Minimum Wage Poverty

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The argument on whether minimum wage is helping people get out of poverty or hurting people is a controversial subject, and a passionate one at that. There seems to be a pretty strong argument for either side, and that is what we will be talking about today. The strongest statements for it not helping with poverty are that the only workers that benefit from having a higher minimum wage, are the individuals who are the ones who earn that higher wage, and argue that increasing the minimum wage, can and does reduce many people’s job opportunities and working hours (Sherk, 2007, p. 1). Another argument is that not very many minimum-wage earners come from poor homes, and lastly, many Americans who are experiencing poverty, don’t even work, so increasing the minimum wage does not matter for them. The other side of the coin is the “human case” for raising the minimum wage, which goes on to state, that no matter what people do or regardless of their education, people deserve food, adequate …show more content…

“The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA), the U.S. minimum wage was initially set at $0.25 per hour for covered workers. Since then, it has been raised 22 separate times” (UCDavisCenter.org, n.d., p. 1). States have their own minimum wage laws, however, there are five states in total that have no minimum wage, and those are Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and South Carolina (UCDavisCenter.org, n.d.). There are also four states that have lower wage rates, and in those states the federal wage takes over (UCDavisCenter.org, n.d.), and these states are Wyoming, Minnesota, Georgia, and Arkansas. There are 20 states with their wage set at the federal rate and there are 21 states that have their rates at a higher rate than the federal, with Washington state being among them (UCDavisCenter.org,

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