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The Pros And Cons Of Raising Minimum Wage

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The State of New York and California have both passed legislation that will increase the minimum wage in both states to 15 dollars an hour. Although the minimum wage of both states will not immediately go into effect, the minimum wage will slowly works it's way up annually until reaching 15 dollars an hour. Bringing up the minimum wage will allow people working for at the minimum wage to afford the high cost of living in both states. The decision to bring up the minimum wage was met with divided opinions as Senators and Assembly members from both parties on opposing sides of one another. Ultimately, the pros of raising the minimum wage outweigh the cons astronomically. The median wage at both states will take a few years to go in effect. However the wages will gradually increase until reaching 15 dollars. As the Wall Street Journal infers, Governor Jerry Brown’s plan …show more content…

As a report from the Legislative Analysis infers that the average price of a California home is about $440,000, about two-and-a-half times greater than the national average of $180,000. Similarly, California’s average monthly rent is about $1,240, a whopping 50 percent higher than the rest of the country which averages at 840$ a month (Alamo and Uhler). Additionally, the state of New York has a high cost of living, especially in New York City. For example, a report by the Economic Policy Institute inferred that a two child family in New York City would need at 95,000 dollars annually to live an adequate lifestyle, while that same family would only need 48,000 in Marshall county in Mississippi (Gould et al.) Raising the minimum wage will help alleviate some of the hardships that people must endure when working for the minimum wage in California and New York. Although the wage increase will benefit millions of people, opinions have been increasingly divided over the minimum

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First, one main reason that the minimum wage should be raised is because the economy will prosper. “Economic Policy Institute stated that a minimum wage increase from the current rate of $7.25 an hour to $10.10 would inject $22.1 billion net into the economy and create about 85,000 new jobs over a three-year phase-in period” (ProCon). This quote shows that the economy will flourish from the increase of the minimum wage and that unemployment will decrease. Another quote that shows how raising the minimum wage will affect employment is “To the extent that through these contour effects it affords as much as 70 percent of the workforce greater purchasing power, it effectively increases aggregate demand for goods and services, which should ultimately lead to the creation of more jobs” (Challenger 19). Bryan Covert supports raising the minimum wage by

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With the data provided, it is recognized that 41 million workers, almost 30 percent of the United States workforce, would be economically uplifted by the raise of a $15 minimum wage until 2024. Also, like mentioned previously, many minorities will gain many opportunities that have been denied from them since 1979, for unfair reasons. This will then minimize the gap between the lowest paid workers and the middle class. With the raise set to $15, it will “be particularly significant for workers of color” (EPI 2). It is also predicted that about forty percent of African Americans and thirty-four percent of Latinos will benefit from this raise.

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Simple math will lead to the conclusion that this wage, paid for a 40 hour work week, 52 weeks a year, will yield $1160 a month, and $15,080 a year before taxes. According to the Department of Numbers, the average rent in America is $934, meaning that the average full­time minimum wage worker in America has just over $200 left after paying rent each month, before taxes are factored in. Federal taxes for a minimum wage worker, neither claiming or being a dependent, are around $472 for the year 2016, according to the International Revenue Service. These numbers become even more daunting when the average entire cost of living in America, which includes healthcare, transportation, food, taxes, and other necessities, is factored in. In order to keep up with the average cost of living in America, the average minimum wage worker would have to work 64 hours a week just to meet the weekly demand of $593 for living, according to CareerTrends.

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This set in motion a sequence of raises in the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $5.85 to $6.55 and a final raise in 2009 to $7.25 an hour (“History of Changes to the Minimum Wage Law”). In their article, Quinn, et al, point out that since 2009, the cost of living has gone up significantly. They report high percentage increases for everyday necessities, such as the twenty percent increase in groceries and the twenty-five percent increase in a gallon of gas. These

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It’ll especially help college students significantly with tuition money, textbooks, school supplies, food, and car expenses. It’s ridiculous how our minimum wage in Pennsylvania isn’t the same with California’s wage (which is $10.00). It is truly unfair, and I feel as though this is something that I believe in for the residents in

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878 Words | 4 Pages

The increasing of the minimum wage is crucial to raise living level of the poor people, but it has a lot of negative effects on the economy. Los Angeles city is facing this issue when the council of Los Angeles declared the raise of the minimum wage up to $15 an hour by 2020.

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Minimum Wage Laws in America As cost of living continues to rise across the United States, America’s minimum wage remains the same. With a gallon of milk closing around four dollars and federal minimum wage at $7.25, one can understand how the minimum wage can be troublesome for our working class Americans. States such as California, New York, and New Jersey have some of the highest food and rental cost in the country. We must find the right balance and compensate for inflation, otherwise our lower class citizens will keep on struggling to support their families and themselves.

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Many citizens of California would naturally think about prices of products when they hear that the minimum wage will increase. An online article, by PewResearchCenter, says that “..Since it was last raised in 2009, to the current $7.25 per hour, the federal minimum has lost about 8.1% of its purchasing power to inflation”. Even though this was news a few years back, it still shows the effects of having a raise in minimum wage. It shows that 8.1% being purchased have been increased into products. There will be no point in raising the minimum wage if the price of products goes up.

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It has been nearly 14 years since the last increase in the federal minimum wage. To begin with, raising the minimum wage to match inflation and productivity would benefit the economy by increasing consumer activity and stimulating job growth while lowering the federal deficit. A journalist summarizes, “The federal

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Minimum Wage California, as of 2016, has begun to increase their minimum wage to $15.00 per hour, more than double the federal mandated wage, and New York will likely soon follow. The federal government is currently considering raising their minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $10.10 per hour as well. While this may seem favorable at first, raising the minimum wage in America will harm the economy. Federal laws passed to raise the current minimum wage will only increase unemployment, shut down small businesses, prevent people from aspiring to higher education in life, increase the prices of products made by minimum wage workers, and encourage companies to make their products in other countries. An increase in capital may, on the surface, appear

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The lack of change for 15 years for the federal minimum wage is a major issue in today's economy. Despite the fact that some states have taken measures to raise the minimum wage. However, several states remain with the same minimum wage and millions of hardworking Americans are still unable to handle the rising cost of living. The unwillingness to raise the minimum wage to reflect inflation and growing living costs has resulted in significant economic inequality, putting many low-income workers at a disadvantage. The minimum wage should not be raised based solely on hourly reductions; it is to ensure that every worker receives a livable wage.

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633 Words | 3 Pages

The year 2007 marked the creation of the Fair Minimum Wage Act which incrementally raised the minimum wage over the next two years; the first enactment of change in ten years (“Federal Minimum”). The minimum wage is the lowest hourly rate at which most employers may legally pay their workers and it is meant to protect employees from labor exploitation in the United States (Encyclopedia). The current minimum wage is $7.25, a person who works a forty hour work-week earns approximately $15,000 yearly; although some states have a higher minimum wage. The controversy of raising the minimum wage has been in the headlines for the past couple of years; the argument relates to the impact it would have on all pay grades, not just the 2.5 percent of low

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1305 Words | 6 Pages

As of right now, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, which might seem like a decent number. However, back in 1963, the federal minimum wage was about $1.25, but if we take inflation into account (CPI Calculator) then that $1.25 equates to $8.67, which is greater than today’s minimum wage. If we were to raise the minimum wage to $15, it would only be slightly more than the minimum wage in 1963, not taking in the fact that the living standard is higher than that of the past. In other words, the price of goods has gone up, but wages remain stagnant, which breeds poverty because people simply cannot afford basic living necessities and government places many restrictions on who receives Currently, California is the only state that raised its minimum wage to $15 per hour.

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1125 Words | 5 Pages

Now almost 10 years later, the federal minimum wage has stayed the same at $7.25 an hour. Many people believe that this minimum wage is outdated, and needs to be adjusted to fit into the current economy. While the federal minimum wage has not changed, states are able to set their own minimum wage. In 2018, the minimum wage in urban California is $11 while in rural Alabama, it is still $7.25. The increase of minimum wage for many urban areas is to accommodate workers to the higher costs of living.

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959 Words | 4 Pages

A full time worker- 40 hours per week for 52 weeks- earning the minimum wage is guaranteed to live at the poverty level.” (Pacitti). For example, the average rent price for a one bedroom home in the Tri-Cities area is $550.00 a month. If the individual is working a full time position at 40 hours per week and the minimum wage rate of $7.25 an hour, he or she will bring home roughly $1,000 a month after taxes. If

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