Should government raise minimum wage? Minimum wage is set at $7.25 an hour, and if minimum wage was raised to $15 an hour such as in California, California 's law will affect both a much larger number of people, and a much more diverse population of workers than any other measure to date. A few reasons why raising minimum wage is a bad idea is because current employees who get paid the minimum wage would be obligated to do more work. To keep labor costs low, these employees would have to take on additional duties and responsibilities to make up the difference in hours available. Since more people would be willing to work for more pay, the current workers would be likely replaced by higher quality workers or automated systems. Instead of earning
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.
Raising the minimum wage, a topic that has been plaguing the nation for years has finally made its appearance in Los Angeles. Many people argue that raising the minimum wage is helping everyone, distributing the nation’s wealth more equally, but that is definitely not the case. Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour in Los Angeles County is a double edged sword, helping many lower-income workers, but harming more middle class employees and employers. The intent of raising the minimum wage is to help many lower and middle class people. But, by raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour in Los Angeles County, the city is raising the standard wage by more than 50% within the span of 5 years.
Los Angeles is just one of many American cities using a rise in the minimum wage to try to address poverty and inequality. State and local governments are acting where the federal government has not. Just over half of American states have legal minimum wage rates above the federal minimum, which has stood at $7.25 an hour since 2009 (The Data Team, 2015). The big question with minimum wage is what should it be raised to?
Minimum wage should not be raised because it is not an income that someone sold live off of. Minimum wage in the country is currently $7.25 but some states have changed it in a way that is way too much. For example Washington state currently has the highest minimum wage at $9.32 that’s a $2.07 increase to the current amount minimum wage. Seattle is currently considering to raise their minimum wage to $15 it’s understandable that the city is very large and things cost more money but if they raise minimum wage to $15 that will only bring inflation causing things to cost only more money than it already does. If there is one thing that should not be done to the country it is to cause inflation.
Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hilary Clinton have both embraced a 15 dollar minimum wage hike and interestingly enough, in a recent interview Donald Trump said that he cannot believe how “anyone could live with 7.25 an hour” and believes the states should take it upon themselves to increase the wage locally. It would be truly remarkable if one individual could live in Los Angeles (or Long Beach for that matter) with the current minimum wage of 10 dollars without having to share living expenses with others in the same household, or working multiple jobs. Nevertheless, with current economic conditions around the world it is hard for California and the United States to compete in low wage paying jobs that do not require much skills. In light of this fact I feel that the purpose of the minimum wage (which was established back in the great depression and had the goal of creating a minimum standard of living where all workers health and wellbeing was protected) should change to meet the demands and reality of our changing economic environment. Instead of being a labor price that psychologically gives individuals the liberty to buy a house, car, and some leisure, as many families think (especially as they mistakenly reflect back on the 1950’s) it should reflect the condition of the economy as a whole,
Imagine there is a standard, a standard that all labor, service, and other unskilled sectors of employment adhere to. That standard is to only pay the minimum compensation for their employee’s time. Many people, in America, know this as minimum wage. Minimum wage is not sufficient for any person working full time, a 40-hour workweek, to have a large enough income that is considered a living wage or even an income that provides the standard of living. There are two economic principles that are relevant to this topic.
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.
Introduction More numbers of state are joining to take action to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour in a few years even though there is a high disputing controversial all over the nation. The federal has set the minimum wage level to $7.25 on Jan. 1, 2015. In less than a year the index number of the minimum wage is going up automatically with cost of living. And eventually it will be likely to increase year by year with automatic and expectation index.
Naturally the rise in the price for living shouldn't be a problem but when the minimum wages don't rise many people suffer. Minimum wages should be raised because it will save the government money, help lower income citizens eliminate poverty, and workers aren’t getting paid their worth. How would you survive if you didn't make enough money to live? A study by the Center for American Progress found that raising the minimum wage to $10.10 would help 3.5 million Americans get off food stamps (Rachel West and Michael Reich, 2014).
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.
Many citizens of California would naturally think about prices of products when they hear that the minimum wage will increase. An online article, by PewResearchCenter, says that “..Since it was last raised in 2009, to the current $7.25 per hour, the federal minimum has lost about 8.1% of its purchasing power to inflation”. Even though this was news a few years back, it still shows the effects of having a raise in minimum wage. It shows that 8.1% being purchased have been increased into products. There will be no point in raising the minimum wage if the price of products goes up.
This would make it where people wouldn 't have to live paycheck to paycheck. Raising the wage slightly would also make it so the price of goods wouldn 't have to be raised. The Economic Policy Institute stated that a minimum wage increase from the current rate of $7.25 an hour to $10.10 would inject $22.1 billion net into the economy and create about 85,000 new jobs over a three-year phase-in period. This raise increase would be easy to implement and would help the economy. By implementing this new minimum wage many problems in America can be solved.
This poses the question: “Is the current minimum wage a livable wage?” The answer, unfortunately, comes back negative. The current federal minimum wage, at $7.25, is worth nearly 38 percent less compared to 1968 when the federal minimum wage was valued at its highest ($11.72 in 2016 dollars). Given the facts, it is justifiable to raise the federal minimum wage as it would amount to a more livable wage, stimulate the economy, and provide better circumstances for workers of color and women.
In the end, the disadvantages far outweigh the benefits of raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. The benefits will only help in the short term while the disadvantages will be longer lasting and will hurt Americans across the nation. Fixing a problem with a solution that will turn around to be the same problem is not beneficial to the people. Similar to the French Revolution where workers, experiencing starvation and harsh jobs, rebelled against the government, workers in the United States are standing up against the government to raise the minimum wage. Fortunately, the lid of the pressure cooker has not been fully lifted.
In conclusion, I do think we need a national minimum wage increase. The number of $15 an hour may be a little higher than needed. However, given how long it takes minimum wage increases to get passed by Congress, $15 an hour should be enough to keep up with future inflation, for a few years. Sure, some fast food prices and other products may rise in price, and some people might lose jobs but, at these wages those aren’t jobs worth having