Minimum Wage Argument Essay

Minimum Wage is the lowest wage an employer is allowed to pay its employee by law. It has been a fundamental part of our economic growth and has been first instated by congress in 1938 as part of the Fair Labor Standard Act. With about 14.8% of Americas in poverty, there has been much debate on whether it should be raised or not (Census). However with economic change and inflation, minimum wage has been raised in the past. Though raising it many times in the past, many economists still think it’s not enough to live on. The minimum wage was introduced on June 25, 1938 and was signed by President Roosevelt to combat poverty and prevent unfair wages. The starting minimum wage was about .25 per hour, which is equivalent to about $4.18 today (Patton).

With about 318 million people in the U.S., that’s about 14.8% The poverty rate for people age 18 to 64 was about 13.5 percent with 21.1 percent of them are children under the age of 18 (Census). Although the poverty rate was higher in 2007, this was the year with the most recession though from 2007-2013 the median household has dropped from 8 percent.

As of today, a person working full time on minimum wage would only make about $15,080 annually (U.S. Dept. of Labor). With the cost of rent, electricity, car payments and other needs, most family’s claims that it is hard to make ends meet each month. Some of these people have tried to apply for government aid like food stamps and Medicaid. If a family of four applies for food stamps, they could get up to $600 dollars, which seems to be a sufficient amount if they have the right budget (FNS.USDA).

“When people move from not working-to-working or from a lower-wage job to a higher-wage job, their change in resources is affected not simply by the change in compensation but by their interactions with government. Their taxes often go up, and their eligibility for various forms of transfer payments and government benefits may go down.” (Maag