Increasing Minimum Wage

The profound idea of increasing the minimum wage on a federal scale is a commendable cause, however the very concept is flawed. The Federal government employed minimum wage laws for the very purpose of “preventing businesses from hiring workers for hourly wages that fall below a specified level” (Gale Minimum). Yes, this will achieve just that, although it would implement significantly more complications than actual improvements. Rather than improve things for those below the poverty line, increasing the minimum wage would only push them further down. The reason for this is “because of its adverse effects on employment and poor ability to target workers living in households below the poverty threshold” (Edwards Negative). Increasing the

minimum wage can’t guarantee that those below the poverty line would even effectively gain from it. The most likely case would have quite the opposite effect. Instead of helping those that live in poverty, ultimately it would adversely affect their ability to thrive. This is due to both increased prices, and employers laying off employees to pay for the difference in wages. While some workers will see significant increases in their weekly earnings, the trade off is hundreds of thousands of employment opportunities being lost. In retrospect “minimum wage increases both help some families get out of poverty and make it more likely that previously non-poor families may fall into poverty” (Whibey Minimum). Not to mention is it only bad for the individual, but it also has drastic effects on small businesses, While large corporations have large sums of money to fall back on, smaller businesses don’t have that luxury. As a result, many “would either be forced to close due to the financial strain of paying their employees higher wages or be unable to hire more employees and expand” (Gale Corporations). The aftereffects of raising the minimum wage for all would be catastrophic, that much is clear.