The Negative Effects Of Raising The Minimum Wage

Jennifer, a young woman who grew up in New York moved to a different state by herself to attend college. She attended Boston University and was fresh out of college with $30,000 in debt. She graduated during middle of the recession, so it was difficult to find a job anywhere. She took the offer for a minimum wage internship after she graduated from Boston University to help her stay afloat and pay the bills as she continued her search for other jobs. One day she was at the pharmacy debating whether she should spend her last eighty dollars to fill her prescription or buy a bus ticket so she was able to get to work during the week. The minimum wage in 2000 was $5.15 and in 2020 we can expect it to rise to $15.00 which is a dramatic increase in

People that earn more than minimum wage have worked hard to get there, and they should be rewarded with a higher paying job because of the work they have done to get to their higher paying positions. People who are working minimum wage jobs and protesting for more money often do not put in the same amount of work as the people who have higher paying jobs. The reason why people want to raise the minimum wage amount are sometimes vague and unclear, but the negative effects of raising the minimum wage is very clear. Raising the minimum wage would cause inflation, decrease job value, lower job opportunities, and hurt smaller businesses. Although there are some alternatives to raising the minimum wage amount, raising the minimum wage is a dangerous cycle and there are more negative effects than positive

Articles and interviews inform the public that “raising the minimum wage will help the lower class” (Neumark). People that currently earn minimum wage want to increase the minimum wage level because it has been raised in the past; “the states have raised the minimum wage level 91 times since 1987”(Cap). Some lower level workers are also relying on food stamps to feed their families. The media says that raising minimum wage will increase job opportunities because people will be more willing to spend money if they earn more per hour. The protesters say that they cannot support their families with only minimum wage amount. They need more money to keep their family off the streets. Raising the minimum wage is not a bad thing to do, but raising it to $15.00 would have a dramatic effect on our economy where as “raising the minimum wage amount to around $10.00 would then have a less dramatic effect on the economy”