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Positive impact of increasing minimum wage
Positive impact of increasing minimum wage
Positive impact of increasing minimum wage
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Minimum wage is the biggest debate that United States has to go through throughout the last century. But recently our leaders are having arguments on weather or not we should raise the minimum wage for hard working people. Oklahoma's Gov. Mary Fallin is having to the answer the question to raise the state's minimum wage higher than it is recently at with $7.25. There are many concerns that owners of businesses have about if the government is going to raise the minimum wage. As of 2014 Gov. Mary Fallin signed into a law a bill that would banned cities within Oklahoma from creating a mandatory minimum wage and employees benefits. The minimum wage issue is a microeconomics issue because it mainly effects a single individual of a household, a group of consumers, and businesses.
According to United States Department of Labor the State of Oklahoma is under the states with minimum wage rates that same as the federal. Oklahoma has employers of ten or more full time employees at any one location and employers with annual gross sales over $100,000 irrespective of number of full time employees with the basic minimum rate of $7.25 and $2.00 for all other employers (U.S. Department of Labor). When I was younger I used to work at a grocery store stocking up items for future customers to shop for. At that time the minimum wage was $5.85. At the time I was living at home and didn't have to deal with bills. So I was thinking to myself I can make a living with this paycheck because of my living cost wasn't high. But as I work through the months Under the Oklahoma Minimum Wage Act the minimum wage will be raised from $5.85 to $6.55 per hour as of July 24, 2008. Then one year later the minimum wage was raised to $6.55 to $7.25 per hour and that wou...
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...T - Oklahoma Governor Signs Bill Blocking Minimum Wage Increase." JURIST - Oklahoma Governor Signs Bill Blocking Minimum Wage Increase. JURIST Legal News, 16 Apr. 2014. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.
Franklin, Dallas. "'That Is Disappointing,' State Leaders Split over Bill That Bans Cities from Setting Their Own Minimum Wage." KFORcom. KFOR, 16 Apr. 2014. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.
Querry, K. "Study: Minimum Wage Workers Have to Work How Many Hours to Afford Okla. Apartment?" KFORcom. KFOR, 5 Mar. 2014. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.
Ramisch, Claudia. ?Living on Minimum Wage.? ENGL 1302H Class Presentation, Kentucky Wesleyan College, Owensboro, KY. 13 March 2006.
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...
Before other states jump on the $15 minimum-wage bandwagon, they might want to look at what's happening in Massachusetts — one of two states with a $10-an-hour minimum wage. Massachusetts increased the minimum wage from $8 to $9 at the start of 2015 and to $10 on the first day of 2016. The state is now mired in its longest stretch of net job losses since the recession, Labor Department data show. Minimum wage is the assured lowest amount of pay per hour that an employee can receive and it’s purpose is to make certain that employers are paying their workers fairly. The first minimum wage was created by Congress in 1938 as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act; it was twenty-five cents an hour. Since then, it has varied over the years, the highest being in 1968, but today it stands at $7.25 (Sherk). At the moment, Congress is contemplating the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013, which would, over two years, raise the minimum wage to $10.10 (GovTrack). However, raising the minimum wage is a bad idea because a majority of minimum wage jobs belong to teenagers who will not stay in the job very long and do not need to support a family, raising minimum wage will lessen the availability of jobs for the poor, and it is pointless since many of the impoverished that the raising of the minimum wage is targeted to help, will not be able to benefit.
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,
On April 4, 2016, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill that would significantly raise the minimum wage for California workers. By 2022, California 's workers will receive a minimum wage of $15 per hour (Kurzweil, Anthony, Sara Welch, and Kareen Wynter). Brown signed this bill because employees cannot live above the poverty line if their minimum wage is not proportional to the cost of living (Scheiber, Noam, and Ian Lovett). The purpose of the minimum wage is to ensure that workers can provide essential amenities for themselves and their families. Many economists have been in a debate about this topic with mixed feelings, whether increasing the minimum wage would be a reasonable legislation or not. For most average American workers, at first, the idea of raising their salaries might make them feel thrilled and optimistic. However, increasing the minimum wage will have its pros and cons effect on the economy. Despite numerous of arguments from both sides, a compromise can be met regarding minimum wage.
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.
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.
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 ...
These states maintain minimum wage levels that are lower than the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour. (Paul Ausick, 24/7 Wall St May 9, 2014) They are not meeting the federal guidelines in America. I would alter it so that all states met the minimum, even the states without a sate minimum, like Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina. They need to have a minimum wage that aligns with the cost of living in that state. We need only follow the example of states with higher minimum wages. America is one of the richest countries in the world, but there are poorer countries with better wages for workers. The jobs in America with chronically low wages are fast food cooks, cashiers, hostesses, and home care aides. With part-time hourly rates ranging from 8.71- 9.80, fast food cooks and cashiers scrape the bottom of the barrel. Hostesses and home care aides aren’t much better off, and all live below the poverty line. The effects of families living below the poverty affect everything from health to housing to education. There is a better solution and hope these people. Australia’s minimum wage is $16 an hour. (Nick Sorrentiono, Sep. 8, 2014) There is more emphasis on quality of life for children and elderly who are affected the most. In comparison to a 20-25% poverty rate in America, Australia only has 10-15%. (Fisher, April 15,
The hard workers of the great state of California deserve a livable wage, but they won’t be receiving their living wage until 2016. Governor brown signed into law bill AB10 which will raise the minimum wage in California to $9.00 per hour beginning July 1, 2014, and then to $10.00 per hour beginning January 1,2016. The minimum-wage was adopted in California as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 during the Great Depression. Ever since then the minimum-wage has slowly been growing. According to The California department of industrial relations the California minimum wage has been steadily increasing since 1918. It has gone from .21 cents to 10 dollars an hour. Increasing the minimum-wage does many things; it stimulates the economy, allows people to live in better conditions, and helps level out the problem of income inequality. The minimum wage also helps in indirect ways. The raising of minimum wage achieves a domino effect, it allows for new job growth since people have more wants, it also helps to reduce crime, people that are able to pay their bills with what they have and don’t need to go and steal just to feed their families. It is commonsensical that the minimum wage be a living wage not a subpar amount that causes people to work double the amount just to make ends meet.
A while ago I was told by my parents that I got a call from (my now boss), Donald Makepeace, asking if I was still interested in a job. We played phone tag for the longest tag, but finally I was hired at the local Dairy Queen. My parents originally said that I was supposed to contribute some money to help pay for insurance, gas ,and ect. After, seeing how much money I brought back week after week, they ignored that request. The truth of the matter is, it’s hard to live on a minimum wage job. In fact, many individuals must have at least two jobs to keep the bills meet. So, President Obama is trying to get Congress to pass an increase in the minimum wage. However, Congress refuses to raise the minimum wage. I agree with Congress, that we should not raise the minimum wage because these jobs are mainly for high school students and more people wouldn’t be able to hire people.
A person working at minimum wage will only make about $10,700 a year. When rent, groceries, bills and gas are all added up, it appears to be a nearly impossible task to keep a family afloat. But working 40 hours a week at $5.15 an hour, one makes less than $206 a week after taxes. Making $206/week, one brings home about $824/month. Adding 17 gallons of gas at $2.20 a gallon in a car; the cost ends up to be about $38 a week, $152/month. The gas and electricity bill about $120, $50 for cable, $147 for property taxes, $45 for the telephone bill, $25 for water, and $42 for house insurance. All this totals about $580 (Abrams, H). Making it difficult to afford cable, and make the smallest payment possible on all the bills causing one to slip into debt. This is reality for many of the people in the United States. At the current minimum wage level, a full time, year round minimum wage worker in 2005 will earn $5,378 less than the $16,090 needed to lift a family of three out of poverty (Minimum).
On an average, a worker must make $18.92 per hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment in most places in the United States today (Network, Jolie Lee/USA Today). Additionally, most of the workers have to balance multiple job schedules, travel, and struggle to keep up their life going. In fact, according to the most recent available numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, (2010 Census) in December of 2011 more than 7 million people were holding 2 or more jobs. “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Benjamin Franklin (1789). In brief, people work and dies to pay the circle of education, work and taxes. The increase in minimum wage will indeed decrease a huge stone of stress of working enormous hours. The federal poverty line guideline for a family of four is 24,250 according to 2015 census. (Obamacarefact). Accordingly, a person will have to work 50 hours a week in order to fulfill the guideline. Whereby, $15 an hour will perfectly meet 40 hours work law without overtime or working multiple
On the 1st of April 1999, the National Minimum Wage (NMW) was introduced in the UK at a rate of £3.60 per hour for workers aged 21 and older, and at a rate of £3.00 for workers aged 18-21. Since then, it has grown steadily to reach a rate of £6.31 per hour today. The NMW is “the minimum pay per hour that almost all workers are entitled to by law” (www.gov.uk). In 1999, 1.9 million people were paid less than £3.60, sometimes even below the Living Wage due to the dismantling of unions by the Thatcher government. The idea of a minimum wage then came up, supported by the Labour Party, in order to reduce the increasing poverty and to prevent low wages workers from being exploited by their employers. The Conservative Party, supported by employers, was strongly opposed to this project, arguing that a minimum wage will damage the economy and create poverty due to higher unemployment levels. So, how does the NMW really affect poverty and employment in the UK?
In the 2014 State of the Union address, President Obama called on Congress to raise the national minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour, and soon after signed an Executive Order to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 for the individuals working on new federal service contracts. An increase in the minimum wage has been a topic of discussion for many years now, and it looks like this year will finally see the first increase of minimum wage in 10 years. Not everyone agrees that there should be an increase, but many states have already raised their minimum wage rates because of the federal government’s inaction. Iowa raised the state’s wage, and it will rise again in 2016. Clearly there are benefits to a higher minimum wage; the current minimum wage in the United States should be raised because it helps the economy by increasing employment, and it is now at the lowest value it has been in more than 50 years, causing hardship for earners of minimum wage.