Persuasive Essay: Why Should Minimum Wage Be Raised?

The same scenario would reoccur just as it did when the minimum wage was raised before: jobs would be lost. Prices would rise greatly, citizens would lose jobs, and more people will become reliant upon the government if the minimum wage is increased. None of these things are good for an economy, especially one that is already struggling. The consequences of raising the minimum wage rate are very severe.

Minimum wage is an example of government intervention. The government has put a minimum on the dollar amount that employers can pay their employees. Unfortunately when we implement solutions like the minimum wage, it is too late to actually fix the problem, so in most cases it has effects that we cannot foresee as it is a reaction instead of a prevention method. Minimum wage actually helps very few people. The only ones that benefit from minimum wage are those unskilled workers who are currently employed.

"Things like child care and sick leave and equal pay. Things like lower mortgage premiums and a higher minimum wage. These ideas will make a meaningful difference in the lives of millions of families. That is a fact. And that's what all of us — Republicans and Democrats alike — were sent to Washington to do..." -- President Obama, State of the Union address In the United States Minimum Wage is approaching record lows.

People are deemed poor if their incomes are insufficient to obtain the basic necessitates for themselves or their families. The most common and stereotypic explanation of poverty is the poor cause their own poverty because in America anything is possible if you want it. This “blame the poor” point of view is does not apply to all poverty stricken, a big misperception is that the poor do not work. Not only are most poor people able and more than willing to work hard and they do so when given the chance. The fact is nearly half of the poor populations of working age do work even if it is minimal and millions of them work full-time.

Why are low wage workers paid so little for what they do, are there jobs easy to do and useless to soc... ... middle of paper ... ...any people, they get so little raise no matter how hard they work. A lot of low wage workers can’t support their families, they need to work over time or even work seven days a week. So many low wage workers work two or three jobs just to scratch a living and support their families. Big businesses don’t consider helping their hard working employees by giving them a raise, because so many low wage workers are afraid to speak they are afraid from losing their jobs. I think that the best solution for this problem is to pass a law that require all employers to increase their wages every year according to the profits they make.

Many people or even families work their behinds off and still hardly have enough to make ends meet. Like Ehrenreich says "someday [...] [people] are bound to tire of getting so little in return and to demand to be paid what they're worth. There'll be a lot of anger when that day comes" (273.) I think this is so true. Minimum wage is way less than what a family can live on.

If you or your family were to go out into the world today and find an easy paying job you would be expecting minimum wage. Minimum wage has been defined by as the lowest wage, determined by law or contract that an employer may pay an employee for a specified job. For many this is not enough I know first had that it will help but it is not enough. For most of my college career my mother was the only one making more than minimum wage and it was barely enough. Recently this subject has been in the news more than ever.

About eight million Americans go to work every day, yet they are still living below the poverty line (Camden and Stern). More than one million of them are retail workers. If the minimum wage was to escalate, 734,075 people would be lifted out of poverty. Also the 769,191 people that are living on or near the poverty line would see their incomes go above it by 150 percent. These workers are struggling to provide basic necessities for their family and themselves.

In this day in age many United States citizens struggle just to get some bills paid, feed their kids, and even enjoy their own money. Of course with most of them wanting to quit their jobs but know they can’t because no one else will hire them. Basically having to maintain with minimum wage is what they’ve had to deal with probably for their entire life. All they ask for is a bit of a higher pay just enough to be able to get things done and not have to stress so much over the smaller things. Raising minimum wage can positively impact a younger person in society financially by giving them the change to cause a positive ripple in the economy, produce more jobs for others, help slow down the use of government programs, and it can even help decrease

If minimum wage was increased it would increase the number of job opportunities. Since people would be earning more money they would be spending it at businesses more often. This would mean that these businesses would need more employees to handle the business they were receiving. Employees would be more likely to be satisfied with their job, because of the salary they would be earning. If minimum wage were to increase a little bit every year... ... middle of paper ... ...d. Along with these dilemmas, competition for all positions will intensify, which could make it extremely hard to obtain a job.