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The positive or negative effects of minimum wage
Why should we increase the minimum wage
Why should we increase the minimum wage
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Minimum Wage, Too low?
What is minimum wage? According to Webster dictionary, minimum wage is “an amount of money that is the least amount of money per hour that workers must be paid according to the law”. The question is, is the least amount of money that is set by the government enough or does it need to be higher? This argument has been going on for a while, some are against the raise of minimum wage and some are with the raise of minimum wage, and of course, like any other argument there are pros and cons for each side.
Minimum wage in Texas is $7.25, the people that are with the idea of raising the minimum wage are arguing that this is not enough, it is not enough for someone to start a family or to even live on his own on this hourly
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For example one of the cons that would happen if the minimum wage was raised would be that the businesses would have to lay off people because that’s how business work. The Congressional Budget Office studied that “a minimum wage increase from $7.25 to $10.10 would result in a loss of 500,000 jobs. In a survey of 1,213 businesses and human resources professionals, 38% of employers who currently pay minimum wage said they would lay off some employees if the minimum wage was increased to $10.10. 54% said they would decrease hiring levels.” (Procon) Which is understandable, if they pay more money while getting the same productivity like before the business would probably end up running out of money. Raising the minimum wage would not only affect big business but also affect small businesses because as a small business owner, if the minimum wage was higher and the owner does not make enough money as it is, they probably end up laying off the less skilled employees. Those under skilled employees are usually teenagers who are trying to get experience for future jobs. Without the experience, it is hard to find better paying jobs. Written in the book the minimum wage opposing viewpoints there is a section written by Joseph J. Sabia stating
The minimum wage has always been a controversial subject that has more and more people debating about the subject. While the talk about minimum wages are highly popular it is an important subject to get informed about if you’re an employee or employer because it has to deal with your money. What is minimum wage? Minimum wage is the hourly wage an employer can pay an employee for his or her work. While the talk about raising the minimum wage has caused some attention in both negative and positive. Nevertheless, the topic that the minimum wage offers substantial benefits to low wage workers without any negative effects to business owners has a growing view among economists.
The United States minimum wage is not indexed to inflation. Due to this fact, the purchasing power of minimum wage falls as the price of consumer goods increases. The current hourly minimum wage is set at $7.25, however many states do pay above this rate. One example of this is in Michigan, the current hourly minimum wage is $7.40. The last time a change occurred to raise minimum wage was in 2009. President Obama has put out a proposal that is designed to raise the federally required hourly minimum wage to $10.10 in 2015. The public opinion of this proposal is all over the board ranging from a positive outlook to a negative one. Some of the negative remarks are that it would dampen the economy and shrink the hiring done by small businesses. “The Household Survival Budget for the average New Jersey family of four is $58,500 and for a single adult is $25,368 in 2010. These numbers highl...
Understanding the basic concept of minimum wage is important for every single individual. We all live in this world together and it is obvious that there is an order. In order to continue our lives and afford our basic needs, we all need to work and gain wealth. As the old adage says ‘‘There ain’t a such a thing as a free lunch.’’ We need to give up on something that we like to get something else that we like. That’s why, every single individual in the society face trade-offs. However, people have different status. Some people work as employees and some work as employers. In that case of minimum wage the trade off is between employees and employers. Employees work for employers in order to gain money and afford their minimal living expenses whereas employers give up on their money and pay for employees because employers take care of their need of labor. Employers pay for their workers who we call employees and employees gain hourly money. The calculated minimum money that they gain in an hour base called minimum wages. Besides, there is this cycle that everyone actually works
What is minimum wage? Minimum wage is the lowest hourly rate (dollars per hour) that employers can pay their employees. According to minimumwage.com Minnesota’s minnimum wage is $7.25 per hour but will be getting raised to $9.00 per hour. Minnesota’s minimum wage is a common rate among many states such as Texas, South Dakota, and Iowa. Oregon and Washington are states that currently have their minimum wage rate set at or above $9.00 per hour. For both of these states, raising minimum wage has not necessarily decreased the poverty line. Both Oregon and Washington are still among the top 20 states for high poverty rates while New Hampshire has the lowest poverty rate and also has minimum wage set at $7.25 per hour.
Minimum wage is a difficult number to decide on because it affects different income earning citizens in different ways. According to Principles of Microeconomics, by N. Gregory Mankiw, minimum wage is a law that establishes the lowest price for labor that and employer may pay (Mankiw 6-1b). Currently, the minimum wage in the United States is $7.25 per hour. For many years politicians and citizens have argued on what should be the minimum wage that would benefit the economy and society in general. A minimum wage was first established in 1938 to increase the standard of living of lower class workers. To discuss what is better for the country and its citizens, people have to understand what is a minimum wage and what are its effects.
The minimum wage today has a lot of issues; some people say it is not enough to live comfortably. Many agree that there needs to be an increase in minimum wages and by doing that it can help with our issues of poverty. Statistics show that a worker who is full time and earning minimum wage makes only $15,080 a year, which is under the federal poverty line for a family of two. (Gitis, 2013) The problem with that is $15,080 is not a sufficient amount that a person can live and grow on. “A family of two can consist of a mother and son or daughter, father and son or ...
In the eyes of the employees, the minimum wage raise is mostly a pro for them. There are three main reasons why increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour would give benefits to both the employer and employees. Workers can make a decent living with a pay of $15 per hour. These people will then have a higher income that will enable them to pay their basic needs and living expenses. Back then in 2013, a report from the Congressional Budget Office estimated that 16.5 million low-wage workers would benefit from a $10.00 per hour wage; this includes 900,000 works coming up the poverty line ("The Effects of a Minimum-Wage Increase on Employment and Family Income"). So if employees receive a pay S15.00 an hour, the fewer people ar...
There are indeed risks of raising the minimum wage, but the rewards outweigh those risks, so the minimum wage should be raised. Some people who are against this may say ...“But other economists say raising the minimum wage actually hurts the very people it's designed to help: One of the basic laws of economics is that if you raise the price of something, there will be less demand for it. In this case, if you raise the price of workers, the demand for workers will decline. That could mean companies cutting the hours of employees, laying them off, or hiring fewer workers in the future.”... Yes, it could hurt the people it is designed to help, but different states have done this and found the opposite to be true. With America’s still fragile economy we need a boost, a helping hand; And this could be it. So next time you go down to vote on a mayor or maybe even the next president, remember that raising the minimum wage is a good thing, and you should be supporting
One way raising minimum wage will be beneficial is that it could lift many Americans out of poverty. Raising the minimum wage in Illinois, would help the families of more than 1.1 million workers who work to meet their children’s basic needs and “reduce the adverse effects of poverty on a child’s well-being” (Fiscal Policy Center). Studies have shown that raising the minimum wage would help 1 in 5 Illinois families who are in poverty. By raising the minimum wage in Illinois, it would help workers with families spend money on food, housing, gas, and other needs without going into poverty. Along with puling Americans out of poverty, raising the minimum wage could also stimulate economic growth. Raising the minimum wage, is stimulating economic growth by worsening the income inequality and substantially reducing the employee turnover for the business. Increasing a person’s income would raise their yearly earnings by $3,640 and “Improve the economic security and reduce the economies poverty rate” (Fiscal Policy Center). Low-wage workers spend most of what they earn on their basic needs, which is quickly spent and does not leave the worker with much money left to spend on other needs. This boost in the minimum wage will stimulate the economy and help create opportunities for more people, by hiring more workers to keep up with the
The definition of Minimum Wage is “an amount of money that is the least amount of money per hour that workers must be paid according to the law” (Minimum wage). Minimum wage, like other laws, are used to keep the economy in line. Minimum wage laws were invented in Australia and New Zealand with the purpose of guaranteeing a minimum standard of living for unskilled workers. (Linda Gorman) Minimum wage puts a price on the services one offers. Many different principles can be used to explain Minimum wage and explore the different aspects of it. Including what minimum wage does for our economy and the current status of it.
People argue to increase the minimum wage in order for them to have enough money for food, housing, and everyday essentials. Minimum wage is not intended for a single parent nor a single person to live off of as the only income. The actual reason of minimum wage being established was to ensure fair wages for work. These wages were set for people who could not obtain a higher paying job due to their skills. These people were usually ones with low intellectual capabilities, young people, or high schoolers. Most of the workers earning minimum wage now are young adults who only work part-time. The older workers earning minimum wage are, also, usually work part-time. They are working for additional money along with their salary from a full-time job. Along these lines, one is able to use minimum wage to aide with living expenses but not live solely off of that amount of
America is currently working on the issue of whether the minimum wage should be increased from $7.25 to $10.10 and economists are studying the effects of the possible increase. Minimum wage workers deal with struggles such as affording health care, paying for education, providing food for their families, putting many hours of work in while making little income and paying their bills. America’s decision to raise the minimum wage would help low wage workers to make higher incomes and would overall strengthen the economy, pulling Americans out of poverty. Americans may hold a minimum wage job if they do not have money to attend a college or university to obtain a degree in order to find a career.
Today the federal minimum wage is $5.15, but should be about $8.50 if Congress had adjusted it for inflation over the past 35 years. While $5.15 may not seen that bad, when factoring in such variables as sky rocketing gas prices, budgets can get pretty tight. David Shepard, a sophomore at Wayne State University, worked at a Meijer Retail and Grocery Superstore for over two years while in high school. At the time Shepard lived with his parents and didn’t have to worry about paying rent or buying groceries, all that he had to pay for was filling up his gas tank and paying for his car insurance. Shepard recalled, “It was all I could do to pay for the basics like gas and bill’s, I barely had any money to have fun on the weekends”. This is only an example of a high school student that can nearly slip by on minimum wage with only a few expenses. There are 1.8 million people in America with children under the age of 18 that would benefit from an increase in minimum wage (Minimum).
Minimum wage is the lowest hourly pay employers are legally able to pay their workers. In United States there is huge debate on whether or not to raise the current minimum wage rates from seven dollars and twenty five cents per hour. States are leading push to increase the minimum wage by Democrats who appeal to working class Americans. Congress want to increase minimum wages above seven dollars and twenty five cents. The issues of whether to raise the minimum wage or not.
In the 2014 State of the Union address, President Obama called on Congress to raise the national minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour, and soon after signed an Executive Order to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 for the individuals working on new federal service contracts. An increase in the minimum wage has been a topic of discussion for many years now, and it looks like this year will finally see the first increase of minimum wage in 10 years. Not everyone agrees that there should be an increase, but many states have already raised their minimum wage rates because of the federal government’s inaction. Iowa raised the state’s wage, and it will rise again in 2016. Clearly there are benefits to a higher minimum wage; the current minimum wage in the United States should be raised because it helps the economy by increasing employment, and it is now at the lowest value it has been in more than 50 years, causing hardship for earners of minimum wage.