Minimum Wage Poverty

632 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Positive effects of minimum wage

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,

Show More
Related

  • Cost-Benefit Analysis: Minimum Wage

    323 Words  | 1 Pages

    When the question is asked "Who benefits and who loses when it comes to the minimum wage" there are really 2 ways to look at it, the short term effects and the long term effects . While the minimum wage laws usually aim to prevent poverty among lower income earners sometimes it create it rather than help prevent it.

    Read More

  • The Economic Impact of Raising the Minimum Wage

    1480 Words  | 3 Pages

    The United States minimum wage is not indexed to inflation. Due to this fact, the purchasing power of minimum wage falls as the price of consumer goods increases. The current hourly minimum wage is set at $7.25, however many states do pay above this rate. One example of this is in Michigan, the current hourly minimum wage is $7.40. The last time a change occurred to raise minimum wage was in 2009. President Obama has put out a proposal that is designed to raise the federally required hourly minimum wage to $10.10 in 2015. The public opinion of this proposal is all over the board ranging from a positive outlook to a negative one. Some of the negative remarks are that it would dampen the economy and shrink the hiring done by small businesses. “The Household Survival Budget for the average New Jersey family of four is $58,500 and for a single adult is $25,368 in 2010. These numbers highl...

    Read More

  • Raising Minimum Wage Essay

    982 Words  | 2 Pages

    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”

    Read More

  • How Does the Minimum Wage Affect Poverty?

    1180 Words  | 3 Pages

    Understanding how the minimum wage level functions to affect poverty in a given society is crucial for informing policy in a number of important areas. Indeed, examining the link between poverty and the minimum wage is necessary for policy-makers working to establish sound economic policy as well as labour and social advocacy groups seeking to ensure the minimum wage is at a level sufficient to ensure workers can meet their most basic and fundamental needs. Readers should be concerned with the link between the minimum wage and levels of poverty because poverty is a particularly significant and impactful social issue. High rates of poverty can both negatively impact the economy, as well as contribute to a host of negative social issues. At the same time, there may be questions regarding the impacts to poverty associated with the minimum wage. Research which better clarifies this link is particularly important. For these reasons, investigating the link between the minimum wage and poverty is essential. This essay will provide a summary of two academic journal articles investigating the link between poverty and the minimum wage. Each summary will discuss the particular focus of researchers, the contribution of the study, the methodology employed by researchers, as well as their findings and conclusions. Finally, the essay will conclude with a brief commentary regarding the relevance of these articles to the larger topic, as well as their effectiveness in promoting learning.

    Read More

  • Minimum Wage: Impact on American Poverty

    1282 Words  | 3 Pages

    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,

    Read More

  • The Minimum Wage Must Be Raised

    2107 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Benefits Of Raising The Minimum Wage

    698 Words  | 2 Pages

    Minimum wage is a difficult number to decide on because it affects different income earning citizens in different ways. According to Principles of Microeconomics, by N. Gregory Mankiw, minimum wage is a law that establishes the lowest price for labor that and employer may pay (Mankiw 6-1b). Currently, the minimum wage in the United States is $7.25 per hour. For many years politicians and citizens have argued on what should be the minimum wage that would benefit the economy and society in general. A minimum wage was first established in 1938 to increase the standard of living of lower class workers. To discuss what is better for the country and its citizens, people have to understand what is a minimum wage and what are its effects.

    Read More

  • Minimum Wage

    747 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Raising the Minimum Wage, A Speech Outline

    1469 Words  | 3 Pages

    Transition: Last year the federal minimum wage celebrated its 75th birthday last week as part of the federal 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act. The Act banned child labor, set a 44 hour maximum workweek, and guaranteed a minimum wage of 25 cents an hour. (Hitzik) Since then Congress has raised the rate 23 times. (USDOL)

    Read More

  • Should Minimum Wage Be Increased

    1403 Words  | 3 Pages

    Minimum wage has been around for ages. Minimum wage employment was a temporary condition for people earning little payment until they moved on to a better paying job. These jobs helped build résumés, experiences, and skills for a better career. It has become the easiest way for people to receive easy pay. As years went on that idea began to demolish into a job that many families can get to survive and pay for their expenses. There have been many arguments going on, "Should minimum wage be raised or should it be lowered or eliminated altogether?" This action has its pros and cons. It can benefit many families as living cost has gone up, price for education is rising, and college students are in huge debts. It may increase poverty, but those

    Read More

  • History of Minimum Wage

    1128 Words  | 3 Pages

    Congress created minimum wage with the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. The first minimum wage was only 25 centers per hour. Through history the minimum wage has increased a little at a time, umping a couple cents each time. The last time the United States changed the minimum wage was in 2007 which was a large jump from $5.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour. This jump of $2.10 was a large increase. Through the years it is evident that the minimum wage is constantly changing. “. It has averaged $6.60 an hour in purchasing power in 2013 dollars. But it has ranged from a low of $3.09 an hour in late 1948 to a high of $8.67 an hour in 1968(Sherk, J. (2013, June 25).

    Read More

  • The Politics of Minimum Wage

    5061 Words  | 11 Pages

    The federally mandated minimum wage has been a divisive political issue in American politics since it first came into effect in 1938 under the Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt. FDR advocated for the minimum wage with the argument that “all but the hopelessly reactionary will agree that to conserve our primary resources of manpower, government must have some control over maximum hours, minimum wages, the evil of child labor, and the exploitation of unorganized labor” (Greene 2013). This idea led to the passage of the first minimum wage law in American history, twenty five cents an hour (Greene 2013). Prior to the passage of this law, several state minimum wage laws had been struck down as an unconstitutional prohibition of workers’ rights to set the price for their own labor. However, in 1941, the Supreme Court case U.S v Darby Lumber Co upheld the federal minimum wage, overturning the precedent it had set for state level minimum wages. The Court dismissed the argument that Darby Lumber did not engage in interstate commerce based on the commerce clause and stated that Congress had the constitutional right to regulate interstate commerce, along with intrastate commerce that directly affected interstate commerce (U.S v Darby Lumber Co.1941). Justice Stone, writing for the majority stated that Congress

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On The Increase Of Minimum Wage

    1448 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Minimum Wage Should Be Increased

    1846 Words  | 4 Pages

    Today the federal minimum wage is $5.15, but should be about $8.50 if Congress had adjusted it for inflation over the past 35 years. While $5.15 may not seen that bad, when factoring in such variables as sky rocketing gas prices, budgets can get pretty tight. David Shepard, a sophomore at Wayne State University, worked at a Meijer Retail and Grocery Superstore for over two years while in high school. At the time Shepard lived with his parents and didn’t have to worry about paying rent or buying groceries, all that he had to pay for was filling up his gas tank and paying for his car insurance. Shepard recalled, “It was all I could do to pay for the basics like gas and bill’s, I barely had any money to have fun on the weekends”. This is only an example of a high school student that can nearly slip by on minimum wage with only a few expenses. There are 1.8 million people in America with children under the age of 18 that would benefit from an increase in minimum wage (Minimum).

    Read More

  • Minimum Wage Argumentative Essay

    1423 Words  | 3 Pages

    However, there are those who see it completely the opposite way. Stating that by raising the minimum wage the economy would be better. More people would be able to support themselves; therefore lowering the percentage of poor people and raising the middle-class numbers. It is also argued that this change would not increase the number of unemployment, instead it could potentially raise employment by creating more jobs. Holly Sklar states in her research article, “Research by Fiscal Policy Institute and others showed that states that raised their minimum wages above the federal level experienced better employment and small business trends than states that did not.”

    Read More

More about Minimum Wage Poverty

Open Document