The Pros and Cons of Abolishing Minimum Wage

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Abolishing Minimum Wage Increase, decrease or abolish minimum wage; which is best for our citizens and our economy? Minimum wage was implemented to help unskilled workers to make a living wage but as time goes on the value of minimum wage has plummet. In my research paper I will provide knowledge about minimum wage such as the history, purpose, benefits and the results. I will also present the pros and cons of abolishing the minimum wage and the increase/decrease of minimum. The minimum wage was originally implemented in 1938 in the Fair Labor Standards Act setting an hourly wage rate at 25 cents. Throughout the years it has been raised multiple times and recently been raised to $7.25 an hour. Between adjustment periods and inflation increasing, the real value or the minimum wage has decreased. The minimum wage was supposed to help the poor, less skilled, younger workers, but rather it put these workers out of a job. This resulted from business owners believing that it wasn't worth employing anyone to doing something of value that was less than what they were paying them. The minimum wage ended up reducing jobs, which reduces the employees work experience which affects the economy. The minimum wage is a price floor, creating a surplus of labor. When workers work for less than minimum wage, they are working "under the table" which is illegal. Abolishing the minimum wage would have a great impact on both the employee and the business owner, and have an overall effect on the economy. The minimum wage being abolished would greatly benefit the employee. It would give unskilled and unqualified workers, such as teenagers, college students, interns, and part time workers, the opportunity to be hired, with no discrimination or rankin... ... middle of paper ... ...ur freedom to decide what pay we want to offer or accept. Works Cited Elwell, Craig. "The Real Minimum Wage." Inflation and the Real Minimum Wage: A Fact Sheet. (2013): n. page. Web. 22 Oct. 2013. . Messerli, Joe. "Should the Minimum Wage Be Abolished (i.e. Reduced to $0.00)?." BalancedPolitics.org. N.p.. Web. 22 Oct 2013. minimum_wage.htm>. Patterson, Steve, producer. "The Truth about the Minimum Wage." YouTube, 2012. Web. 22 Oct 2013. . Tucker, Irvin B. "Survey of Economics." Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning. 2008. Watkins, Don. "To Protect The Defenseless, We Must Abolish The Minimum Wage." Forbes. N.p., 27 Mar 2013. Web. 22 Oct 2013. 2013/03/27/to-protect-the-defenseless-we-must-abolish-the-minimum-wage/>.

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