Mistake in Raising the Minimum Wage

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Would raising the minimum wage actually help the American economy? Some people believe it would take people out of poverty. Others think that it will make it easier for people to supply for their families. Many believe that it should have been raised with the price of inflation over the years. While any of these reasons might be true, there are still many consequences that could take action if minimum wage is raised. Most Republicans are completely against the idea of raising it while President Obama would like to raise it from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour. Raising the minimum wage would cost jobs, place people in higher tax brackets, inflate prices, and create greater competition for jobs.
Raising the minimum wage would cost jobs. First, I would cost more money to hire low-skill workers. Second, businesses would not be able to afford as many workers because they would be paying them so much. The Congressional Budget Office has stated that raising it to $9.00 an hour would cause a loss of 100,000 jobs. Raising it to $10.10 an hour would result in 500,000 jobs lost. (See Figure 1) Losing jobs is a serious issue because the unemployment rate would rise. This makes it harder to lower an unemployment rate because you have just raised it. Less people would be able to find jobs as well.
When it cost more money to hire low-skill workers, businesses suffer. For example, fast-food chains rely mainly on low-skill workers. This would force restaurants, like McDonalds, to pay someone $10 an hour just to flip burgers. Brian Brenberg states, “The end result is that it will be harder for students like mine to land that first job and acquire those skills that lead to upward mobility.” (Brenberg) Plus, a White House graph reports 44% of mini...

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...ime. This would be an extreme problem for schools especially ones that are already trying to find teachers. Other low-income jobs like teaching would suffer from this. After people quit, there would be more people trying to get these jobs that pay so much for so little work effort.
Job loss, people being placed in higher tax brackets, inflation, and greater job competition are all results that would occur if the minimum wage is raised. It would be harder for businesses to expand because of the costs of workers. Taxes would increase for many people. The consumer would not be able to do their grocery shopping without bringing home a big receipt. High school students would not be able to find a job so they can get experience. Now is the time for America to think about future generations and the problems it will create for those generations if minimum wage is raised.

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