Preview

The Importance Of Raising Minimum Wage

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2313 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Importance Of Raising Minimum Wage
Raise the Minimum Wage
There has been a lot of discussion regarding the increase of minimum wage across the nation. Currently, the wage is set at a low amount of $7.25 an hour. In today’s society it is almost impossible to live on only an income of $7.25 an hour especially for those who are raising a family. In President Obama’s 2013 State of the Union Address, the president proposed to raise the minimum wage to 9 dollars by the year 2015 (Luhby). A higher minimum wage would help people living in poverty by providing better means of financial stability, and it would also improve the chances of those people trying to escape poverty stricken living conditions. Another bonus to increasing the minimum wage is that it could potentially
…show more content…

Studies suggest that an extravagant amount of workers earn either the current minimum wage of $7.25 an hour or less. As a matter of fact, in 2012 about 3.6 million workers fell into this category, which makes up about 4.7% of all hourly paid workers (Minimum Wage Workers). Even though the percentage of workers who fit into this category may seem slow, in reality it is an alarming rate especially since minorities and young people make up most of the population. As illustrated by the National Employment Law Project, 50% of minimum wage earners are 25 years of age and younger and another 5% of workers were of African American, Hispanic, Latino descent (NELP). That means that nearly 55% of workers who make the federal minimum wage are considered to be a minority across the nation. Another interesting statistic, reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is that about three-fifths of minimum wage workers are employed in some type of service related industry (Minimum Wage Workers). For instance, a lot of food servers, waiters and waitresses, only earn a minimum wage salary of $7.25 or less. However, in these professions, it is expected that employees receive tips from the served consumers. Then after combining the two entities, employees should earn a salary that is either equal to or more than the current minimum wage, …show more content…

In 2012 during his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama announced, “A minimum wage worker who works full time year round does not make enough to be considered above the federal poverty line” (Cooper). According to Dr. Sherry Kasper, an economics professor at Maryville College, the federal poverty line for one single individual is around $11,500 a year (Kasper). Since President Obama stated that full time minimum wage workers do not make enough money to meet the requirements to be above the federal poverty line, there are tons of people who make less than $11,500 annually and struggle financially to support themselves, let alone enough to support a family. Therefore, because the minimum wage so low, America has millions of people living in

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Although raising the minimum wage may cause inflation, “According to Dr. Pacitti, inflation would likely less than 1 percentage point per year in the wake of a $15 minimum wage. ‘Firms could accept lower profits to offset any inflationary impact.’” (“Real Talk: The Potential Impact of a $15 Minimum Wage") This was also supported by John Wihbey, “Overall, price increases are modest: For example, a 10% increase in the minimum wage would increase food prices by no more than 4% and overall prices by no more than 0.4%, significantly less than the minimum-wage increase.” Many people fear raising the minimum wage would hurt the economy by causing inflation however, statistics show that raising the minimum wage has little effect on inflation rates and that its profits significantly outweigh the costs. Also, even though many businesses would have to reduce the number of workers, the number of people benefited greatly exceeds the number harmed. “Under the $10.10 scenario, there would likely be a reduction of about 500,000 workers across the labor market, as businesses shed jobs, but about 16.5 million low-wage workers would see substantial gains in their earnings in an average week.” (Wihbey "Effects of Raising the Minimum Wage) Overall, as research and calculations have shown, raising the minimum wage benefits the economy and workforce more than it does harm, and immediate actions should be implemented to help the economy grow and ensure equality in the…

    • 915 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although many may argue that raising minimum wage should not be done because it’s just enough for people to provide their families many think that it isn’t enough and it needs to be raised. In the American Prospect they talk about how the minimum wage pay is way too low for people to live in a standard living environment. The author of this article is trying to express the fact that getting payed minimum wage is too little and it’s just enough for someone to pay the house bills and it’s not enough for people to get anything for themselves or even for their children. Although many think that it won’t help or benefit the poor it will because it’s giving them many more job opportunities and helping them provide for their families.…

    • 133 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    rogerian paper-minium wage

    • 1015 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In President Obama’s 2013 State of the Union address, Obama advocated for increasing the federal minimum wage to $9 per hour. The timing of Obama’s speech comes at a time when income inequality has become the biggest economic issue in the United States of America. During the Great Depression, The United States of America designed a minimum wage as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Since its inception, the government required minimum wage has grown from 25 cents to $7.25 per hour. Unfortunately, the erosion of consumer buying power has decreased at a compounding rate and in America’s consumerist society the expected standard of living has also gone up with inflation. In response to rising inflation with the Federal minimum wage, states should be allowed to make the decision on price floors such as minimum wage.…

    • 1015 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Minimum wage is a topic that is always being discussed and debated over. One reason that this subject is so popular is because everyone who has a job is affected by the result of the wage. Some believe that the minimum should be raise to at least $9, while others strongly believe that the raise in wages will disturb the state of the economy. In the articles I have selected the pros and cons of raising the minimum wage are clearly stated. Some of the texts are editorial articles, and scholarly articles that have to do with the raise in the wage and others options on the subject.…

    • 625 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The earnings of minimum wage workers are crucial to their family’s wellbeing. Raising the minimum wage would help uphold some working families exceed the poverty line by mostly solving the primary problem with current minimum wage rate: it has failed to keep pace with inflation and the rising cost of living. In addition to providing a much-needed boost to low-wage families, increasing the minimum wage would also have other positive economic effects.…

    • 396 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Mcdonald's Minimum Wage

    • 1223 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Right now, most cities in the U. S. have higher costs of living than what the minimum wage is (Prah). This makes it impossible for anyone living in one of these cities to make ends meet, and even harder for those with children to survive. It is terrible to think about children going to bed cold and hungry because their parents only make minimum wage. Some cities have made small steps to help with this wage gap. 120 cities have made what they call “living wages” for businesses that work for city contracts. The wages range from $9-$16, but at least helps some (Prah). While this may seem needed, the numbers say thatp a higher minimum wage is not needed. Research done in 2013 found that 135 million Americans worked, and of those 135 million, only 3.8 million earned the minimum wage (N.a A.8). This is not even three percent of the employed, and because of less than three percent inflation of good would occur, along with unemployment and business relocation and…

    • 1223 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    When it comes to the minimum wage, there are several debates on whether it should or shouldn't be raised. It may look like it is a simple problem to solve, but it isn’t. An increase in the minimum wage wouldn't totally help the ones who ask for it, but could lead to a series of consequences that would impair, not only them, but all of us. Firstly, raising the price of something reduces the demand for it — as the price charged will be above the equilibrium point — and hence leads to a surplus of the good or service supplied.…

    • 448 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the most frequent questions being asked is whether minimum wage should be raised to $15.00 per hour or not. I do feel minimum wage should be raised, but raising the minimum wage to $15.00 per hour is more than our economy can afford. Raising minimum wage to $15.00 dollars per hour would only make the cost of living increase. The prices of clothes, gas, food, etc. would sky rocket. The unemployment rate would increase, because employers would hire fewer workers, and instead more jobs would become replaced with robots.…

    • 443 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Workers in low- income families. And it would be useful to assume that all employment losses occurred to young persons from more affluent families. This however, is not the case. According to the Economic Policy Institute , poor women—disproportionately represented in low income households-are most likely to be helped by a minimum wage increase. However, because it takes almost $17,000 to lift a family of four out of poverty, the amount of the minimum wage increase is likely to be insufficient to eradicate poverty by itself.…

    • 973 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Raising minimum wage across America for most Democrats is a solution to a problem; however, to most republicans it is a nightmare. In New York, where the minimum wage is currently $8.75 an hour, Mayor Bill de Blasio has called for a fifteen-dollars-per-hour minimum by 2019 (John Cassidy). Since President Barack Obamas State of the Union Speech there has been drastic improvements as more and more of American’s come together to bring about change. Any American doing Honest work; should earn an honest wage (Barack Obama). There have been many Governors, Mayors, and State Legislators answering…

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    If we can raise the minimum wage we would not just help the citizens get out of poverty, but we will also help the economy grow. People who earn minimum wages accounts for approximately 70 percent of America 's gross domestic product" (Schoen, 2013). Just imagine if that 70 percent were given more money to spend it would eventually boost the economy. It has already taken place in Minnesota (Minn. Budget). Depositing money back into the hands of the people that need it and use it the most is what fuels the economy. A continuous demand of goods or services by the consumer is what keeps a business thriving. A higher demand increases the need for more goods. In return, the companies need more workers to help supply an abundance of goods; therefore, more jobs are created.…

    • 1187 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In America, the public majority tends to believe that poor people deserve to be in poverty as they are lazy. In reality, the nation’s poor work full-time, sometimes over fifty hours a week, yet still do not earn enough to escape the depths of poverty. Minimum wage is what these individuals earn, as deemed appropriate from the low skill level of the jobs they work. Often the level of incomes received are not made to be living wages and are found to be product of unreasonable systems. Making a living wage in America is unlike the textbook definitions since there are various standards of living within each state that dictate the level. As a result including, an ever-growing population of consumer workers, deskilled jobs, and irrationality caused from McDonaldization, countless individuals, specifically: the uneducated, Blacks, Latinos, and young adults, fall into a class of “working poor”.…

    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Currently, twenty-nine out of the fifty states pay a higher minimum wage than the federal minimum wage requires. Some of those states are just barely over $7.25 an hour; contrarily, others have wages as high as $9 and $10 (“State Minimum Wage”). This means more than half of the country has already raised their minimum wage. $10.10 would help one in five Americans (Quinn). Even though certain states have higher wages, they do not match $10.10. $10.10 is even below what the wage would be if it had kept up with inflation…

    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Raising Minimum Wage

    • 809 Words
    • 4 Pages

    One of the biggest problems in America, affecting over 45 million citizens, is poverty. There is seemingly no solution to this, but many people are working very hard to come up with a way to lessen the sheer amount of poor people in the U.S. One of the solutions that has come up many times recently is that if the minimum wage was raised to an amount that would be substantial to care for a family, then the working poor could get out of poverty. Though this sounds great, there are some saying that this would not be beneficial to the economy, as it would cause inflation, and that the supposed “living wage” is not enough to buy an average apartment. However, minimum wage should ultimately be raised because it could help the poor get the money they…

    • 809 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    An estimated 6.9 million workers would receive an increase in their hourly wage if the minimum rage were raised to $6.75 by 2003. Due to the spill over effect the 10.5 million workers earning up to a dollar above minimum wage would also be likely to benefit from an increase. Women are the largest group of beneficiaries from a minimum wage increase. Sixty percent of workers who would benefit from an increase to $6.75 by 2003 are women. In 1998, an estimated 12% of workingwomen would have benefited from a one-dollar increase in minimum wage. A disproportionate share of minorities would benefit from a minimum wage increase. African Americans represent 12% of the total work force, but are 18% of workers affected by an increase. Similarly, 11% of the total work force is Hispanic, but Hispanics are 14% of workers affected by an increase. In 1998, half of the benefits of a minimum wage increase to $6.15 would have gone to workers in households with an annual income of less than $25,000. In fact, 18% of the benefits would go to households with an annual income less than $10,000. Benefits of an increase disproportionately help those working households at the bottom of the scale. Although households in the bottom 20% receive only 5% of national income. Benefits of the 1996-1997 minimum wage increase went to these workers. A majority of the benefits went to families…

    • 955 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays