minimum wage

The minimum wage is measured on living expense and the economic growth. As today's living expense, The minimum wages should be increased. Minimum wage should be increased because Parents that don't have degrees are struggling providing their families. People that have not gotten degrees because they could not afford them or have had families early and do not have the time or resources to go to school can not get a job that pays over minimum wage, most of the time. For instance, the employees that work on minimum wage in California have to work 130 hours a week to afford two bedrooms, this is the reason that the government supports the low income families.

In the United States there is a problem. People are working minimum wage jobs and are not being able to pay for basic needs such as rent and food. According to the Low Income Housing Coalition, Today, in the United States a person earning the Federal minimum wage of seven twenty-five an hour would have to work around eighty-six hours per week to be able to afford a one-bedroom apartment at the Fair Market Rent, of eight hundred and six dollars (“Out of Reach”). People are working and need government assistance to help them pay for basic needs in life. Raising the national minimum wage to fifteen dollars an hour would allow people to live a life where they don’t have to worry about not having enough money for food, rent, or other basic needs

The government needs to raise the minimum wage as it raises the income of people, which saves the taxpayers money and allows it to be used on things such as schools and fixing roads. Also, increasing the minimum wage creates wage growth, which helps grow the GDP, as people have more disposable income. Lastly, increasing the minimum wage reduces the wage gap between the CEOs and working class, with the purpose of distributing more of the profits to the working class to help pay for health care and education. In today’s world of capitalism, there should be a cap on how much one can make in a year in order to help the working class, who ultimately help keep the companies in business.

"The minimum wage has not kept pace with rising costs," Governor Brown, said in a statement. "This legislation is overdue and will help families that are struggling in this harsh economy." An increase in minimum wage would raise the standard of living for those living below the poverty line, working two or more jobs, and/or single parents. The minimum wage hasn't kept up with the rising costs of living putting more people into poverty unable to pay for everyday items. Every year that minimum wage remains the same it leaves minimum-wage workers with a paycheck that cannot buy as much as it did in years past.

From 2007 to 2009, the minimum wage increased from $5.15 to $7.25, where is still ... ... middle of paper ... ...ect all Americans, those making minimum wage and those with salaried jobs making above the bare minimum. Even though people are making more money, they will be spending more money on the necessities for life. Raising the minimum wage to the proposed level would be crippling to the American economy. Research shows that it would help many people greatly, but rid many more Americans of a job entirely leaving them no way to support themselves and their families. The same scenario would reoccur just as it did when the minimum wage was raised before: jobs would be lost.

However, college is not made for everyone, and what would our world be with only professionals? I agree with Ehrenreich that the minimum wage is too low because, while people with open opportunities earn a better future for their families, many like my own, are fighting to get through on a daily basis due to our economy. Ehrenreich mentions in her article "the Economic Policy Institute recently reviewed dozens of studies of what constitutes a "living wage" and came up with an average figure of $30,000 a year for a family of one adult and two children, which amounts to a wage of $14 an hour" (270.) If this is a living wage then how are people living today. The average minimum wage is much less than $14 and hour today.

The Minimum Wage is Not a Living Wage Anymore Should we have the minimum wage rise? Nowadays, many people argue that we should increase the minimum wage because we haven’t had an increase since 2009. People who are living on the minimum wage struggle a lot raising their families. (Webster) Minimum wage means the lowest daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. On the other hand living wage means the minimum amount that a worker must earn to afford his/her basic necessities, without public or private assistance (Webster).

Since its inception, the minimum wage has been a hotbed for debate. If today’s leaders could manage to increase minimum wage, millions of families would benefit. A person working at minimum wage will only make about $10,700 a year. When rent, groceries, bills and gas are all added up, it appears to be a nearly impossible task to keep a family afloat. But working 40 hours a week at $5.15 an hour, one makes less than $206 a week after taxes.

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).

Based on 2004’s Current Population Survey of America, today two million workers earn at or below minimum wage out of 73.9 million American workers who are paid at hourly rates (Characteristics). In 1996, the minimum wage raised to $5.15 per hour. Some people argue that this federal legislation helped low-wage workers a lot. Nevertheless, low-wage people are still suffering from hardship because of the big gap between their incomes and expenditures. In 1998, the minimum-wage was “$2,500 below the poverty line for a three-person family” if a worker works 40 hours a week without vacations (Rothman).