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Effects of raising the minimum wage
Positive effects of increasing the minimum wage
Positive effects of increasing the minimum wage
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The minimum wage in America is currently set at $7.25. The Fair Labor Standards ACt of 1938 proposes raising it to $9.50, than a year later to $10.50. Although to many this may sound like a great idea; a little more money in your pocket, it will actually do more harm than good to those who fight to achieve it. If the minimum wage is increased, it will cause the price of products to also increased; due to the fact that the price of production and labor will be much more expensive. Another result of minimum wage increase would be the loss of jobs; especially in entry-level positions. The “minimum wage raise will do most harm to those at the bottom of the skills pool”, because it will be too expensive for employers to hire those without decent
Poverty continues to grow in America. The average minimum wage in the United States is $7.35 an hour- far too low in today’s society. Key expenses, for example, gas and housing prices, have gone up significantly since the minimum wage was last changed in 2007 (Wagner 52). The laws creating the minimum wage were intended to improve the standard of living and decrease poverty. Raising minimum wage is a vital step in decreasing poverty and giving every family the opportunity to survive and succeed. Millions of hard-working Americans are below the poverty line and need an increase in pay. Minimum wage must be raised because it will diminish poverty and assist the working class to support their families.
Many people against raising the minimum wage create arguments such as, “it will cause inflation”, or, “ it will result in job loss.” Not only are these arguments terribly untrue, they also cause a sense of panic towards the majority working-class. Since 1938, the federal minimum wage has been increased 22 times. For more than 75 years, real GDP per capita has consistently increased, even when the wage has been
Living in a nice home, a good neighborhood, and having nice cars is what most people think of as part of the American Dream. How are you supposed to get there though? Unless you're going to win the lottery you’re going to have to work in some form. Achieving the American Dream while earning minimum wage may take a person longer but it is still attainable. Through higher education or hard work individuals can achieve a higher standard of living.
A federal minimum wage was first set in 1938. The first minimum wage was just 25 cents an hour in 1938. Can you imagine surviving off of 25 cents an hour? Now just over 70 years later the federal minimum wage is now 7.25. The question at hand is the federal minimum wage enough to meet the minimum requirement for a good, happy and healthy life? Some states and cities say no. While a select few states and cities have mirrored the federal minimum wage of 7.25, some states have placed their state or city/county minimum wage marginally higher than the federal minimum wage. So why would some states prefer to have a higher level than required by the federal minimum wage when some state have decided to match or even go below the federal minimum wage level. The answer to this question lies within each state city and county and how they perceive the cost of living in the presiding area. Minimum wage needs a makeover in America despite some of the negative effects that may come along with it. This paper will explore the reasons behind federal and state minimum wages and why some of them differ among states counties and cities across America.
On April 4, 2016, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill that would significantly raise the minimum wage for California workers. By 2022, California 's workers will receive a minimum wage of $15 per hour (Kurzweil, Anthony, Sara Welch, and Kareen Wynter). Brown signed this bill because employees cannot live above the poverty line if their minimum wage is not proportional to the cost of living (Scheiber, Noam, and Ian Lovett). The purpose of the minimum wage is to ensure that workers can provide essential amenities for themselves and their families. Many economists have been in a debate about this topic with mixed feelings, whether increasing the minimum wage would be a reasonable legislation or not. For most average American workers, at first, the idea of raising their salaries might make them feel thrilled and optimistic. However, increasing the minimum wage will have its pros and cons effect on the economy. Despite numerous of arguments from both sides, a compromise can be met regarding minimum wage.
Currently, in the United States, the federal minimum wage has been $7.25 for the past six years; however, in 1938 when it first became a law, it was only $0.25. In the United States the federal minimum wage has been raised 22 times since 1938 by a significant amount due to changes in the economy. Minimum wage was created to help America in poverty and consumer power purchasing, but studies have shown that minimum wage increases do not reduce poverty. By increasing the minimum wage, it “will lift some families out of poverty, while other low-skilled workers may lose their jobs, which reduces their income and drops their families into poverty” (Wilson 4). When increasing minimum wage low-skilled, workers living in poor families,
The United States is home to nearly 317 million people to this date, with nearly 50 percent of them working on minimum wage jobs. That’s a lot of people working long hours every day for jobs that do not or barely pay them enough to feed themselves and their families. However, the rise of minimum wage would make plenty of jobs. The current unemployment rate in the U.S is 6.7 percent; the lowest it has been since president Obama took office. Most of this 6.7 percent is made up of teenagers and the middle aged who are looking for a second job to support their families. This is a demographic that would not settle for 7.50 an hour, even for part-time jobs, and the small pay discourages other groups of new workers to stay away from those jobs. Some of thes...
The hard workers of the great state of California deserve a livable wage, but they won’t be receiving their living wage until 2016. Governor brown signed into law bill AB10 which will raise the minimum wage in California to $9.00 per hour beginning July 1, 2014, and then to $10.00 per hour beginning January 1,2016. The minimum-wage was adopted in California as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 during the Great Depression. Ever since then the minimum-wage has slowly been growing. According to The California department of industrial relations the California minimum wage has been steadily increasing since 1918. It has gone from .21 cents to 10 dollars an hour. Increasing the minimum-wage does many things; it stimulates the economy, allows people to live in better conditions, and helps level out the problem of income inequality. The minimum wage also helps in indirect ways. The raising of minimum wage achieves a domino effect, it allows for new job growth since people have more wants, it also helps to reduce crime, people that are able to pay their bills with what they have and don’t need to go and steal just to feed their families. It is commonsensical that the minimum wage be a living wage not a subpar amount that causes people to work double the amount just to make ends meet.
Homelessness is often assumed to be the product of either laziness or an inability to work. There is the thought that if the men and women living on the street had jobs they would be able to afford at least basic housing. However, “one out of five homeless Americans do work, either full- or part-time” (Molloy). They are not homeless because they do not work enough, they are homeless because the amount they are paid is not enough to support them. As of July 24, 2009, the minimum wage in America is $7.25 an hour. A study by the National Coalition for the Homeless revealed that “a minimum wage worker would have to work 83 hours per week” to afford the rent of an average priced two-bedroom apartment and still be able to afford food, clothing, healthcare and other necessities (Molloy). It has not always been this way. In 1967 the minimum wage was the equivalent of $10.04 today and “a person working full-time at minimum wage earned enough to raise a family of three above the poverty line” (Molloy). While they would still be lower class, the family would have a roof over their heads and they would not starve. Now, this is not a realistic option; even if the family has two sources of income, the cost of child care often equals or exceeds the income of one of the parents. The current minimum wage creates many hindrances for the poor and the homeless and, unfortunately, a tremendous number of Americans are encompassed in these groups. “More than 28 million people” make less than $9.04 an hour, giving them an annual income “that marks the federal poverty line for a family of four” (Conlin and Bernstein). 28 million people is a quarter of America’s workforce. This means that a quarter of our workers cannot or can just barely afford to suppor...
Minimum wage is the biggest debate that United States has to go through throughout the last century. But recently our leaders are having arguments on weather or not we should raise the minimum wage for hard working people. Oklahoma's Gov. Mary Fallin is having to the answer the question to raise the state's minimum wage higher than it is recently at with $7.25. There are many concerns that owners of businesses have about if the government is going to raise the minimum wage. As of 2014 Gov. Mary Fallin signed into a law a bill that would banned cities within Oklahoma from creating a mandatory minimum wage and employees benefits. The minimum wage issue is a microeconomics issue because it mainly effects a single individual of a household, a group of consumers, and businesses.
Habitat for Humanity strives the bring fair living conditions to people worldwide. Ten million people die worldwide die each year to conditions related to substandard housing, and they are trying to change that statistic. 40 million American families find themselves in a situation where housing consumes more than 30% of their income. They can barely afford to pay for anything else in their life, because their house bill costs so much. Virtually nowhere in the US can a full-time minimum-wage employee afford a one-bedroom apartment, which is extremely unfortunate and means that either the minimum wage is too low, or the rent is too high. Either way, some policy needs to be made so working families have somewhere to live and do not become absolutely
A while ago I was told by my parents that I got a call from (my now boss), Donald Makepeace, asking if I was still interested in a job. We played phone tag for the longest tag, but finally I was hired at the local Dairy Queen. My parents originally said that I was supposed to contribute some money to help pay for insurance, gas ,and ect. After, seeing how much money I brought back week after week, they ignored that request. The truth of the matter is, it’s hard to live on a minimum wage job. In fact, many individuals must have at least two jobs to keep the bills meet. So, President Obama is trying to get Congress to pass an increase in the minimum wage. However, Congress refuses to raise the minimum wage. I agree with Congress, that we should not raise the minimum wage because these jobs are mainly for high school students and more people wouldn’t be able to hire people.
The problem is increasing numbers of workers and their families live in poverty.Which Pathe stated “with a higher wage, and these compensatory measures in place, employment won’t decline, but it will grow more slowly because of decreased sale volume, at least for the first few years the new wage is implemented” (Pathe). A better way of raising the minimum wage without killing jobs is they could cut wages for higher-paid workers. Which would help the low wage workers at the expense of better paid workers. Also companies can raise their prices in response. when increasing the minimum wage with businesses it boost consumer demand, growing our economy and helping communities thrive.Bernstein argues that “It estimates that the increase in the wage would reduce employment by about 500,000, and 8 million low wage workers would be benefited from the change” (Bernstein). which he argues how it would raise earnings and incomes, lower poverty and
As a high school student who has a part time job, I work hard so I’m able to afford clothes, school supplies and other necessities. With my check being around $300 every two weeks, it’s almost impossible to pay for everything I need. Having the minimum wage being set at $7.25, causes many people, including myself, to struggle financially. Majority of these families are living in poverty and need help. A teeming amount of people wants the wage to be increased, but there is an abundant amount of people who object to this idea. A minimum wage increase could be very beneficial to this country but it could destroy our economy also.
On the 1st of April 1999, the National Minimum Wage (NMW) was introduced in the UK at a rate of £3.60 per hour for workers aged 21 and older, and at a rate of £3.00 for workers aged 18-21. Since then, it has grown steadily to reach a rate of £6.31 per hour today. The NMW is “the minimum pay per hour that almost all workers are entitled to by law” (www.gov.uk). In 1999, 1.9 million people were paid less than £3.60, sometimes even below the Living Wage due to the dismantling of unions by the Thatcher government. The idea of a minimum wage then came up, supported by the Labour Party, in order to reduce the increasing poverty and to prevent low wages workers from being exploited by their employers. The Conservative Party, supported by employers, was strongly opposed to this project, arguing that a minimum wage will damage the economy and create poverty due to higher unemployment levels. So, how does the NMW really affect poverty and employment in the UK?