Minimum Wage Thesis

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The NALS indicated a very strong relationship between low skilled workers and low wages. These statistics show that achieving a moderate to high level of functional literacy is crucial for an individual to escape low wage jobs. Approximately 65% of workers who took the NALS scored at level 3, the middle category, or higher. Of this 65%, only 3.5% of men and 6.5% of women earn low wages or live with a low income family (Lerman). The individuals who score low on the test will most likely never overcome low wage jobs unless they try to acquire more advanced skill sets. Several different options that are available to help low wage workers. The Center on Wisconsin Strategy in Dane County, Wisconsin has previously been successful. For example, …show more content…

Americans are not wrong in thinking that increasing the minimum wage will increase low-wage working families’ incomes, and some of these families will rise above the national poverty threshold. While increasing the minimum wage might benefit some American families, it will hurt others. Increasing the minimum wage will eliminate many low wage jobs, which would then result in many people jobless and therefore, a substantial drop in those individuals’ household incomes (“The Effects of a Minimum-Wage Increase on Employment and Family Income”). . “Raising the country’s minimum wage could boost the incomes of millions of Americans, but it could also potentially cut total employment by hundreds of thousands of workers” (Kurtzleben). An increase in the minimum wage lowers employment, which makes it harder for these workers with minimal skills to find a job. Congress then explains that low income families will actually not bring in any benefits from an increase of the minimum wage (“Would an Increase in the Federal Minimum Wage Help or Hinder Small Business” 2-3). While increasing the minimum wage might raise the standards of living for some low wage workers and families, if the increase in minimum wage reduces employment rates, there is no certain answer on what …show more content…

If the government could provide more programs for individuals to go through to improve their skill sets to a more advanced level, these people would appeal more to the workforce. Although there are already programs to help these people acquire greater skills, there aren’t enough programs available for the number of people who could use the training. However, the already available programs have proven to be very successful. This could help Americans with the potential to overcome poverty, surpass the low wage jobs that they are currently

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