Essay On Minimum Wage
Former President Roosevelt said, “[Minimum wage is] the most far-reaching, farsighted program for the benefit of workers ever adopted in this or any other country” (Sherk). Back in 1938 as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) the United States Congress instituted a minimum wage and required employers to start paying their workers overtime. The minimum wage, when first created in 1938 was twenty-five cents an hour. President Franklin D. Roosevelt thought that creating a minimum wage was the second most important piece of the New Deal after the creation of the Social Security Act. When FLSA was passed, Roosevelt also put over half a million dollars towards creating new jobs for Americans. His goal was to get millions of people back
…show more content…
Some people feel that it needs to be raised up to a so called “living wage” in which they believe should be around fifteen dollars an hour, while others think that we should keep it at the federal minimum wage of seven dollars and twenty-five cents an hour. Looking at the various effects of change in minimum wage, the best thing our leaders could do for the economy is raise the minimum wage to fifteen dollars an hour. fifteen dollars an hour is a living wage that leaves enough room for people to live comfortably while having spending money. Since minimum wage was created over 75 years ago, it has only been raised nine times. In the past six years minimum wage has not been adjusted for rising costs of necessities and inflation. Seven dollars and twenty-five cents an hour is extremely low for the current spending power of the dollar. United States census data states that roughly one third of Americans are either in or close to the poverty level. A single parent working full time for minimum wage pay makes under fifteen thousand dollars a year before taxes; if that parent has two children they are four thousand dollars below the poverty line. Raising minimum wage to fifteen dollars an hour would create a living wage, stimulate the economy, and it will pull people out of poverty so they no longer rely on the government for
Some people feel that it needs to be raised up to a so called “living wage” in which they believe should be around fifteen dollars an hour, while others think that we should keep it at the federal minimum wage of seven dollars and twenty-five cents an hour. Looking at the various effects of change in minimum wage, the best thing our leaders could do for the economy is raise the minimum wage to fifteen dollars an hour. fifteen dollars an hour is a living wage that leaves enough room for people to live comfortably while having spending money. Since minimum wage was created over 75 years ago, it has only been raised nine times. In the past six years minimum wage has not been adjusted for rising costs of necessities and inflation. Seven dollars and twenty-five cents an hour is extremely low for the current spending power of the dollar. United States census data states that roughly one third of Americans are either in or close to the poverty level. A single parent working full time for minimum wage pay makes under fifteen thousand dollars a year before taxes; if that parent has two children they are four thousand dollars below the poverty line. Raising minimum wage to fifteen dollars an hour would create a living wage, stimulate the economy, and it will pull people out of poverty so they no longer rely on the government for