Should Government Raise Minimum Wage

What if the national minimum wage was raised to $15 an hour? There are many occupations right now that are paying $15 an hour or less and have a lot more hours and stress involved. So why should a minimum labor and minimum stress job have a salary at $15 an hour? The answer is it shouldn’t minimum skill should equal minimum wage. If someone wants to make more money they should alter careers to a more difficult job that will pay more money. The concept that the National minimum wage needs to be elevated to $15 an hour hasn’t been completely considered because it would cause inflation for the economy; therefore, the lower class would still be functioning in poverty.

A controversial topic often debated between liberals and conservatives is the minimum wage issue. While many liberals advocate for raising it, a number of conservatives are persistent on keeping the rate constant; however, studies show that raising minimum wage would not alleviate this country’s poverty issue and would, in fact, increase the unemployment. For these reasons, the minimum wage should not be raised.

Imagine you are alone to raise a child all by yourself. You are in debt you have to pick up a job but finding a job is hard. So you go to the first job your see a fast food worker. Of course this barely helps since you only get paid $7.25 per hour. You need more money; you need a living wage. This problem plagues people everywhere. there is a huge difference between living wage and minimum wage. The question is not should we raise minimum wages t’s when we will raise minimum wage. But some people believe that the minimum wage is fine. Obviously these people have probably never relied on $7.25.It is extremely important to raise minimum wage soon one reason is because while it might take out of the economy for awhile it will also get back in two it will raise people out poverty three $7.25 is no where near a living wage.

Raising the minimum wage has been one of the biggest debates during the 21st century. One side of the spectrum argues that raising it will make it so they have a living wage, while the other argues that raising it will hurt the economy. Whichever the case is, people are clearly divided on this issue. Before Oregon passed the 15 dollar minimum wage law, people wrote arguments to try to either prevent or pass this law. The article, “How a $15 minimum wage would affect a real business: Guest opinion” by Lee Spector argues that raising the minimum wage would hurt small businesses like the one he earns. “People don’t go to college to earn a $9.10 minimum wage: Guest opinion” by Justin Norton-Kertson is an article that argues against Lee Spector’s article. Although both

Minimum wage is a highly debated topic. Should the minimum wage be raised or should it stay the same? When there are 25 million people who would benefit from increasing minimum wage, why does the question so difficult to answer (Quinn, Castle, LaTourette, Morella)? When an answer can affect how people live their lives the answer should become easier to answer. Yet we have to think about what the outcome would be to each scenario.

Is it ethical to raise the minimum wage when it doesn’t necessarily affect the very poor, the people it’s aimed at helping? The minimum wage is the lowest hourly wage an employer is permitted by law to pay an employee for his work. The current federal minimum wage is set at $7.25 an hour. Across the country, there is an overwhelming push in favor of raising wages for our poorest workers. In January 2016 the minimum wage in California was raised to $10 an hour. Cities are also allowed to pass minimum wage rates and several cities have recently adopted regulations that establish a higher minimum wage rates. For example, Los Angeles signed into law a bill that would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020 (Wattles). According to a Pew Research

Workers across the United States wish to raise the minimum wage to ten dollars. Minimum wage should not be increased because people who work at fast food restaurants should not get paid as much as someone who workers harder than they do and it would not be a benefit to the people of the United States. Minimum wage means you get paid the minimum you can receive for working every hour, why wouldn’t an individual want to get paid at the maximum limit they could earn instead? Employees who would like to get a higher income need to get a more professional job. There are plenty of fast food restaurants in every state and they are always hiring full-time and part-time jobs, but shouldn’t adults work somewhere with more benefits, such as a hospital or a school?

The federal minimum wage has been increased twenty-two times since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the bill into law in 1938. President Roosevelt was an avid supporter of a federal minimum wage as he says that “no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country.” Raising the federal minimum wage has many pros and cons, but is a necessity to thrive in society. People have argued that raising the minimum wage will cause inflation, but it will create various economical benefits, income benefits, production benefits, and improve racial justice.

The federal minimum wage should be increased because raising it would increase the economic activity and spur job growth, decrease poverty, and also improvements in productivity and economic growth have outpaced increases in the minimum wage. Increases in job growth and economic activity will happen when the minimum wage is elevated. If the minimum wage was increased it will “inject 22.1 billion net into the economy and create about 85,000 new jobs over a three year period”. (“Raising the Federal minimum Wage to $10.10 Would Lift Wages for Millions and Provide a Modest Economic Boost") Thousands of new jobs will be created and it will put billions of dollars into the economy.

When people think about raising the minimum wage most of them are excited because their check would have more cash, but, they don’t think about the bad effects that it will cause other employes. Minimum wage is the lowest daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. In California raising the minimum wage has become a big argument between those who think raising would have more cons and those who think they have more pros. Despite the fact that people think raising up the minimum wage will help many people get out of poverty. I do not support raising the minimum wage, and the reason is as followed.

Since the Great Depression, there has been a minimum wage in America, but this minimum wage has changed 22 times since the Great Deprnbession. Many people say minimum wage should stay at $7.25 like it has been since 2009. Meanwhile, other people believe that minimum wage should be $15.00 so they can have more money to live comfortably. People think that a higher minimum wage will help, but it will hurt more people than it will help. If America makes the minimum wage $9.00, people will no longer be in poverty and it will make the economy balance out.

There are a lot of potential benefits for an increase in minimum wage and on the surface it’s hard to see why you wouldn’t want to increase the wage. One of the clearest to see is that an increase to the minimum wage will also increase the spending for each household during the following years. So it works to help stimulate the economy in whatever area you increase the minimum wage. Along those same lines increasing the minimum wage will lead to a decrease in poverty as well. With the decrease in poverty you will also see a decrease in government spending on welfare items because the individuals receiving the higher wage in theory will be able to pay for these services/welfare items without assistance.

The American Action Forum believes that raising the minimum wage can do more harm than good and hurt the people it’s supposed to help. Job loss in the millions would happen if the wage was raised from $7.25 to $15. People in poverty before the increase would have trouble finding jobs because companies would have to have less positions to counter the wage raise. Komlos, John. " Column: Why Raising the Minimum Wage Is Good Economics."

The people who make minimum wage very clearly express their theory that higher pay will benefit them and show many valid points on why it should be increased. Minimum wage workers work hard and "[s]ince the 1970s, productivity has risen dramatically... [y]et middle- and low-wage workers ' incomes have barely changed" (Dorn). These circumstances make it hard for low wage workers to stay above the poverty line when the average low wage worker makes only $15,000 annually (Dorn). Before inflation, the minimum wage was surprisingly much higher, "in 1968, the minimum wage was close to $10 per hour in today 's dollars" (Dorn).

In the past three years, many politicians and labor unions have been pushing for an increase in minimum wage. Minimum wage is the lowest set wage by a law of a government body. An increase in minimum will benefit some people, and hurt others. An increase in minimum wage will cause benefit in the short run but will be very damaging to the economy in the long run. There should not be an increase in minimum wage because it is unhealthy to the economy in the long run and it will be the major cause of job loss, increase in inflation, competition, and the price level of goods and services.