ipl-logo

The Pros And Cons Of The Minimum Wage

900 Words4 Pages

The minimum wage is currently a hotly debated policy area, and is frequently talked about on the news and in political spheres. Part of the reason why this debate gets so heated is that, according to Antony Davies, a Senior Affiliated Scholar with the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and associate professor of economics at Duquesne University, both those arguing in favor and against the minimum wage are trying to help the poor, and therefore assume that anyone disagreeing with them are trying to harm the poor. It is for these reasons that in articles and research papers Davies uses reason and empirical arguments to apply economic theory to the minimum wage debate. The minimum wage debate is centered around whether employers should be forced to pay all employees a minimum hourly rate for their time, and whether this rate should be raised to the level of a “living wage”. Although the term “living wage” is not clearly defined by advocates, it is loosely a wage sufficient to satisfy one’s basic needs including housing, education, food, and healthcare. The main arguments for this living wage are that it is our moral duty to stop the exploitation of workers by their employers who can force them to work long hours in horrible conditions for little pay, and that society will reap benefits if the poor are better able to take care of themselves due to their higher wages. The arguments against (increasing) the minimum wage are that as things get more expensive we demand less

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Minimum Wage In Nickel And Dimed By Barbara Ehrenreich

    451 Words  | 2 Pages

    The solution to the minimum-wage problem that haunts American workers in the 21st century is to strive for lower everyday expenses rather than for a higher minimum wage. The renowned author Barbara Ehrenreich, in her informational novel Nickel and Dimed, tells the story of how she performed a social experiment by working several minimum wage jobs, while living a lifestyle of a low-wage worker. In her novel, Ehrenreich concludes that minimum wage workers “in good health” can “barely support [themselves]” (199). Even though Ehrenreich earned “$1039 in one month,” at the end of the month she only had “$22 left over” as she had to spend “$517” on food and gas, and “$500” to pay her rent (197). As evident, Ehrenreich’s wage is not the cause of her

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Minimum Wage War By Barbara Ehrenreich

    920 Words  | 4 Pages

    From the title “The Minimum-Wage War”, it may seem that Ehrenreich’s recollection of minimum wage work may not be as accurate as someone who faces the true pressures of working two minimum wage jobs a week; However, because she put herself in the same conditions, she created a credible experiment. Ehrenreich’s experiment was derived from the question “could match income to expenses, as the truly poor attempt to do every day.” She worked in various minimum wage environments, such as restaurants, a hotel, a cleaning service, and a nursing home. By working under the harsh conditions of minimum wage work, Ehrenreich discovered the difficulties of managing living expenses with such a limited budget. Despite the harsh nature of the work, there are still skeptics who feel that raising the minimum wage will reduce the number of jobs available to minimum wage workers.

    Read More

  • 15 Minimum Wage: Article Analysis

    872 Words  | 4 Pages

    In theory, raising the minimum wage would lessen America’s dependence on such benefits. If workers are making more money, Hanauer says that workers are spending more, and increasing the demand for more workers as opposed to cutting jobs. Hanauer closes his essay by telling the reader to see the economy as Henry Ford did; an effective economy is one that works for all not just part of the country. ANALYSIS: After reading Nicolas Hanauer’s essay on raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, I take an affirmative stance on this issue. The main reason for siding with Hanauer is that he is thinking about how many people can get an upper hand with a wage increase.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Raising The Federal Minimum Wage

    279 Words  | 2 Pages

    Almost all articles, for or against the raise, agree that as long as the poverty line is not adjusted, then state and federal services that low-income workers were previously using would decrease. This means that the money that is no longer being distributed in food stamps or other services can be returned to Washington, D.C. and be redistributed. Economists say that raising the Federal minimum wage to $9 will restore the dollar to its real value (The President’s Plan). And indexing the minimum wage would ensure that working families keep up with inflation.

    Read More

  • Great Depression Dbq Essay

    625 Words  | 3 Pages

    On average a worker would make a few dollars a week, which lead a factory worker from Texas to write President Roosevelt, “ I can’t see for my life President why a man must toil & work his life out in Such factories 10 long hours ever day except Sunday for a small sum of 15 cents to 35 cents per hour & pay the high cost of honest & deason living expences,” (pg 171). This reality of people working for nothing needed to come to a conclusion. In order for the people to receive a higher hourly wage the government needs to implement a law that dictates the minimum amount of money a worker gets paid hourly. This amount needs to be determined based on the cost of living, and in order to prevent people from working for little to nothing in the future it needs to fluctuate with the cost of living. Owners of factories and other business will be upset and not follow the law, and that is why the government will need to be strict and enforce this minimum wage law.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Minimum Wage Hurt Low Income Workers By Jame Sherk

    646 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the article, “Minimum Wage Hikes Hurt Low-Income Workers,” Jame Sherk debates how an increase in the minimum wage would impact workers and corporations. Sherk builds his argument by first explaining the recent history of an increasing minimum wage and how much it has risen. Following, he argues why it would hurt businesses and low-income workers. Lastly, after illustrating the consequences, he offers statistical evidence to support his claim and to prove to the reader why the hike would only hurt both businesses and low-income workers. Sherk’s use of evidence and explanation offers a strong argument and a clear stance.

    Read More

  • Why Raise Minimum Wage Go Up?

    445 Words  | 2 Pages

    Today more minimum wage works are exchanged of making money for their families (smith 2) In order for our country to be stronger minimum wage needs to be raised because of their children and bills. One reason why the minimum wage should go up because they need more money for their children. “If we increased the minimum wage workers will earned 6,000 dollars more for their family” (smith 3) The minimum wage

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Raising The Minimum Wage

    1094 Words  | 5 Pages

    First, one main reason that the minimum wage should be raised is because the economy will prosper. “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” (ProCon). This quote shows that the economy will flourish from the increase of the minimum wage and that unemployment will decrease. Another quote that shows how raising the minimum wage will affect employment is “To the extent that through these contour effects it affords as much as 70 percent of the workforce greater purchasing power, it effectively increases aggregate demand for goods and services, which should ultimately lead to the creation of more jobs” (Challenger 19). Bryan Covert supports raising the minimum wage by

    Read More

  • Minimum Wage In America

    885 Words  | 4 Pages

    those who are responsible for the poverty many Americans live. The government must determine how much to increase the minimum wage; if they decide to increase it at all. Leading the struggle for increased minimum wages are the fast food workers of America, each with their own personal stories of struggle and reasons they must depend on a food service job, paying these meager wages, to provide for their family. As David Neumark states, “Since its enactment, there has been widespread debate about the merits of minimum wage laws, along with numerous efforts to evaluate their economic effects” (55). I seek to show the value of a significant minimum wage increase and the effects it will have, not only on fast food worker’s lives, but the good it could have on the US economy.

    Read More

  • Essay On Raising The Federal Minimum Wage

    733 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Minimum Wage Should Not Be Raised

    495 Words  | 2 Pages

    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. Increasing the minimum wage would cause economic strain in many ways to workers already living in poverty. According to James Sherk’s article: ‘Raising the Minimum Wage Will Not Reduce Poverty’, raising minimum wage to seven dollars and twenty five cents would cause an estimated eight percent of current workers to lose their jobs.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Minimum Wage

    880 Words  | 4 Pages

    Minimum wage and poverty With everything going on with the Walmart workers picketing for fifteen dollars an hour wages, the topic is widely discussed with many people taking many different sides. The essay “Raising the Minimum wage will reduce poverty” By Sharon Parrott and Jason Furman, They go into how they think the minimum wage should be raised in order to decrease poverty in america, Of course there are reasons to raise it and reasons to not raise it. Yet with the multitude of reasons for and against it, it’s hard to make a decision that makes everybody content, Some of the reasons not to raise it include, Raising it can make prices for everyday items go up, Why go and spend thousands of dollars on college when you could get a decent job right out of high school, and Why let workers who work at unskilled jobs make as much if not more than the military. Some reasons for minimum wage raising is, The fact that the cost of living is higher means people can’t survive with minimum wage without federal care, And just helping people get back on their feet when they couldn’t find a job. The reasons Minimum wage shouldn’t be raised outweigh the reasons it should.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Minimum Wage In Virginia

    1721 Words  | 7 Pages

    The minimum wage in Virginia should be increased to reflect the cost of living within the State. The number of working poor are increasing. There are minimum wage jobs available throughout the state, however earned wages are not sufficient to allow for a manageable quality of life. The current minimum wage in Virginia is $7.25 per hour, in keeping with the Federal Minimum Wage rate of the same amount.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay: The Minimum Wage Struggle

    717 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Minimum Wage Struggle Money is an essential object to acquire in the society we live in. Various places demand a high monthly rate in order to occupy a premise, along with the stress of utility bills that may not be included. Aside from living costs there are many other factors which must be calculated when budgeting on a day to day basis. Overall, the survival rate tends to increase due to so many responsibilities that need to be upheld, as well as costs being raised. This rise in both the cost of living as well as the need for higher wages proves that the standard of minimum wage needs a major increase.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Minimum Wage

    1586 Words  | 7 Pages

    1. Introduction In the modest term, a minimum wage is a lawfully authorized minor bound for wages, but the term “lawfully authorised” is unclear, leading too many different kinds of minimum wages institutions (Cunningham et al, 2007:19). It further states that in the most straight forward cases, such as Brazil and Bolivia, the federal government identifies a wage level and all employers in the country must pay at that level or above it (2007:19). Economist have tended to oppose minimum wage on the grounds that they reduce employment , hurting many of those they are supposed to help (the economist:24/11/2012).

    Read More

More about The Pros And Cons Of The Minimum Wage

Open Document