Issue of Raising the Minimum Wage

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Life is a struggle and finding a job and paying your bills is not always easy in this world today. A major debate that has been an issue is whether there should be a law to raise the minimum wage. The minimum wage is the lowest hourly salary an employer can pay an employee for their work. According to Williams (2013), “The minimum wage was signed into law by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1938”. The first minimum wage was 25 cents per hour. Since then, the minimum wage has been increasing as the last increase of Florida's minimum wage was an increase of 14 cents on Jan. 1, 2014. This federal increase makes it 68 cents higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25. Gibson (2014) states “Obama, who last year called for an increase in the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour, now plans to rally public support behind a bill in the U.S. Senate that would gradually boost it to $10.10 over the next two years”. After researching this topic very thoroughly, I have found that raising the minimum wage does have its pros and cons. An increase in the minimum wage has many benefits for the people of the U.S. Increasing the minimum wage would advance the average living for many families already living under the poverty line. According to Jamieson (2011), “Jacking the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.25 would give a raise to 10 million workers”. A minimum amount of income is extensive for workers in order to survive and pay the necessary bills to live. A regular full-time job is working 40 hours per week and with getting paid as little as minimum wage per hour, an average person will make about $1000 per month after taxes and such are deducted. With such high prices of living, rent by itself can take almost the whole paycheck if not more. H... ... middle of paper ... ...types of positions, there are types of taxes withdrawn. Consequently, tax revenues for the country are condensed. If the minimum wage was eliminated, the revenues would go up. Moreover, with smaller quantity of jobs accessible for illegals, they will not be as motivated to come into the country to begin with. The minimum wage law has its advantages and disadvantages. In a sense it will help those less educated/skilled support their families and be able to afford the costs of life. The minimum wage keeps employees guaranteed to make the bare minimum. Without minimum wage, employers could put any price they wanted on labor. Nevertheless, minimum wage does hurt business owners and keeps there business from running effectively because they have a certain budget they must pay their employees. Like anything else, the minimum wage law has its benefits and difficulties.

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