Minimum Wage Arguments

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Sanders, Period 4 May 2, 2014 Debates rough draft The Federal Minimum Wage Should Not be Raised Raising the minimum wage is likely to do more harm than good towards businesses. The Federal minimum wage being $10.10 and hour would lead to high unemployment rate, especially among teens. There are some better ideas of things that can be done to create a better economy and help people get the money they need. A high minimum wage comes with many negative effects that could lead to thinking that keeping the wage as it is right now would be the best option. Since the Federal minimum wage is already a high rate, it would be pointless to make it even higher when our country is already in debt. It is true that people with minimum wage jobs will have more money to spend on more things. It will help low income family’s pay some bills and not have to have a stressful job. However, $10.10 an hour is still not enough money to support a family or afford house or car payments as well as electric and water bills. “A 1997 National bureau of economic research study estimated that the federal minimum wage hike of 1996-1997 actually increased the number of poor families by 4.5%”(Henderson 54). A high minimum wage would also encourage people to become lazy thinking they can make all this money from an easy job instead of becoming better educated and trying hard to get a higher paying job. Therefore, raising the minimum wage would not help stop poverty or success. Not only does raising the minimum wage cause a high rate of teen unemployment because of employers not wanting to pay higher wages to inexperienced workers, it can lead to problems with teen education. “Some minimum wage advocated argue that teenagers should be in high school or... ... middle of paper ... ...e a smart move by the government because looking at the ups and downs of it; there are more negative effects. Lastly, $10.10 as the federal minimum wage would be pointless because it is already a high rate in most states, and businesses would just absorb the money they are given to pay employees. Rather than having a crappy job and living on the edge with barely enough money to pay bills and not getting the chance to learn new skills as a worker, employees should have the option to get a better education for cheap and get a higher paying job where they can get promoted. Henderson, David R. "Raising the Minimum Wage Will Not Reduce Poverty." Poverty: Opposing Viewpoints. Ed. Viqi Wagner. MI: Christine Nasso, 2008. 140-46. Print. "Minimum Wage Laws in the States." U.S. Department of Labor. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2014. .

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