...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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...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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...Should the Federal Minimum Wage be Raised? There are two opinions on minimum wage. Proponents say that if the minimum wage was raised it would help while opponents say that it would hurt them by reducing the size of businesses (EBSCOhost). President Obama would like to raise the minimum wage rate to nine dollars. If president Obama were to do that then the amount of jobs for lower skilled workers would lower, that would also mean there would be more unemployment for low skilled workers. There would be no jobs for the lower skilled workers if Obama were to raise the minimum wage rate. That means that there would be more teenagers that would have to file for unemployment. Some of the effects of the minimum wage rate being raised would be that businesses would start raising the cost of their merchandise and we would start needing to pay...
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...No Economist would disagree that when you raise the minimum wage, you kill jobs for the poor. The debate to raise minimum wage has lasted for years. While it is true that the minimum wage has not kept up with inflation, that is unimportant when looking at the grand scheme of how it would affect the economy. Raising the minimum wage would cause catastrophic issues for the United States economy. The federal minimum wage should not be raised because it will hurt small businesses and increase unemployment. Raising the minimum wage will kill small businesses. Small businesses will have to raise all hourly rates, resulting in less money in the owner's pockets and the employees alike. Many employees would be laid off or have hours reduced,...
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...earning the minimum wage. In fact, the current minimum wage does not even lift a family out of poverty”(Corzine). Minimum wage is a strongly debated topic among adults worldwide. Different states have different minimum wages, and many argue that there should be a constant minimum wage throughout the country. Minimum wage should be raised to help the single working families who make minimum wage be able to support themselves as well as limit the poverty gap. But why does minimum wage vary between different states? Why has the minimum wage changed over the years and what has caused these changes? These are the questions that people have been wondering and these are the questions that have caused protest and walkouts to occur in society today....
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...Minimum Wage Minimum wage is one of the biggest controversies in todays world. In the two articles and the video, there are different ideas that are discussed. The first article that is talked over is “The argument against raising the minimum wage,” the second article is “Economists argues about minimum wages,” and the video is “Thirty Days Minimum Wage.” The one that I favor the most is “Thirty Days, Minimum Wage.” After reading the two articles and the video, I believe that minimum wage should be raised. In the first article, “The argument against raising the minimum wage,” the writer discusses why minimum wage should not be raised. For example, he states the consequences that will happen if the minimum wage was to rise; some of these include loss of jobs, an increase in consumer prices, and the likelihood of experienced workers being attracted to lower-paying jobs. If the minimum wage were to rise, many workers who have more advanced jobs might quit because of the benefits of a minimum wage job. Another idea that is brought up is the fact that higher paying and non-entry level jobs would not get paid as much. Although I am for raising the minimum wage, I do think that this suggestion is very unfair. I feel that if you went to college and worked hard for your degree, you deserve to get paid the right amount and not get a pay cut because of someone not going to college. In the second article, “Economists argue about minimum wage,” the author gives numerous thoughts on whether...
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...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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...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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...Raising the Minimum Wage Student Name: Sylvie Makendi Course/Number: com /170 12/14/15 Faculty Name: Angela Grosse With $7.25 a person can maybe buy a whopper meal at burger king and a pack or chewing gum at a local convenience store. For a person working minimum wage to buy that whopper and pack of gum, they must work one hour. That is not enough to live a sustainable life. The meager wage brings forth recent discussion about whether or not the federal minimum wage should be increased. This divisive issue is especially prevalent within the bipartisan American political parties, the majority of Republicans do not want the minimum wage to be raised, and the majority of Democrats want the minimum wage to be raised. However, this issue should not be a political one because raising the minimum wage benefits everyone regardless of their political party of affiliation. There are many reasons to raise a minimum wage. In today’s society, it’s expensive to live in America and even getting day by day is tough. Raising the minimum wage will be beneficial for both workers and employers in the United States. It will put more money in people’s pockets. This money is invested back into their communities and small business which will help uplift the downtrodden economy. The growth of the national economy, the decrease in poverty and reduction in government sponsored social programs shows that the federal minimum wage should be raised to more than $ 7.25. Raising the minimum wage would help...
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...The national average for the minimum wage in the United States is $7.25 per hour. This is the lowest amount that an employer can compensate its workers legally. Basically it is the lowest wage that a worker can sell their labor at. The federal minimum wage should be raised for two reasons, it keeps up with rising living costs, and it boosts the economy. But on the other side the opponents will say it increases poverty and unemployment. The first reason that the federal minimum wage should be increased is because of the rising cost of living. Raising the national living wage will allow workers to better support their families and keep up with the economy. The last time congress raised the national average of pay was seven years ago. Since that time, the cost of living has dramatically shot up. According to an article on USA Today’s website, groceries cost 20% more, a gallon of gas costs 25% more, and average tuition at a community college increased 44%, if...
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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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...Raising the minimums raises the maximums Most of our nation’s low-income jobs and positions are not paying like they used to. Is federal minimum wage at an all-time low? Are we not in the greatest country, where American’s who work harder live more wealthily and have more success? The first federal minimum wage legislation was created in 1938, where law stated that workers earned 25 cents an hour. Since then the federal minimum has been revised and increased twenty-two times. The federal minimum wage was ignored from the year 1981 to 1990, and again until in 2007 where wages were raised to $7.25 per hour. Eight years later, the minimum standard remains the same which is an issue for most American’s considered to be middle class today. Actually, today’s minimum wage is lower than any rate during the years between 1956 and 1985. Nearly a quarter of America’s working adults are laboring for wages that do not support families at the minimally acceptable level (Curry). A person working full-time at the federal minimum wage earns $290 in a week, around $15,080 for the year (Gillibrand). With an annual salary of $3000 less than the nation’s poverty level line, an average family of three will struggle to make ends meet. These low-income families will need government assistance, for basic living needs. At this rate of pay, even an average family who has two working/supporting parents will still have financial burdens. They will be considered a poor family, with house-hold income of...
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...In today’s society, many political leaders debate about whether raising minimum wage would help or harm both our economy and our United States working class earning minimum wage. I feel that our country should not raise its minimum wage, for while it may help those that keep their minimum wage jobs, it would make the laid off and fired workers suffer. Many businesses would not be able to afford paying their current number of employees, meaning that there would be less job opportunities, and unemployment would increase. Also, with fewer job openings earning minimum wage, overqualified individuals would take a majority of the job positions, leaving fewer opportunities for less experienced workers to learn necessary life skills. Raising minimum wage is not a smart move for the federal government to make, because businesses have strict budgets that they must follow. We must remember that just because the minimum wage can be freely altered by the government, does not necessarily mean that businesses will magically have more money in their budgets to distribute to their employees. Instead,...
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...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 also has some strong logical arguments. One of the supporters for a raise in the minimum wage is U.S. Congresswoman from Florida’s 24th District Frederica Wilson who recently wrote an article titled, Raising the Minimum Wage: Good Ethics and Good Economics, which discusses the market failure of low wages. Wilson bases her argument on that a rise in the minimum wage is good ethics and good...
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...The minimum wage is often thought of as a guarantee of fairness in the employment market. As it is erroneously perceived, the minimum wage ensures that every person receives a living wage. However, the minimum wage neither guarantees that an individual be employed in the first place, nor does it guarantee that an employee will be offered enough hours of work in order to garner a so-called “living wage.” A raise in the minimum wage, without a raise in productivity for the given work, will result in companies resorting to drastic measures to secure profits. These measures include cutting down worker hours, implementing rigorous productivity standards, and most importantly, raising the cost of products and services. An increase in the minimum wage will result in an increased difficulty for low-skilled individuals seeking work, as they now have to compensate for an inequity in the value they provide and the wage they are guaranteed. In addition, those already past the threshold of the minimum wage will be forced to endure a rise in the cost of living, despite the fact that they did not receive a raise in their personal wage. Lastly, raising the minimum wage will degrade the idea of the free market, a system which allows prospective employees to exchange their work to an employer for an agreed upon wage, including wages that may not conform to the restraints of the minimum wage. Ultimately, the federal minimum wage should not be raised as it will encourage an increase in the unemployment...
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