What Are The Pros And Cons For Raising The Minimum Wage

Raising the minimum wage to $10.25 an hour is a touchy subject with virtually all people; fortunately, it is easy to understand both the pro and con arguments. Simply looking at it from an employee’s point of view, it is needed; trying to live on only a 40 hour per week, minimum wage job would be near impossible. This yearly average is 8% below the 2015 federal poverty level for a single-parent family with a child (ProCon.Org). Looking at it from a business perspective, especially small businesses, some say it could force a number of companies to close, due to the strain of the extra payroll; while driving some other companies to lay off workers, cutback on hours, or not hire new employees in the future.

Some feel that raising the minimum wage would encourage people to opt for the easy way out, when it came to working. They would not try to improve themselves by either furthering their education or striving to move up in a job, in order to increase their wages; they would be content to just get by. This view stands to reason; nonetheless, if minimum wage was higher for the unskilled, then it would also stand to reason that the wages

Nevertheless, something needs to be done to help the average person out. The middle class is quickly disappearing in our country. There is a growing gap between the poor and the wealthy, with few people left in-between. What is currently being done is not working; the cost of living continues to rise with no cap in sight, but the minimum wage has not increased since 2009. Debating the possible pros and cons of this issue has not helped the problem and continuing the same path is not accomplishing anything. Considering the current situation appears to be heading for the worse, and the gap between the classes seems to widen every year, maybe it is time for an increase in the minimum wage. The outcome, positive or negative, of an increase will never be known if it is not