"Americans overwhelmingly agree that no one who works full time should ever have to raise a family in poverty... so join the rest of the country. say yes. give America a raise" (President Barack Obama 2014). This quote depicts that not a single human being that works hard at their job should ever have to be poor. This idea among many was part of President Barack Obama's state of the Union Address for 2014, promoting while seeking, a year of change to all American citizens. As a citizen of the United States, one knows the economic hardships and unemployment rates increasing. There needs to be a stop to these inclines, especially towards the poor and those becoming more educated with college. This is why I, for one agree with President Obama on raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. Raising the minimum wage slightly from $8.25 to $10.10 (only $1.85 increase) will have a huge impact on Americans today and even future Americans. Increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour will aid millions researchers say, through the economic values of food prices, small businesses unemployment rates, college students coping with college debt, and the poor living in a state of poverty. To begin, the ideas of small businesses and unemployment rates walk hand especially for the owners themselves when deciding to hire or fire their workers. Many economists believe that increasing the minimum wage will be able to reduce the percentage of unemployment rates slightly, which here in America is a big deal. One researcher, Paul Krugman a Keynesian economist states, "There just isnt any evidence that raising the minimum wage....would reduce employment. And this is actually the solid result, because there have been a lot of studies." Krugman displa... ... middle of paper ... ...bama stated in his 2014 state of the union address, 2014 is a year promoting change. In addition, the new minimum wage would allow the poor to gain jobs making more money to provide for their families financially. Small businesses will not have to let anyone go because in the long run financial inabilities will become obsolete and business will be making more money not losing. All in all, raising the minimum wage to $10.10 contains many positive benefits including aiding with unemployment rates, raising food prices pennies to help the economy, and financial benefits towards students seeking a higher education at Universities. The next step is to wait out the process as the new bill has already been passed with 87 votes in the House of Representatives. In America it is essential for no one to live in poverty or not receive the higher education that they dreamed of.
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Show MoreMore than 4.6 million people live in poverty in the US. A question often raised when talking about minimum wage is, would raising it lower this number? The consensus is, yes, it would. If the federal minimum wage was raised, at lot of peoples’ incomes would grow, not just low wage workers. As employers shifted their pay scales upward, many incomes would grow. According to Jared Bernstein, the former chief economist of the Obama Administration, this isn’t as relevant as the impact is would have on low wage workers. He explains how, although many other people would benefit from an increase in minimum wage, most of the help would go to those who need it. He also notes, “We must be careful not to be wedded to poverty thresholds that are inadequate measures of who needs the help.” If the minimum wage was raised to $10.10 per hour, 2 million people would be lifted out of poverty (US Department of
In “Why raising the minimum wage is good economics”, John Komlos uses his knowledge and experience in the field of economics to explain why Congress should raise the federal minimum wage. He makes his case by comparing low-wage workers to Russian serfs and relating the hardships of the working poor. According to Komlos, a person working full-time at a minimum wage job makes about $12,000 a year after taxes, just above the poverty line for a single person. He also points out that America’s federal minimum wage is well below that of other industrialized countries.
Currently, in the United States, the federal minimum wage has been $7.25 for the past six years; however, in 1938 when it first became a law, it was only $0.25. In the United States the federal minimum wage has been raised 22 times since 1938 by a significant amount due to changes in the economy. Minimum wage was created to help America in poverty and consumer power purchasing, but studies have shown that minimum wage increases do not reduce poverty. By increasing the minimum wage, it “will lift some families out of poverty, while other low-skilled workers may lose their jobs, which reduces their income and drops their families into poverty” (Wilson 4). When increasing minimum wage low-skilled, workers living in poor families,
President Franklin Roosevelt endorsed the federal minimum wage law in 1938 while the Great Depression was at its utmost insolvent position. Because at this point in time the economy was at its lowest, the sole purpose for its enactment was to keep the majority of Americans out of poverty and increase consumer demand. Following the 1960’s, the minimum wage has had a very gradual increase to the point where it is now at a standby. At this moment with a recession occurring, minimum wages have not brought any benefits to those working for such a limited pay. In fact, it has affected an amount of factors rather than actually keeping the overall population out of impoverishment. Although opponents claim a rise in minimum wages will affect employment, an increase is the key to stimulate the economy and will further reduce those stepping in the poverty line, known as the “working poor.” All in all, raising earnings will be advantageous as a whole.
"The rich get richer while the poor get poorer." This quote was originally stated in William Henry Harrison's 1840 speech but sadly enough can still be used today to describe our economic downfall and crisis. With California currently holding a minimum wage at $10 many argue that this just isn’t cutting it anymore. One of the only ways to live prosperously on this income is to work, relentlessly, day in and day out. With many people living day-to-day and paycheck- to-paycheck, it is safe to say that the place minimum wage is right now is not working for most of the nation. With our developing economy, standards of living, unemployment rate, and debatable employee morale, it just seems right to increase the minimum wage.
Barrack Obama’s State of The Union Address of 2013 caused a controversy that is still a relevant debate topic. Live from the United States Capitol, Obama clarified his perception on the minimum wage in America. Obama insisted that minimum wage should be increased because it would be a means of social justice to many Americans. Many Americans live in poverty and Obama believes that raising the minimum wage would assist some Americans to remove oneself from living in poverty and assist the economy from disintegrating. After hearing Obama’s State of The Union Address of 2013 and reading many articles concerning the raising of minimum wage, I believe minimum wage should be raised because it would decrease poverty, keep individuals from under the table jobs, and cause a decrease in taxes.
The current U.S. federal minimum wage for untipped workers is currently $7.25 an hour, as it has been since 2009. At this rate, a full time employee would earn an annual salary of $15,080, meaning that a family of two people, for example a single working mother with one child, working a full time minimum wage job, would sit below the federal poverty line of $15,730 for two people (2014 Poverty Guidelines). While it is true that there are tax breaks such as those for children, and the Earned Income Tax that exist to help such people living in poverty, the fact exists that the wages in the US have not kept up with inflation and the cost of living. While the value of the federal minimum wage has risen 21% since 1990, the cost of living itself has risen 67% (Gilson). Opponents are quick to argue that only unskilled workers are paid minimum wag...
America is currently working on the issue of whether the minimum wage should be increased from $7.25 to $10.10 and economists are studying the effects of the possible increase. Minimum wage workers deal with struggles such as affording health care, paying for education, providing food for their families, putting many hours of work in while making little income and paying their bills. America’s decision to raise the minimum wage would help low wage workers to make higher incomes and would overall strengthen the economy, pulling Americans out of poverty. Americans may hold a minimum wage job if they do not have money to attend a college or university to obtain a degree in order to find a career.
Mark Adams argues that raising minimum wage would hurt the poor rather than helping them. He points out that raising minimum wage will make it hard for them to find a job. He thinks that best way to cut help poor is to cut back on costly regulation that burden job creators, rather than increasing the minimum wage. I will use this article to point out what the critics have to say and use it make counter arguments. Mark Adams is a research fellow at the Mercatus center at George Mason University, making it a very credible source.
In this article, the author talked about increasing the federal minimum wage in Washington which Obama favors to be 10.10 $ an hour. He mentions a long with the 16.5 million workers that a 10.10$ minimum wage would help directly through changing. This change would improve the family incomes of more than low wage workers and above the poverty line. Additionaly, increasing wages is good for business because the gross domestic product(GDP) will comes up. Furthermore, a minimum wage could affect consumer price and higher-wage earnings.
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...
President Obama has approved a plan to increase the Federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour by 2016. There are those that believe raising the minimum wage will benefit low wage earners and boost their families over the federal poverty line. However, others believe that it will negatively affect the same group of people it is proposed to help. Many believe unemployment will increase due to less job opportunities and employees being let go, and businesses will be put in danger. Small businesses will be in more danger than large business will be. Majority of small company’s pay their workers the minimum wage, while employees at large businesses are paid by salary. Due to the increase in the federal minimum wage, small businesses will receive less profit for their company, will have to lower their employee count and teenagers will have a decreased opportunity to get an entry level job.
("The History of Welfare") “Low income families make up 60 percent of those receiving food stamps, and 47 percent on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). According to a 2014 report “Local Minimum wage laws: Impacts on workers, families and businesses” from the University of California, The authors concluded that the enrollment in public assistance programs coincides with the federal poverty level and that increasing the minimum wage reduces public assistance, participation.” They suggested that a 10 percent increase in the minimum wage reduces food stamp enrollment by anywhere between 2.4 to 3.2 percent ,and reduces program expenditures by 1.9 percent. During President Obama’s 2014 state union address, he urged Congress to increase the minimum wage to $10.10. A report from the Congressional Budget Office projects that an increase in the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per house will result in higher paychecks for 16.5 million employees. Amongst those 900,000 individuals will rise above the poverty
Opposite argues that increasing the minimum wage would cause businesses to cut off employees and would not boost the economy, this is false because the increase in minimum wage will boost the economy by an “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.” (Minimum wage) In addition, the opposite side may view that “raising the minimum wage would increase the price of consumer goods,” but this will not happen because “the federal minimum wage is not indexed for inflation, its purchasing power has dropped considerably since its peak in 1968.” (Minimum
...back. The District of Columbia and seven other states have already raised the minimum wage and 34 more states have started debates with their legislative represenives. Even the activists from 8 states are trying to get ballot referendums to demand minimum wage increase for the lowest paid workers this year 2014. President Obama has stated that “Nobody who works full time should be raising a family in poverty.” He has also said with the increase in minimum wage is” especially important for women.” Obama was pointing out that more than half of the people he is targeting to help are women.