Minimum Wage Argumentative Essay

Minimum wage can be defined as the lowest salary that employers may legally pay for an employees work or service. Minimum wage was first enacted in 1938; this law was called the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Fair Labor Standards Act, or the FLSA, established minimum wage to ensure that the lowest-paid workers would still receive a sufficient amount of pay. Evidently, minimum wage has increased over the years, but some argue that the current minimum wage is still not enough. It can be debated whether minimum wage actually helps Americans or hinders Americans. Minimum wage hinders Americans because as the costs of living goes up, their pay stays the same, as inflation goes up, their pay stays the same, and many cannot survive off the little pay
They argue that minimum wage is just enough, and maybe even more than enough because it has been raised nearly two dozen times since it was just 25 cents an hour. These people usually don’t see the gap between the rich and the poor, and they think besides, it will not help to raise the current minimum wage because of all the negative side effects. They argue that raising the minimum wage will not help Americans because it will cause inflation. But, if the price of a pair of jeans increases or even a hamburger, people will still be able to afford it. This can be proven as a fact because in the past, as inflation has gone up, so has minimum wage (Lenahan). They also argue that there will be job cuts and those low-skilled employees will lose their paychecks altogether. In some cases this may be true, but for many situations it could encourage those low-skilled workers and give them the confidence they need to go out and find an even better job than just their minimum wage job. Not only will an increase in the minimum wage help low-paid employees, it will increase all wages for all employees in America as a whole. The current minimum wage hinders all Americans now, but in the future, if it raised, it will help all Americans