Congress Should NOT Raise Minimum Wage

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Before other states jump on the $15 minimum-wage bandwagon, they might want to look at what's happening in Massachusetts — one of two states with a $10-an-hour minimum wage. Massachusetts increased the minimum wage from $8 to $9 at the start of 2015 and to $10 on the first day of 2016. The state is now mired in its longest stretch of net job losses since the recession, Labor Department data show. Minimum wage is the assured lowest amount of pay per hour that an employee can receive and it’s purpose is to make certain that employers are paying their workers fairly. The first minimum wage was created by Congress in 1938 as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act; it was twenty-five cents an hour. Since then, it has varied over the years, the highest being in 1968, but today it stands at $7.25 (Sherk). At the moment, Congress is contemplating the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013, which would, over two years, raise the minimum wage to $10.10 (GovTrack). However, raising the minimum wage is a bad idea because a majority of minimum wage jobs belong to teenagers who will not stay in the job very long and do not need to support a family, raising minimum wage will lessen the availability of jobs for the poor, and it is pointless since many of the impoverished that the raising of the minimum wage is targeted to help, will not be able to benefit. “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 ... ... middle of paper ... ...lp-the-poor http://www.salary.com/increasing-the-minimum-wage-pros-cons/ http://www.forbes.com/fdc/welcome_mjx.shtml http://www.heritage.org/research/testimony/2013/06/what-is-minimum-wage-its-history-and-effects-on-the-economy http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/340644/raising-minimum-wage-tired-bad-proposal-veronique-de-rugy http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/labor/negative-effects-minimum-wage-laws http://www.policymic.com/articles/30345/elizabeth-warren-hints-at-22-minimum-wage-why-that-s-a-bad-idea http://www.heritage.org/research/testimony/2013/06/what-is-minimum-wage-its-history-and-effects-on-the-economy https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/s460 http://www.marketwatch.com/story/raising-the-minimum-wage-is-bad-news-2013-02-22 http://www.forbes.com/sites/williamdunkelberg/2012/12/31/why-raising-the-minimum-wage-kills-jobs/

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