...According to my research, there are quite a few positive reasons why Congress should increase minimum wage that I personally agree with. Raising the minimum wage could be used as a solution tool for some economic issues. This includes an issue such as reducing the poverty rate by increasing income for minimum wage workers. Understanding that inflation occur once minimum is raised makes sense why after years of not having a minimum wage increase is affective over time. Since when minimum wage had started to be consistent, it has been generally increased to improve the economy from the conditions it was in at the time. Now I understand that just because businesses and government prices continue to increase, does not give Congress an absolute...
Words: 264 - Pages: 2
...There are studies out there that show raising minimum wage will barely, if at all, decrease unemployment but those studies all have common flaws; those studies do not measure the effects long term, and they do not measure if there is a decrease in hiring and labor hours. If minimum wage is nearly doubled, then businesses will need to cut back somewhere and the easiest thing to cut back on is labor hours. Businesses will hire fewer people, expect twice as much out of their current employees, and cut the hours their business is open. If an employer has a tight compensation budget, then when the minimum wage is raised they will have to lay people off to stay within their budget. The Huffington Post states that many CEO’s of large corporations...
Words: 365 - Pages: 2
...Raising Minimum Wage Intermediate Microeconomics In the 2014 State of the Union address, President Obama called on Congress to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour (The White House, n.d.). Many arguments stand both for and against the $2.85 per hour raise, all of which cite the affects it may have on employer costs, household income, and the economy as a whole. The majority of the arguments, however, point toward the major economic benefits that are capable if such a raise occurs. The federal government put into place a minimum wage in 1938. Nominal minimum wage values have increased intermittently ever since, starting at $0.25/hr, growing until it reached its current $7.25/hr. It has increased the most recently in three $0.70 increments, from $5.15 to $5.85 in July 2007, to $6.55 in July 2008, and to $7.25 in July 2009, where it has stayed for the past six years. In more recent years, various cities and states have made their own decisions to raise their minimum wages. For example, in 2015, San Francisco raised its minimum wage to $12.25 per hour, with plans to raise it further, to $15 per hour in 2018. In 2016, California will raise its state-wide minimum wage to $10 per hour, making it the highest state’s minimum wage (Smith, 2015). There are four major arguments against the raise of minimum wage – job loss, less job availability for low-skilled workers, lack of poverty reduction, and higher prices for consumers. In the Southern Economic Journal, experts...
Words: 1341 - Pages: 6
...Recession, seven to eight years ago, about 8.4 million jobs were lost and 14.3% of Americans were living in poverty. Several years later, the government is still trying to get the Economy back on its feet. Democrats say that raising the minimum wage will increase earnings for millions of workers leading to cash flow which will stimulate the economy. Republicans say that although increasing the minimum wage would help many Americans by increasing their earnings, many Americans would also experience job loss. Increasing the minimum wage would help the economy greatly but could also hurt many of the low-income families. Rex Huppke of the Chicago Tribune, brings up a great point stating that raising the minimum wage is not an effective way to address the poverty issue America faces. When raising the minimum wage, not only will the families living in low-income housing be affected, but also young adults with their first jobs and teenagers working after school. This is a concern because these students aren’t the ones who need the help; it is the families with 5 children who...
Words: 713 - Pages: 3
...The Effectiveness of Raising Minimum Wage Since minimum wage has come into existence, raising the wage has become a heated topic for debate. President Obama said it best in his “State of the Union Address” in 2014. He said, “In the wealthiest nation on earth, no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty.” Yes, the current rate of $7.25 an hour averages out to about 14,000 dollars a year, which falls short of the poverty guideline of 17,000 per year. Therefore, I believe that minimum wage should be raised to deliver people out of poverty and restore their dignity, to boost the economy, and to provide for a better education. Minimum wage has been kept to $7.25 per hour for the last 8 years because the federal...
Words: 478 - Pages: 2
...government, we have been living in poverty while the government refuses to take action and raise the minimum wage. Three billion of the world’s population live on less than $2.50 a day (DoSomething.org). That’s enough money to buy only one box of cereal. What comes to mind when you think of a decent lifestyle? Having a family, going to school, food to eat and a place to call home? This isn’t the case for many families and children in our country. Reporters say that 44% of U.S. children live in low-income families (The Washington Post.com). Our country is currently oblivious to the fact that because these families are living in poverty, parents can’t provide decent shelters, education for the children or even food to put on the table....
Words: 324 - Pages: 2
...Minimum wage The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 established the minimum wage, overtime pay, record keeping and child labor standards (Minimum Wage - Wage and Hour Division (WHD). For the purpose of this assignment, the primary focus will be on minimum wage. The minimum wage is a price floor set at a minimum price for labor per hour. The intention for minimum wage is to help alleviate poverty, workers are guaranteed hourly pay, protection of minimum living standards, and employee labor wage equality. Currently, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 and has been in effective since July 24, 2009. Although many states have their own minimum wage laws, which may be above the federal minimum wage, states must comply with both state...
Words: 724 - Pages: 3
...This topic might be one of the biggest topics in our time. Raising the minimum wage, certain people think it's a bad thing but other people think differently stating that minimum wage is good. It helps the government in saving money. Giving hard working workers the money they deserve. Raising the minimum wage helps the government. It means that people will get off food stamps. Saving the government's money, and also that they don't have to be buying people's food. Saves the government about $46 billion over 10 years spending it on Supplementary Nutrition Association Program. It just saves the government by a lot. Raising the minimum is good for families. Raising the minimum means the incomes of 28 million americans would raise, and it benefits...
Words: 291 - Pages: 2
...Minimum wage is one of the number one issues in America. There are debates on whether minimum wage needs a raise or stay the same. The current minimum wage in California is $10.50 per hour. Most people that work under minimum wage work more than 60 hours a week. Those people that work under minimum wage are most likely to live in poverty. People can not earn a living on minimum wage. This is why minimum wage needs to be raised. One reason minimum wage needs a raise is because it leads to a healthier population and less premature deaths. Over the past few years, fast food prices drop while the healthier food prices increase. The author states that in “many poverty-dense regions, people are unable to access affordable healthy food, even when...
Words: 526 - Pages: 3
...Minimum wage has always been a controversial topic ever since the Fair Labor Standards Act took effect back in 1938. The goal Congress was trying to impose with the Fair Labor Law was to keep families out of poverty and to protect non-unionized workers in unskilled jobs. This law has failed us, being that the cost of living (rent, food, gas, taxes, utilities, healthcare, and transportation) continues to rise and the minimum wage stays at a plateau, resulting in parents not being able to provide all the necessities for their families. The United States should increase the minimum wage because the low wages are the cause for deteriorating health in American society; and the current minimum wage has more than 45 million people living below the poverty line. Raising the minimum wage would not only lift families out of poverty, but can also improve health outcome by increasing financial access to resources and opportunities. Americans living on minimum wage are more likely to experience adverse health outcomes, including higher rates of chronic illness and disability and lower life expectancies, because wages affect a person’s ability to access healthy foods. Low-wage workers are less likely to get decent health care because they cannot afford it. Low wages can cause stress because they may not know how they will pay rent...
Words: 682 - Pages: 3
...Minimum wage in California is predicted to increase up to $15.00 an hour by the year 2023. Most people fighting for an increase in minimum wage are restaurant workers, especially in the fast food industry, dissatisfied with the current minimum wage of about $10.00. Economists, on the other hand, oppose raising the minimum wage for numerous reasons, such as an increase in unemployment, the effects it has on minors, the effects of the free market, and the “-ism”’s that increase. The largest and most often point argued by economists that oppose raising minimum wage is that it increases unemployment. Statistics show that “...in 2013, a $1 increase in the minimum wage was associated with a 1.48 percentage point increase in the unemployment rate…”...
Words: 919 - Pages: 4
...government should raise minimum wage. Raising minimum wage will help the economy and help people buy what they need to live a comfortable life. Raising minimum wage would be very beneficial to our economy. Raising the wage would not only help people by putting more money in their pockets but those people would also buy more goods which would put money back into our economy. Let’s face it, the cost of living has gone up significantly in the last decade or so. People need more money in order to live a comfortable life. People need money to be able to afford vital things such as food, transportation, education, healthcare, life insurance, etc. “Even if one can work full-time, after state and federal taxes and Social Security and Medicare deductions, one is lucky to retain $225 a week or $12,000 a year, which is precisely the threshold of poverty for a single person (Komlos, “Column: Why”).” If...
Words: 638 - Pages: 3
...aising the minimum wage is a bad idea because it would raise the price of things and would get people fired from minimum wage jobs, since the the owners would have to get more customers and if they don't then they would have to let people go or go out of business. My mom works in a restaurant in Long Beach. She's a cook. They already have about seven people working all together in the small restaurant. Even a sixteen year old is working in the restaurant, that can get up to 80 degrees in the summer time. My mom's restaurant once raised up the prices to see if they would get more money out of it. They did not. My mom said they had to fire someone because not enough money was coming in. When they Lowered the prices everything went back...
Words: 592 - Pages: 3
...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...
Words: 790 - Pages: 4
...Whether to raise or to keep the minimum wage where it is? Is an issue that affects millions of people; According to the two articles, the first one “Let’s make the minimum wage a living wage” the author Mr. Knight’s is in favor of raising the minimum wage, while the second one “Keep the minimum wage where it is“ Ms. Steel’s is against. Although, Ms. Steele’s article disagrees with raising the minimum wage, Mr. Knight’s provides more evidence that is better supported. To begin, Mr. Knight’s article includes multiple specific studies. For example, he used a study that stated, “A 2011 study from the CFRB showed that increasing the minimum wage lead to higher consumer spending, especially on car purchase. The study also showed that every dollar...
Words: 381 - Pages: 2
