Would raising the minimum wage actually help the American economy? Some people believe it would take people out of poverty. Others think that it will make it easier for people to supply for their families. Many believe that it should have been raised with the price of inflation over the years. While any of these reasons might be true, there are still many consequences that could take action if minimum wage is raised. Most Republicans are completely against the idea of raising it while President Obama would like to raise it from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour. Raising the minimum wage would cost jobs, place people in higher tax brackets, inflate prices, and create greater competition for jobs. Raising the minimum wage would cost jobs. First, I would cost more money to hire low-skill workers. Second, businesses would not be able to afford as many workers because they would be paying them so much. The Congressional Budget Office has stated that raising it to $9.00 an hour would cause a loss of 100,000 jobs. Raising it to $10.10 an hour would result in 500,000 jobs lost. (See Figure 1) Losing jobs is a serious issue because the unemployment rate would rise. This makes it harder to lower an unemployment rate because you have just raised it. Less people would be able to find jobs as well. When it cost more money to hire low-skill workers, businesses suffer. For example, fast-food chains rely mainly on low-skill workers. This would force restaurants, like McDonalds, to pay someone $10 an hour just to flip burgers. Brian Brenberg states, “The end result is that it will be harder for students like mine to land that first job and acquire those skills that lead to upward mobility.” (Brenberg) Plus, a White House graph reports 44% of mini... ... middle of paper ... ...ime. This would be an extreme problem for schools especially ones that are already trying to find teachers. Other low-income jobs like teaching would suffer from this. After people quit, there would be more people trying to get these jobs that pay so much for so little work effort. Job loss, people being placed in higher tax brackets, inflation, and greater job competition are all results that would occur if the minimum wage is raised. It would be harder for businesses to expand because of the costs of workers. Taxes would increase for many people. The consumer would not be able to do their grocery shopping without bringing home a big receipt. High school students would not be able to find a job so they can get experience. Now is the time for America to think about future generations and the problems it will create for those generations if minimum wage is raised.
Well, raising the minimum wage has both the pros and cons. Still, the fact that increasing the minimum wage nationwide would increase millions of workers’ earnings is deniable. I suppose that’s why some people advocate raising the minimum wage will grow the economy for everyone. In 2014, the president of the United States, Obama, called on the current Congress to raise the national minimum wage, which proves that Obama actually supports raising the minimum wage. ‘February 2014 Congressional Budget Office Report The Effects of a Minimum-Wage Increase on Employment and Family Income is the latest attempt to do so, in this response to Members of Congress with respect to an increase in the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour.’
“Minimum wage increases often lead to employers replacing disadvantaged adults who need a job with suburban teenagers who do not.” says James Sherk. Currently, minimum wage earners are seven times more likely to be teenagaers instead of adults. In fact, half of the 3.8 million people employed in minimum wage jobs are under the age of twenty-five (Furchtgott-Roth). Many people use minimum wage jobs as a ...
Although raising the minimum wage won’t eliminate poverty as poverty can never be eliminated. It could help with lowering the poverty rate. The “inactive” unemployed Americans lack motivation, because they can’t support themselves with the money earned. It simply is not enough. As the cost of living rises, minimum wage stays stagnant. This is not balanced at all. If minimum wage back in 1968 was doable, raising it now could not kill the economy. Increasing the minimum wage could be an incentive for workers to finally seek jobs again; prompting growth in the economy and lower down poverty levels in many ways. The quality of a job is just as important when creating quantity of jobs. What lacks in the U.S right now is the incentives to make Americans want to do better. Raising the minimum wage could stimulate the desire to work and get around, possibly pursuing more education to climb the ladder to get higher in the economic
Educated Americans and researchers biggest concern is that their minimum wage proposal is going to negatively affect our economy. For example, they predict that their wage is part of the labor cycle and if it increases it will raise prices for customers. In Brian Jencunas article, he expresses that, “Virtually anyone can do these jobs with very little training. This means the supply of potential labor exceeds the demand, making sala...
Why does the rate of minimum wage jobs continue to go up? The jobs that pay minimum wage are no other than starter jobs (“Higher Minimum Wages” 1). The majority of the workers who have minimum wage jobs are no other than high school and c...
Job growth is at an all-time low, and it is because of the pay that Americans have to have in order to survive in the United States. The largest companies in the United States are finding that there are workers that are just as qualified in other countries that do not require as much pay. The article Vanishing Jobs says, “Nationally, layoffs are eliminating jobs far beyond blue-collar workers... in the ever shrinking manufacturing sector” (Katel). This quote interprets the idea that business will do anything to make a greater profit through cutting costs. Most politicians say that the issue behind job loss in the United States is because of lack of education. This to some point is true; however, the evidence provides the information to conclude that the degree holders are mostly the ones losing their jobs because of the higher wage that is obtained by the degre...
There are indeed risks of raising the minimum wage, but the rewards outweigh those risks, so the minimum wage should be raised. Some people who are against this may say ...“But other economists say raising the minimum wage actually hurts the very people it's designed to help: One of the basic laws of economics is that if you raise the price of something, there will be less demand for it. In this case, if you raise the price of workers, the demand for workers will decline. That could mean companies cutting the hours of employees, laying them off, or hiring fewer workers in the future.”... Yes, it could hurt the people it is designed to help, but different states have done this and found the opposite to be true. With America’s still fragile economy we need a boost, a helping hand; And this could be it. So next time you go down to vote on a mayor or maybe even the next president, remember that raising the minimum wage is a good thing, and you should be supporting
One way raising minimum wage will be beneficial is that it could lift many Americans out of poverty. Raising the minimum wage in Illinois, would help the families of more than 1.1 million workers who work to meet their children’s basic needs and “reduce the adverse effects of poverty on a child’s well-being” (Fiscal Policy Center). Studies have shown that raising the minimum wage would help 1 in 5 Illinois families who are in poverty. By raising the minimum wage in Illinois, it would help workers with families spend money on food, housing, gas, and other needs without going into poverty. Along with puling Americans out of poverty, raising the minimum wage could also stimulate economic growth. Raising the minimum wage, is stimulating economic growth by worsening the income inequality and substantially reducing the employee turnover for the business. Increasing a person’s income would raise their yearly earnings by $3,640 and “Improve the economic security and reduce the economies poverty rate” (Fiscal Policy Center). Low-wage workers spend most of what they earn on their basic needs, which is quickly spent and does not leave the worker with much money left to spend on other needs. This boost in the minimum wage will stimulate the economy and help create opportunities for more people, by hiring more workers to keep up with the
Increasing minimum wage to $10.10 an hour will boost the economy because if people are earning more money, then they will spend more money (Shemkus). In a study done by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, minimum wage workers who received a wage that included an extra dollar per hour created an average of $2,800 in new consumer spending the next year (Berman and Scheller). That is a significant amount of money from such a tiny change, and if enough people were given just a one dollar raise in salary, then that would mean millions of dollars in new consumer spending, so raising salary $2.85 would mean even more money for the economy.
"Bill Gates: Raising Minimum Wage Can Destroy Jobs." The Foundry Conservative Policy News from The Heritage Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.
On the other side of the argument Americans believe that with the increase of minimum wages it would help Americans out a lot more. One possible way that the increase in minimum wage may help an individual out is in the article Minimum wage Pros and Cons, “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. Though this may be true, one problem
The lack of education forces immigrants to take unwanted jobs Americans do not acknowledge. Many jobs are low paying, which causes immigrants to maintain a low success. In “The Workforce is Even More Divided by Race than you think,” Derek Thompson directly states the labor market is stratified by race. Derek Thompson writes, “They make up about half of all farmworkers and laborers, 44 percent of grounds maintenance workers, and 43 percent of maids and house cleaners”(Thompson, 2013) The low paying jobs Hispanics are receiving maintains a poverty life in the US.
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.
Many critics claim that that raising minimum wage increases unemployment, especially for unskilled workers, and harms small businesses, including grocery stores and restaurants. The argument declares that companies such as these rely mostly on unskilled workers for labor, and if the minimum wage increases, then their profits and, therefore, hiring would decline, creating a...
Many areas could be affected by a change in minimum wage, but potentially the most drastic change would be to unemployment. Advocates of a higher minimum wage insist that a raise would significantly decrease the unemployment rate in the United States and improve the quality of living. However, there are conflicting opinions on this. Higher minimum wage would mean higher labor costs for business owners, thus making it more difficult for employers to maintain the amount of workers they have, let alone add new employees. Raising the minimum wage does not increase the value of the worker's labor; it increases the cost of the worker's labor. As a general rule the more something costs, the less of it people will buy. This is true of not only consumer goods but also of workers in the labor market.Many jobs come from large corporations but they also come from small businesses.There are 23 million small businesses in America, accounting for 54% of sales and 55% of jobs. Raising the minimum wage means that all of these corporations and businesses will have to dig deeper in...