The current federal minimum wage is set at seven dollars and twenty-five cents. Many workers across the country are complaining that the purchasing power of the minimum wage is currently low, meaning one cannot buy as much while living off of the minimum wage. Moreover, citizens are work full time, while earning the minimum wage, are living, on average, several thousand dollars below the poverty line. However, an increase in the federal minimum wage may do more harm than good. It is likely that an immediate increase in the federal minimum wage will lead to an increase in high school drop outs, a large cut in the workforce, mass amounts of inflation, as well as a large amount of jobs being outsourced. Many economists believe that if the minimum wage is increased to more than ten dollars an hour, it is extremely likely that due to the extensive amounts of …show more content…
The purpose of the federal government setting the minimum wage is to create a standard wage across the states in an attempt to keep people out of poverty. Having the federal government set the minimum wage allows for equality between races, sexes, and any other identifying factors. The purpose of the minimum wage is also to ensure that low-skilled workers are being paid adequately for their services. A federal minimum wage increase would have several consequences that outweigh the pros of the increase. For example, the increase would cause large amounts of inflation that affect the rest of the country, even those who work higher-tier jobs. There will be more employee cuts to afford the new minimum wage as well as a likelihood of outsourcing of jobs and benefit cuts in companies nationwide. Lastly, with technology advancing rapidly, it is expected that many companies will look to replace humans for the cheaper and more efficient alternative of