Barrack Obama’s State of The Union Address of 2013 caused a controversy that is still a relevant debate topic. Live from the United States Capitol, Obama clarified his perception on the minimum wage in America. Obama insisted that minimum wage should be increased because it would be a means of social justice to many Americans. Many Americans live in poverty and Obama believes that raising the minimum wage would assist some Americans to remove oneself from living in poverty and assist the economy from disintegrating. After hearing Obama’s State of The Union Address of 2013 and reading many articles concerning the raising of minimum wage, I believe minimum wage should be raised because it would decrease poverty, keep individuals from under the table jobs, and cause a decrease in taxes. According to Gabrielle Karol’s article, “How Raising the Minimum Wage Would Help the Economy”, increasing the minimum wage would cause a decrease in poverty and debt for many families. An individual who works for minimum wage roughly earns 15, 080 dollars a year. Karol insists 15,080 dollars a year barley allows individuals to provide food and shelter for their families. Karol states, “A common definition states that the living wage should be high enough that no more than 30 % of take-home pay needs to be spent on housing.” With an increase in minimum wage, families who currently have one or more members earning minimum wage would be able to afford a car, afford medical insurance, pay utilities, and provide meals for their families; raising the minimum wage would allow families to afford the essentials in life (Karol). Not only would families be able to sustain a standard living, they would be able to pay off old bills and pay off the debt they have... ... middle of paper ... ...ning the minimum wage? There are so many individuals divided on the issue that we may not see a decision made for years. While proponents of raising the minimum wage believe that raising the minimum wage would be great for families and people in general, opponents believe that raising the minimum wage is not necessary because many people who earn minimum wage are high school students and it would be terrible for businesses. Also, opponents believe that it should not be raised due to inflation. If there is an agreement between opponents, proponents, and the government, there could be a universal agreement to raise the minimum wage. There already some states that have raised the minimum wage, and the government is most likely studying them to see if raising the minimum wage is best for individuals. But I believe time will tell what will happen with the minimum wage.
Imagine a world where you are working overtime, seven days a week, yet your kids are starving. You can’t get the education you need because you don’t have the time and money to afford it, and you can’t change jobs because this is the only one you can get. Unfortunately, this is the reality for millions of Americans living today. The federal minimum wage is too low to help families, and actually mathematically speaking, too low to survive on. The quality of life for minimum wage families is terribly low, and that is unacceptable. As humans, we should be looking after others and helping the poverty come out of their continuous cycle. Raising the minimum wage would not only help families be able to afford a better quality of life, but help them to afford healthy food, get an adequate education, and invest in the necessary health care they need.
In the 2013 State of the Union, President Obama proposed raising the minimum wage from the current $7.25 to $9.00 by 2015. This has caused arguments between the rich, small businesses, minimum wage workers, and the unemployed because it affects each of them differently. Obama’s plan is to bind the minimum wage to the cost of living, which ensures that minimum wage goes up with inflation. In general, this benefits minimum wage workers by improving their standard of living.
Raising the minimum will end up hurting Americans more than helping them. The people that are for raising minimum wage are people who believe that increasing minimum wage can help those people who are unskilled and need an income they can live on. Yet, raising minimum wage would do the opposite and make employers have to fire people who earn minimum wage, because they can't afford the higher wages. People need to realize that increasing the minimum wage would hurt people more than help them. In the end increasing minimum wage would result in some people being let go, for the reason, businesses can't afford paying them minimum wage anymore.
Since its inception, the minimum wage has been a hotbed for debate. If today’s leaders could manage to increase minimum wage, millions of families would benefit.
Although raising minimum wage would help many people in many ways. Raising the minimum wage would be a great plus for average American families. Poverty is a very big problem in America right now, but it also a problem all of the world, and has been for years.
Because the cost of living has sky rocketed, it has become almost impossible to raise a family on a minimum wage job. A person living on his or her own cannot survive on minimum wage job either. Their living expense would just be too much. The earnings of minimum wage workers are crucial to their families well being. Evidence from 2013 and 2014 minimum wage increase shows that an average minimum wage worker brings home more than half of his or her family's weekly earnings. In 2013 one million single mothers with children under 18 would have benefited from a minimum wage increase to $10.
Minimum Wage is way too low. It does not help pay for needed expenses and wanted expenses, and it will help the economy and people get jobs. In fact, in an article by Roman Catholic clergyman John Ryan he says “ That a living wage was a basic right of the worker, not a benefit”(A.6). Particularly the minimum wage does not cover needs and wants. The income is too low. In an article by Jenny Jarvie it says “ several million low-income workers across the nation who
An increase in minimum wage can help boost our economy and help many Americans at the same time. If we increase this, many people will have a healthy economic life and more. This can help many people become a better person making our nation stronger.
Minimum wage should be increased in the United States. With the increase of minimum wage their will be problems due to this, but there is a good outcome to this increase of minimum wage. When employees receive a higher paycheck, it takes weight off the government safety. It's also setting the future for the U.S. The bad thing about
I think there are many issues that obstacle the increase of the minimum wage act. One important issue is terrorism. Raising the minimum wage should be fine when the economy is doing great. However, the raise of the wages will be a disaster in the period of depression. Also, another point of view says the increase in the wages will force the work owners to raise prices, and reduce the staff workers to half, which may kill the jobs afterwards.
The most popular reason for increasing the minimum wage is that it will give more money to those who are below the poverty line. The 2013 Congressional Research Service report states, “A single parent with two children who works full time at the current minimum wage would be earning around $15,000 and living at 76 percent of the federal poverty level. If the federal minimum wage was raised from the current $7.25 to $9.00 an hour, the same family would be at 94 percent of the poverty line” (Mejeur). It is also believed that an increase in minimum wage will spark economic growth. The Economic Policy Institute claims $2.85 increase to the current wage amount would bring around $22.1 billion net into the current economy and create around 85,000 new jobs over a three year period (Should the Federal Minimum Wage Be Increased?). Finally, the increase would greatly reduce government welfare spending. With an increase in wages to lower class workers, they would be less dependent on government benefits. According to the Center for American Progress, “Our results imply that the effects of the Harkin-Miller proposal on wage increases would reduce SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] enrollments by between 7.5 percent and 8.7 percent (3.1 million to 3.6 million persons). The total anticipated annual decrease in program expenditures is nearly $4.6 billion, or about 6 percent of current SNAP program expenditures”
In conclusion, I agree that the government should increase the minimum wage so people can make a livable wage to support themselves financially and would help for single parent families. There are also many problems that raising minimum wage can solve, but there will also be problems that minimum-wage can cause if it is increased. A problem that could made if the government decides to increase minimum-wage is inflation. Inflation is a very big reason why minimum-wage is not enough. Another solution is to get the President to focus on flattening the income tax and deregulate labor
Minimum wage is a hot topic that is always being debated by many all over this country. According to Google.com, the definition of minimum wage is” the lowest wage permitted by law.” There are three laws controlling the rate of minimum wage being paid to a person. There is the federal minimum wage, state minimum wage, and local city or county minimum wage. There are many benefits just like there is much opposition to raising the minimum wage. This hot topic will always be a hard topic to agree on due to it creating the many different scenarios that will affect one group or another. It would be okay to raise the minimum wage if there were not so many consequences. Some of those negative consequences can be people getting laid off, while
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.
Whether it be a high school student trying to earn some extra cash or a single mother trying to provide for her family; many Americans have worked a minimum wage job at one time or another. Minimum wage is the lowest amount of money a company can pay for an hourly employee in most cases. The first federal minimum wage in the United States was established in 1938 at 25 cents an hour. Since 1938 the federal minimum wage has increased to $7.25 an hour, and in the state of Minnesota, has increased to 9 dollars an hour. What will these changes bring to the state of Minnesota? Those who now work minimum wage will surely see an increase in income and a higher standard of living. What about those who are unemployed and actively seeking for a job? I feel that the increase of minimum wage will have many negative side effects. What will these impacts be, and what can be done to increase the standard of living in the United States other than increasing the minimum wage?