...Raising the Minimum Wage Over the years the minimum wage has been a talked about topic. Many people would see it as a great idea because it would help families financially. In reality raising the minimum wage would be more of a struggle rather than a gift. The minimum wage has always been a struggle for people. Many people think that raising the minimum wage will solve all of our problems, when in reality it will not. It would only reduce the human motivation. Raising the minimum wage would also eliminate jobs making the economy struggle more. There would not be enough money circulating through the economy. Raising the minimum wage would reduce human motivation, eliminate jobs, raise taxes, and make the economy go into a hyperinflation. Raising minimum wage will reduce human motivation. In a perfect world where everyone comes from a good home, and lives in society, where people are raised to strive for better. In today’s society we do not have the perfect world. We have children being raised up to where they have to find a job at a young age just to help support their family. Children being raised up in a home like this creates a loss of ambition. Imagine, only being a child getting a job at such a young age. The only thing on your mind is being able to support the family with the money that is coming in. Imagine fighting to get the education back that was lost. Imagine not being able to go to school because there is no more time or money to help out yourself. Then the...
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...reason I believe being that the federal minimum wage is too low. Minimum wage should be $15 in every state. If we want people to experience the freedom and opportunity, it can’t be done off $7.25. People have kids to provide for, colleges to attend, families to support, and so many more things. The luxury to afford to have all the “freedom” or “opportunity” the rich may have isn’t plausible for minimum wage workers. Every morning these people wake up and questions whether they have enough money for food or housing for example. Robert Reich, an American political economist, professor, author, and political commentator, made some good points on this issue. Reich also believes that the minimum wage should be $15 an hour. We both agree with federal minimum wage being hiked to $15 an hour. My reason as to why I agree with him being that Reich gives 7 very valid reasons as to why the raise should occur. The benefit over time would be well worth it. Congress instituted the minimum wage in 1938 as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act (DOL). The first minimum wage that was established was 25 cents an hour (James). The last minimum wage increase occurred in 2009, when Congress raised the rate to $7.25 an hour (AFL). The District of Columbia and 19 states have also established local minimum wages higher than the federal rate (AFL). Over the past 65 years the minimum wage has varied considerably in inflation-adjusted buying power (James). If minimum wage had been adjusted according to inflation...
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...Should minimum wage increase? “The bottom line is that five million low-income Americans working full time for minimum wage, deserve a raise,” says Jim Clyburn. The argument that has continued for years is whether the American federal government should increase the minimum? The two opposing sides on this argument are the Republicans and the Democrats. The Democrats are for minimum wage to increase, unlike the Republicans, who are against it and think of it as a job killer. There are many reasons why the Democrats are for the increase of minimum wage. Currently, there are approximately 3.8 million people who are working at minimum wage or below it. Fewer than one in four minimum wage workers are teenagers and more than half are 25 or older. (Dickinson) If minimum wage were raised to $10.10 it would trim payrolls by less than one-third of one percent, which would help approximately one million Americans out of poverty. It has been proven by the Congressional Budget Office that the raise will not affect the number of jobs as much as people think, and the increase will accomplish more than just harmful situations. There should have been a consistent raise in minimum wage from 1968 to now, but there has not been. The federal government minimum wage should be close to $20 an hour. Tax money could potentially fund less food stamps, welfare, and other financial support for this to occur. A family of four trying to be successful and build their family is living on the earnings of being...
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...Why this Salary Raise is a Bad Thing Introduction: Economics has been based on multiple theories throughout history, and one of the most popular has been the free market or laissez- faire theories. This theory is based on letting the economy grow on its own without government intervention. The laissez-faire theory is logical for several reasons including, supply and demand and competition. Traditionally, consumers will only pay the amount of value they perceive the product is worth. In the same vein, an employee will only work for a wage that he deems appropriate. If the employer lowers the wage, fewer workers will desire the job. These are a few of the reasons why the free market principle has many benefits. However, in a free market there can also be market failures. Market failures can arise from a multitude of situations such as pollution, or extreme low wages in areas of poverty. In a free market, a company could cause massive amounts of pollution and not have to bear the market cost of that pollution. The society as a whole, including people who do not benefit from the cheaper product, are the ones dealing with the polluted environment. Currently our government has been discussing a raise in the minimum wage. President Barack Obama is pushing for this bill and has many supporters. A rise in the minimum wage will be a major business issue for the next year and presidential election. Pros: Raising the minimum wage some enticing benefits to the American people and...
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...The minimum wage should be raised for a few reasons. It would improve the economic and it would help the economy recover. One problem with raising the minimum wage would be the risk of inflation. The minimum wage currently is $7.25 which is not high at all and they should raise it to a least $8.50 an hour. The first reason why they should raise the minimum wage is to improve the economic. It may seem like a random fact but confidence in the economy has an effect that: (www.tharawat-magazine.com) Stimulates spending Lowers interest rates making it easier for people to access loans and credit. Boost performance and returns in the financial market Encourages investment Improving the economic would also help us avoid the dreaded deflationary trap that has brought the japanese economy to there knees. The second reason the minimum wage should be raised is it will help the economy recover. A big part of having the economy recover or stay strong is raising people's purchasing power. If the minimum wage increased it would increase the disposal income of 28 million people which would make businesses do better....
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...Structures Should minimum wage be raised to $15/Hour? The city of Seattle, Washington has raised their minimum wage this year to $15/Hour leading to a long-overdue movement toward a living wage. Many retail and fast food workers are demanding that their state follow in Seattle’s lead by raising the minimum wage to $15/Hour but many conflicts have risen due to those demands. In my personal opinion minimum wage shouldn’t be raised. Across America, the ranks of the working poor are growing. While low-paying industries such as retail and food preparation accounted for 22 percent of the jobs lost in the Great Recession, they've generated 44 percent of the jobs added since then, according to a report from the National Employment Law Project. Last February, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that raising the national minimum wage would lift many people out of poverty. Lifting the minimum wage would provide some benefits for many low-income families. The starting minimum wage in California is $9/Hour for general retail and fast food workers. General retail and fast food jobs are meant for high school and college students to get them work experience and also to teach them responsibility. Retail and fast food jobs aren’t meant to make a career out of them but are meant to be a temporary job for students. In conclusion, people shouldn’t try to make a career out of retail or fast food jobs because they weren’t design for that purpose. The workers that demand minimum wage to be raised...
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...Haigler 10.6.14 BCOM 275 The minimum wage debate is one that has been going on since we started using the term “minimum wage”. For years people have argued what amount of money is enough to truly survive on without being below the poverty line. Chances are we have all worked for minimum wage at one point or another in our life and as we grew older and had more experience we most likely went on to jobs that paid us more and used our skills more efficiently. Minimum wage is different in many states based on the states living costs such as food, rent and more. The biggest debate right now is should we raise the minimum wage to $15. Many minimum wage workers do not believe they have enough money to get by, support a family or have any fun. Although inflation is something we must deal with I do not believe we should raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. That is just not something that should be done anytime soon! Even our military makes less than that and they are putting their lives on the line every day for our freedom and these countries citizens. I’m all for raising the minimum wage gradually and keeping up with some of the costs but $15 for an entry-level position seems a little crazy. Robert Reich a Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley is an advocate for the wage increase and believes that in order for these employees to survive that they’d need that amount of money. I believe that with such a high wage increase, corporations would begin...
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...Minimum wage people make too much money without working for it. Low minimum pay in society is critical because the littlest wage creates a standard of living. The problem America faces today is that everyone is pushing for a higher minimum wage and means everyone will have a better standard of living. These people don’t realize is, what about the effects if they raised the lowest pay. The government will decide to change the minimum wage if it's what the massive of America wants and we must educate them on why the Government shouldn’t raise minimum wage. Why does the government get control on deciding what people get paid? An increased minimum wage will only negatively impact the economy by causing job loss for low skill workers, price increase on goods and services, and still would not be enough for a comfortable living. Whenever people complain about minimum wages, they don’t realize the jobs they have are meant for high schoolers, not careers....
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...ENG 111 10 March 2014 The Reasons Why Federal Minimum Wage Is Raised U.S. President Barack Obama signed an executive order on February 12, 2014 to raise the minimum wage for federal contract workers to $10.10 an hour starting next year and encouraged employers nationwide to increase wages for their workers. The president also announced during his State of the Union address last month that he intended to take executive action to raise wages for federal contract workers (Mason). Order to understand this issue, we are going to understand what the Federal Minimum Wage is and when started it in the U.S.A. According to the United States Department of Labor (USDL), early in the administration of the Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA), it started to be apparent that the use of the legal minimum wage was prone to producing undesirable efforts upon the financial systems of Puerto Rico and also the Virgin Island if put on all their covered industries. As a result, on June 26, 1940, an amendment was passed prescribing the establishment of special industry committees to find out, and problem through wage orders, the minimum, wage levels relevant in Puerto Rico and also the Virgin islands. The rates established by industry committees might be under the legal rates relevant elsewhere within the United States. In 1949, the minimum wage was elevated from 40 cents an hour or so to 75 cent an hour so for those employees and minimum wage coverage was extended to incorporate employees in mid-air...
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...According to Webster's Dictionary The definition of minimum wage is “the lowest wage paid or permitted to be paid” (“Minimum Wage”). The big question is, should minimum wage be raised? Over the years there have been many protests in Wisconsin because of people thinking that they deserve a higher pay rate. I strongly disagree with this controversial topic of raising minimum wage because it will cause more job layoffs and cut benefits, small businesses can’t afford it, and it will reduce the worker's motivation to get a higher education. $0.25 an hour was the first federal minimum wage in the 1930’s (“Why We Should Not Raise the Minimum Wage”). Although the minimum wage has raised to $7.25 per hour since then, many people still believe it is still not high enough....
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... Think back to your first job...what was your pay starting out? Entry levels jobs in the past certainly did not earn higher wages like those being fought for today. Fast food workers are raging for an increase in minimum wage-to perform jobs that don’t require a high school diploma, or college education...little to no academic requirements are needed to work at a fast food restaurant. Minimum wage in North Carolina is currently $7.25, whereas fast food workers would like to raise minimum wage to $15.00. A person with minimum skills should not receive higher than current minimum wage. Fight for $15 is a Workers Organizing Committee, a union of fast food workers raging ands striking for higher pay. This organization was founded in November of 2012. These workers believe that they are forced to live in poverty, because they earn a wage of $7.25. “We work for corporations that are making tremendous profits, but do not pay employees enough to support our families and cover basic needs.” (Fight for $15) These jobs are not meant to be careers for adults with families. These jobs are meant for teenagers that live at home and are in high school or college. Clearly, no one can raise a family off of $15,080 annual income, before taxes, if they worked 40 hours a week. But, a high school or college student can. One of the strikers says, “Low wage jobs are the fastest growing jobs in the nation, and they need to pay more.” (Fight for $15) They claim that they are ‘re-building...
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...have enough money. He had to tell his son why he couldn’t afford the item. John took his son by the hand, put the item back onto the shelf, and walked out of the store feeling sorry. He knew that his son wouldn’t get over the fact that his dad couldn’t afford it. Do you think that John should live on the minimum wage? Is it ok for people like John to live off of minimum wage and use that money to provide care for their families? First of all, the current minimum wage is not enough to cover daily needs for the average person. As a result, nearly half of the U.S population is in poverty. The minimum wage has lowered from 1968 by a third. In addition, businesses even suffer from the wage being raised. The big companies have to cut workers and for the reason have less production being...
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...Minimum wage has been a problem in many states simply because people believe that their pay isn’t enough and should be raised to support themselves and others. But why should minimum wage be raised? I believe otherwise because the US raising minimum wage can cause problems for us, don’t you think? I believe minimum wage shouldn’t be raised. I believe that raising minimum wage can destroy businesses. The government raising minimum wage can destroy those small companies that already cannot afford to pay their employees more than the minimum wage. No company would want to lose their business because they are trying to pay employees more when they know they can’t afford it. If a person really thinks about it they will be able to see that if businesses did start to pay more than the minimum wage many people can lose their jobs. In the article, For the first time, majority of states have minimum wage above federal level, Charlene Conway a co-owner of the Carousel Family Fun Center will have to lay off staff members to be able to pay more money to the employee’s “ She might have to layoff several members of her 40 person staff and totally eliminate the younger workforce”...
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...Fast Food Workers’ Strike Raul Valdez’s section On Thursday September 4th 2014, thousands of fast food restaurant workers walked out of their post and joined a street protest demanding a wage of $15 per hour. Fast food workers in more than 100 cities in the US joined the protest hoping to disturb the fast food chains enough to get their executives’ attention. This protest was part of the movement that was organized by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). A previous strike was organized on May this year and it took place not only in the US but in at least 33 countries like The UK, Philippines, India, Japan, and Belgium among others. The protests were supposed to be peaceful, but there were some instances of protesters blocking streets. The police had to intervene and at least 430 people were arrested. Kendall Fells, the organizer director of Fast Food Forward organization that helped organize the protest said “There has to be civil disobedience because workers don’t see any other way to get $15 an hour and a union” Protesters were hoping that their absence from work would make these fast food restaurants lose revenue and create chaos forcing executives in these establishments to accept the protesters’ demands. A similar strike took place when the Market Basket workers abandoned their posts when the Market Basket Board of Directors decided to replace their CEO. Although the fast food protest was highly organized and the majority of workers joined, some workers...
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...Rhetorical Strategies: Minimum Wage Whether an opinion piece is effective depends on the expertise of rhetorical strategy of an author. This can either make a written piece convincing or unconvincing to the target audience. A clear example of how rhetorical strategies make a piece more convincing is the comparison of David Laska’s, “Minimum Need for a Minimum Wage Increase”, and Shamus Khan’s, “The Promise of More: Why We Should Raise the Minimum Wage”. By using rhetorical analysis on both opinion pieces Laska clearly makes a better argument. He makes use of logos by including statistics, an expert’s research in the field of minimum wage, and historical data to attack Obama’s decision to raising the minimum wage. He includes pathos to create a sense of disappointment and hopelessness in Obama’s decision effectively to convince his mainly conservative audience. In comparison, Khan also makes use of logos by mainly focusing on historical and some statistical data to convince his more liberal target audience. He also makes use of pathos to instill a sense of remorse for minimum wage workers, and also to call the readers to action. His evidence seems a little weak though, because in one case he forces the reader to open a link for another article for evidence and it seems that his claim relies too much on pathos. First, it is important to note how the author’s ethos affects the basic effectiveness of the article since credibility of writers is vital to convince the target audience...
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