A raise in the minimum wage is only a temporary solution to fixing the problems in the United States. The federal minimum wage was introduced in 1938, during the Great Depression, and has already been increased 22 times. There are already 19 states that pay their employees well over the federal minimum wage. The highest minimum wage in the United States is in Seattle, Washington, and is set at fifteen dollars an hour. Interestingly enough, if minimum wage followed inflation, then it would be set at $4.24 an hour, which means it is already $3.01 over that amount that it should technically be (James Sherk 2013). Continued increases of the minimum wage in the United States need to be stopped as it will result in devastating impacts on low-skilled …show more content…
The cost of rent will increase monthly because if people have more money to spend, then landlords will bump up their prices. For example, California recently raised their state’s minimum wage to ten dollars an hour. According to the figures from the Council for Community and Economic Research, “the cost of living in Los Angeles is forty percent higher than the United States average” (Michael Hiltzic 2016). In result, this is just another negative impact on raising the minimum wage. Workers who cannot survive off of $7.25 an hour will not be able to survive off of $10.10 an hour because of inflation. Raising the minimum wage also forces business owners to raise the prices of their goods and …show more content…
These are just a few of the many awful effects that raising the minimum wage brings. When workers hear a raise in the minimum wage, all they think about is a bigger paycheck and not what will happen to low-skilled workers, the cost of living, and the added stress to unemployment rates. New workers with less skills will have a harder time finding a job. The cost of living is going to hike due to inflation. Unemployment rates will rise due to added stress on businesses. An increase in the minimum wage is great news to a high schooler saving up to buy a new phone, but terrible news to someone trying to raise a family. If the minimum wage continues to increase, these problems will get worse instead of
These changes come after years of debate to raise the minimum wage so family can earn a living on minimum wages. The federal US minimum wage was first established during the depression and was rise from .25 cent to 7.25 per hour since it was organized in 1938. Increasing the minimum wage may have collision beyond adding more cash to workers pocket. Authority assert that the real effects on minimum wages increases a lot of negative thing to happen like hurting
Over the years the cost of living has been on the rise. Therefore, it is only right for minimum wage to increase as the cost of living increases. Many states and even some individual cities have taken the first steps toward raising the minimum wage. States like Washington and cities like San Francisco have already raised their minimum wage above the federal minimum wage. This is a very good start as it is becoming harder and harder for Americans to start and take care of their families. We need more states and cities to follow their lead some more Americans can feel more financially stable. This will make a better America for us all.
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
Having minimum wage causes many people to become jobless all so a certain amount of people could live comfortably. Cooper believes that today’s workers are “stuck in jobs that pay so little they struggle to afford basic necessities.” Yes, some people may have trouble affording basic necessities, but at least they have some money that will help them out even if it’s just a little. A low paying job can make a difference between having nothing to eat at all or three small meals every day. If minimum wage increases, than the lives of many people would become even more difficult, and unbearable. A job that pays a little money is better than no job at all.
This increase in demand leads to an increase in the cost of rents in the
The federal minimum wage has been an ongoing debated topic since first established in America. Within the federal minimum wage bill, there are many different aspects, or sides, to look upon when arguing about the amount. Economic activity is negatively affected by the increase in minimum wage. One aspect afflicted within economic activity is poverty rate. The poverty rate is affected by the minimum wage through the welfare spending either increasing or decreasing or the unemployment levels rising or falling. Other sides of economic activity that a minimum wage increase would affect is the poor, the crime rate, and employee affiliations.
People that earn more than minimum wage have worked hard to get there, and they should be rewarded with a higher paying job because of the work they have done to get to their higher paying positions. People who are working minimum wage jobs and protesting for more money often do not put in the same amount of work as the people who have higher paying jobs. The reason why people want to raise the minimum wage amount are sometimes vague and unclear, but the negative effects of raising the minimum wage is very clear. Raising the minimum wage would cause inflation, decrease job value, lower job opportunities, and hurt smaller businesses. Although there are some alternatives to raising the minimum wage amount, raising the minimum wage is a dangerous cycle and there are more negative effects than positive
It is very difficult to live in America if you are living off of minimum wage, and many Americans are living off of it today. Raising minimum wages has its benefits like gaining more money to live better, but people do not see the down side of the increases in wages. With the increase in minimum wage, it also causes the cost of living to increase. How can this help the economy or help people? Minimum wages in America should not be increased because it will cause cost of living to increase, reduce employment, and cause businesses to lose money and workers.
Raising the minimum wage would increase the cost of doing business, which would have a negative effect on the still-fragile economy. The unemployment rate in America is 6.7 percent, which translates to eleven million Americans looking for jobs. With a hike in the minimum wage it would be harder for businesses to hire new employees or even keep the ones they already have. As an affect of the minimum wage hike, businesses would have to raise prices, hire fewer workers, reduce the number of hours employ...
Today the federal minimum wage is $5.15, but should be about $8.50 if Congress had adjusted it for inflation over the past 35 years. While $5.15 may not seen that bad, when factoring in such variables as sky rocketing gas prices, budgets can get pretty tight. David Shepard, a sophomore at Wayne State University, worked at a Meijer Retail and Grocery Superstore for over two years while in high school. At the time Shepard lived with his parents and didn’t have to worry about paying rent or buying groceries, all that he had to pay for was filling up his gas tank and paying for his car insurance. Shepard recalled, “It was all I could do to pay for the basics like gas and bill’s, I barely had any money to have fun on the weekends”. This is only an example of a high school student that can nearly slip by on minimum wage with only a few expenses. There are 1.8 million people in America with children under the age of 18 that would benefit from an increase in minimum wage (Minimum).
As of now, the minimum wage is $8.38. According to fee.com, a single parent would need to earn at least $10 an hour to cross the poverty line barely. Many people have a false accusation that the average person to be assisted by the minimum wage is a teenager. But by a recent survey conducted by go.epi.org , it shows that 87% of people who are benefited by the raise in minimum wage are above 20 and out of those 87%, 30% have kids that depend on them. The other 11% that are not over 20, are teenagers that work to try and help out to pay the bills in their family. Many conservatives think that, raising the minimum wage will shut down business and drop the economy. That is true, only if we raise it well over $15 an hour. Rather than raising the
On an average, a worker must make $18.92 per hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment in most places in the United States today (Network, Jolie Lee/USA Today). Additionally, most of the workers have to balance multiple job schedules, travel, and struggle to keep up their life going. In fact, according to the most recent available numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, (2010 Census) in December of 2011 more than 7 million people were holding 2 or more jobs. “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Benjamin Franklin (1789). In brief, people work and dies to pay the circle of education, work and taxes. The increase in minimum wage will indeed decrease a huge stone of stress of working enormous hours. The federal poverty line guideline for a family of four is 24,250 according to 2015 census. (Obamacarefact). Accordingly, a person will have to work 50 hours a week in order to fulfill the guideline. Whereby, $15 an hour will perfectly meet 40 hours work law without overtime or working multiple
In the next couple of years you could be unemployed and living in poverty. With increasing minimum wage families may soon begin to struggle. I do not agree with raising the minimum wage for it could cause increases in the cost of goods and services, human employment may be replaced by automation, and possibly increase unemployment.
Economic theory also predicts that an industry wide cost shock, such as minimum wage increases, will be passed on to prices (Lemos, 187). As labor costs rise, employers can either reduce their profit or pass along the costs to the consumer. Since businesses are around to make money, it would be unwise for them to cut into their profit. According to a study conducted by Purdue University, prices at fast food restaurants would increase by an estimated 4.3% (McLure). An increase in labor costs would be met with higher consumer prices because companies would have to offset the upturn in wages. If an employer is forced to pay their workers an additional 10%, the employer will have to raise the price of their goods or services by 10% to recoup the cost. Many small businesses operate on razor thin profit margins and having to pay additional wage costs could mean the end for many of these small
Although there are many American citizens and government officials who think there is no need to raise the minimum wage, research clearly shows that it will be much better to raise the minimum wage. This will help raise families incomes, maybe get the economy back on track and allow families to pay their debts. Now it is up to our government leaders to make the right choice and raise the minimum wage.