The Debate Over Raising Minimum Wage

Wage War

Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour has been extensively debated over the last year or so. Minimum wage is the undermost wage allowed by law to be given to an employee for their services. Introduced in 1939, its purpose was to stabilize the economy, which was healing from the Great Depression. Most importantly, it was designed to protect the health and welling-being of employees. Currently, the Federal Government 's minimum is $7.25 per hour ($14,500 per year). The ones in favor of the increase are saying that it used to be a living wage; however, now it is not and it now needs to be line with changes to the cost of living. In addition, an increase in minimum wage can increase the productivity and decrease income inequality and poverty. On the other spectrum, the ones who are against the increase are saying that the increased labor cost will drive up unemployment, affect small businesses negatively, and cause other workers from different

If not, then you are going to be paying a worker who works in a fast food industry the same has a construction worker or a customer service representative,both of whom earn $15 dollars an hour. In the article, How raising the minimum wage ripples through the workforce by Ben Zipperer, he discusses how an increase in minimum affects the wages of other companies. He states, “In particular, economic theory suggests that increasing the minimum wage will raise the wages of other workers…” An increase in the wages of other workers will dramatically affect other businesses negatively because they have to pay a higher labor cost. Since they have a higher labor cost, this might cause businesses to look for alternative measures in order to lower their labor cost.These alternative measures might include giving fewer hours to their employees, raising their prices, or shutting down, in the case of some smaller