last couple decades, which has left people in far worse financial distress then previous generations have had to contend with. Advocates claim that an increase in the federal minimum wage will actually boost job creation and growth in the U.S. economy by providing the common people with more spending allowances thus stimulating the economy. Supports further contend that the deteriorating value of the minimum wage is one of the main sources of income inequality between low and mid range employees; and that a majority of Americans, incorporating a thin margin of self proclaimed conservatives actually are in support of increasing the minimum

Show More
Related
434 Words | 2 Pages

B. What the Workplace Action for a Growing Economy (WAGE) Act is Up Against a. The Past Failures to Amend the NLRA The WAGE Act is not the first attempt to amend the NLRA and strengthen it in favor of employees, however, if passed the WAGE Act would be the first one to succeed. While amendments to the NLRA both for and against the rights of workers and employers have largely been unsuccessful, the overwhelming trend is for Congress to pass those amendments that weaken employee protection and strengthen employer protection.

Read More
625 Words | 3 Pages

On average a worker would make a few dollars a week, which lead a factory worker from Texas to write President Roosevelt, “ I can’t see for my life President why a man must toil & work his life out in Such factories 10 long hours ever day except Sunday for a small sum of 15 cents to 35 cents per hour & pay the high cost of honest & deason living expences,” (pg 171). This reality of people working for nothing needed to come to a conclusion. In order for the people to receive a higher hourly wage the government needs to implement a law that dictates the minimum amount of money a worker gets paid hourly. This amount needs to be determined based on the cost of living, and in order to prevent people from working for little to nothing in the future it needs to fluctuate with the cost of living. Owners of factories and other business will be upset and not follow the law, and that is why the government will need to be strict and enforce this minimum wage law.

Read More
872 Words | 4 Pages

In theory, raising the minimum wage would lessen America’s dependence on such benefits. If workers are making more money, Hanauer says that workers are spending more, and increasing the demand for more workers as opposed to cutting jobs. Hanauer closes his essay by telling the reader to see the economy as Henry Ford did; an effective economy is one that works for all not just part of the country. ANALYSIS: After reading Nicolas Hanauer’s essay on raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, I take an affirmative stance on this issue. The main reason for siding with Hanauer is that he is thinking about how many people can get an upper hand with a wage increase.

Read More
567 Words | 3 Pages

The topic of minimum wage is one that can lead to heated debates from both sides of the aisle over how much a person should be getting in payment versus how much work they do, or how hard they work to earn the payment. Countless people today are not getting paid the amount they should be based off of the work that they are putting in to their job. There are arguments leaning towards the raising of minimum wage, and there are arguments leaning against the raising of the minimum wage, however one of the arguments I find persuasive. There are some arguments that lean towards the raising of the minimum wage. The first argument presented involves job creation in the United States.

Read More
1094 Words | 5 Pages

The federal minimum wage has been increased twenty-two times since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the bill into law in 1938. President Roosevelt was an avid supporter of a federal minimum wage as he says that “no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country.” Raising the federal minimum wage has many pros and cons, but is a necessity to thrive in society. People have argued that raising the minimum wage will cause inflation, but it will create various economical benefits, income benefits, production benefits, and improve racial justice.

Read More
630 Words | 3 Pages

Minimum Wage Policies Thomas Sowell is well known for advocating for an upgrade of minimum wages to better the lives of the poor. In one of his favorite quotes, Sowell says that “if their work is not worth enough to pay for what they want, is it up to others to make up the difference, rather than up to them to upgrade their skills to earn what they want?” (Sowell, 2). However, various assumptions arise in the collective thought that increase in the minimum wage of employees will ultimately improve the lives of the less fortunate members of the community. Political activists who advocate for the increase in minimum wage are credited for being compassionate with regards to the needy members of the community.

Read More
661 Words | 3 Pages

New York) in 1905 the case was taken to the Supreme Court and was shot down on the ground that New York Maximum hours Law only allowed the worker to set his own price for the labor. Another example of this was in the women’s bid for more pay was the case (Adkins v. Children’s Hospital) where the courts followed suit of the “Freedom of Contract” That was instated by Lochner a loophole around the district of Colombia law that had set the minimum wage for women. It was not until the Great depression that these policies were being brought up all over the country. A new agenda called the “New Deal” the coincided with President Roosevelts Reemployment agreement (1933) that asked employers to sign pledges basically I O U’s

Read More
524 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
914 Words | 4 Pages

Others believe the minimum wage should not be up to the government. Jack Quinn, Mike Castle, Steve LaTourette, and Connie Morella state in their article, “Raising the Minimum Wage is Common Sense,” that raising the minimum wage to match the cost of living is the route the government should take. On the contrary, in “Why I Don’t Think We Should Raise the Minimum Wage,” William Dunkelberg asserts that an increase is not common sense and would, in fact, cause more harm than good. In 2007, Congress modified the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 with the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007.

Read More
623 Words | 3 Pages

The people who are against the increase of minimum wage often argues that it will harm young adolescents the most, and that they will need the experience of working at the minimum wage. It is significantly unfair with other states, such as California and Massachusetts. The minimum wage for these states gives other states a disadvantage in the economy. I feel that every state should have the same price range of minimum wage just to make every state feel that they are equally the same without any disadvantages. Raising the minimum wage is something that should’ve been done a long time ago.

Read More
1018 Words | 5 Pages

A big part of this is because of liberals and labor unions are putting pressure on Congress. The number one argument for those who want to raise the minimum wage is that people cannot keep up with the standard of living. Greenhouse also describes the people who are against the minimum wage. The business community does not like the idea of raising the minimum wage. The argument for the opposing side is that raising

Read More
1005 Words | 5 Pages

“How does minimum wage affect a society” Minimum wage has been a topic of debate for many years. Some argue that it should be increased to help workers earn a living wage, while others believe that it will raise prices for consumers. With the cost of living increasing, many people are struggling to make ends meet on today's minimum wage. In this essay, I will provide information about the history of minimum wage, its current state, the implications of minimum wage policies, and their impact on society. Andrew Carnegie co-founded his first steel company in the early 1870s in the Pittsburgh area.

Read More
1153 Words | 5 Pages

We find no evidence that minimum wage increases between 2003 and 2007 affected overall state poverty rates. ”(Leigh, A. (2007) Proposals to increase the minimum wage are politically popular because they are widely seen as an effective way to help the working poor. In spite of it, state and federal minimum wage increases between 2003 and 2007 had no effect on reducing the poverty rates. “Minimum wage increases have thus far provided little more than symbolic support to the working poor.”

Read More
1654 Words | 7 Pages

Minimum wage is the lowest, baseline hourly salary employers are legally allowed to pay their employees. It was first legislated in the year 1938 under the presidential leadership of Franklin D. Roosevelt (Minimum Wage - ProCon.org). The current federal minimum wage stands at $7.25 an hour, with a few states adjusting their minimums to some higher degree. In this current decade (from 2007 – 2017) where there has been a somewhat aggressive rising cost of living and inflation, the debate regarding minimum wage is forefront and increasingly relevant. The notion of this has brought me to select the topic for further research.

Read More
711 Words | 3 Pages

Since the Great Depression, there has been a minimum wage in America, but this minimum wage has changed 22 times since the Great Deprnbession. Many people say minimum wage should stay at $7.25 like it has been since 2009. Meanwhile, other people believe that minimum wage should be $15.00 so they can have more money to live comfortably. People think that a higher minimum wage will help, but it will hurt more people than it will help. If America makes the minimum wage $9.00, people will no longer be in poverty and it will make the economy balance out.

Read More

More about The Minimum Wage Debate

Related Topics

Open Document