Unemployment is an issue that national leaders try to deal with every day. Many job-creating strategies have been put forth over the years, and, in recent times, a popular strategy is to raise the Federal minimum wage. However, increasing the minimum wage could have an unforeseen effect on America’s job market that if unchecked could spiral out of control. At first glance, raising the federal minimum wage seems like a good idea. In a perfect world, giving everybody more money would be wonderful. Unfortunately, this is not a perfect world, and money doesn’t grow on trees, says a Yahoo! Finance editorial by Robert Weinstein. “What proponents actually need is Santa to be real. The only problem is that Santa isn’t true, and there’s no such thing as a free lunch. I think if we can work around the lack of Santa and free lunches, the minimum wage plan may have merits.” (Weinstein) Without Santa to make up the difference, employers just can’t afford to pay every worker an increased minimum wage. Instead, they simply lay off some of their employees so the store can maintain a steady balance of income against expenses. Indeed, increased wage law would only hurt the unskilled and impoverished; the very people it attempts to protect. While having a higher income would be beneficial to some, “those who lose their job because they’re now more expensive to employ are most certainly worse off.” (Saltsman) And those who do keep their jobs aren’t always the ones struggling to make ends meet; “the average household income of workers earning the Federal minimum wage is $62,507 [per year].” (Sickler 25) That’s because most minimum-wage-earners are not the primary source of income for their families but, rather, young people with little to no experienc... ... middle of paper ... ...and demand, the decaying economy of the United States will stop festering and even begin to heal. Certainly, the drawbacks of a minimum wage plan are far more severe than first imagined. It would not create jobs but destroy them, as well as the lives of thousands of Americans currently living in poverty. Consequently, such a decision as rash as raising the minimum wage is out of the question when the topic of unemployment arises. Works Cited Weinstein, Robert. "Lower The Minimum Wage: Opinion." Yahoo Finance. Yahoo! Inc., 13 Apr. 2013. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. Saltsman, Michael. "Raising Minimum Wage Won't Lower Poverty." CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. Sickler, Melvin. "Should Congress Increase The Federal Minimum Wage And Index It To Inflation? (Cover Story)." Congressional Digest 92.5 (2013): 19. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 22 Nov. 2013
Well, raising the minimum wage has both the pros and cons. Still, the fact that increasing the minimum wage nationwide would increase millions of workers’ earnings is deniable. I suppose that’s why some people advocate raising the minimum wage will grow the economy for everyone. In 2014, the president of the United States, Obama, called on the current Congress to raise the national minimum wage, which proves that Obama actually supports raising the minimum wage. ‘February 2014 Congressional Budget Office Report The Effects of a Minimum-Wage Increase on Employment and Family Income is the latest attempt to do so, in this response to Members of Congress with respect to an increase in the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour.’
Minimum wage is a topic that has been popping up since the 1980s. From whether we should lower it, or even raise it, but now in the 2000s minimum wage has been the center of attention more than ever. There are two sides to this topic of minimum wage; whether it creates more jobs or does not create jobs. Those who argue that raising minimum wage will create more jobs will have a rebuttal which is that it does not only cause the loss of jobs but that it would make things much worse and vice versa for those arguing raising minimum wage will cause loss of jobs. There will be two authors representing opposite views, Nicholas Johnson supporting minimum wage will not cost jobs with his article “ Evidence Shows Raising Minimum Wage Hasn’t Cost Jobs”
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
In an editorial written by Warren Buffett for the Wall Street Journal, according to S. Kumar in his article “America’s Workers Have Bigger Problems than the Minimum Wage” for Fortune Magazine, the problems that American workers face are far more than just attaining a livable wage. The three biggest problems that Americans face include the growing power of corporations, competition against technologies, and the growing income inequality that requires specialized skills where low-wage workers may not have education or capabilities to adapt. However, the minimum wage is still a serious problem, according to Roger Lowenstein. Lowenstein writes that the minimum wage does not provide a livable wage, which is a real problem when families are trying to survive on income that is too low even for an
Gitterman, Daniel P. “Remaking A Bargain: The Political Logic Of The Minimum Wage In The United States.” Poverty And Public Policy 5.1 (2013): 3-36. EconLit. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.
The minimum wage today has a lot of issues; some people say it is not enough to live comfortably. Many agree that there needs to be an increase in minimum wages and by doing that it can help with our issues of poverty. Statistics show that a worker who is full time and earning minimum wage makes only $15,080 a year, which is under the federal poverty line for a family of two. (Gitis, 2013) The problem with that is $15,080 is not a sufficient amount that a person can live and grow on. “A family of two can consist of a mother and son or daughter, father and son or ...
Many opponents of raising the federal minimum wage argue that it would cause jobs to be lost. Studies show, they have a point. Raising the 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,
Wittner, Lawrence. "The Minimum Wage Should Be Raised." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 10 Nov. 2013. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.
Armstrong, Ari “Minimum Wage Laws: Economically Harmful Because Immoral,” The Objective Standard. 7 March 2013.
On the other side of the argument Americans believe that with the increase of minimum wages it would help Americans out a lot more. One possible way that the increase in minimum wage may help an individual out is in the article Minimum wage Pros and Cons, “The Economic Policy Institute stated that a minimum wage increase from the current rate of $7.25 an hour to $10.10 would inject $22.1 billion net into the economy and create about 85,000 new jobs over a three-year phase-in period. Though this may be true, one problem
Sklar, Holly. "Raising the Minimum Wage Will Help the Poor." Opposing Viewpoints in Context. 2011. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.
Pyke, Alan. "The Minimum Wage: Myths & Facts." Media Matters for America. N.p., 15 Feb. 2013. Web. 18 May 2014.
Bernstein, Jared. “Would Raising the Minimum Wage Harm the Economy?” The CQ Researcher 16 Dec. 2005:1069.
Shemkus, Sarah. "Increasing the Minimum Wage: Pros & Cons." Salary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2013.