Crazy Wage Thesis

Raising minimum wage would affect teenage workers. With younger adults and teenagers finishing up school, about half look for a job, while some don’t want to or have other plans such as going to college. If minimum wage were to be increased, it would make more people want to get a job. Increasing minimum wage would put more money in consumer’s pockets to spend in stores; therefore, stores would require more staff. Teenagers would have more money which would enable them to apply more funds towards their education to improve themselves. Supporters feel if people are going to get paid more, they would want to get a job. An increase in your pay would increase the consumer rate of purchasing things, and would require more staff due to more customers since they have more money to purchase things. According to Economic Policy Institute, “Over three-quarters 3.4 million of the affected workers were adults age 20 or older. The other 1.1 million workers were teenagers, age 16-19. Despite the relatively small number of affected teens, this nevertheless represents a large share, 19.9%, of all teen workers.” (Heidi Shierholz). Those who oppose believe that increasing minimum wage would cause prices of products and services to increase rapidly and cause people to limit their spending. As prices go up,

The minimum wage debate has been a hot topic over the past year, especially with the Presidential Election. This is a divisive topic that people rarely agree upon. There are essentially two sides you can take when it comes to this argument. Either people are for minimum wage or are against raising, or even having, a minimum wage. Proponents of the minimum wage are typically politicians who are lobbying for the vote of the people who feel that a minimum wage is critical to their wellbeing, and those who sympathize with people who earn “minimum wage”. Minimum wage is destroying America’s free market economy and someone needs to take action and find a better solution to this problem. Without anyone acting on this problem now, it can potentially be worse in the long run. Raising the minimum wage in the United States will do more harm than good to society because of the long-term effects.

The minimum wage has constituted a hotbed issue in America ever since its beginning in 1938 via the Fair Labor Standards Act (Acs et al, 2914). Notably, in the past few years, fast food workers, service industry employees and American workers feeling the pinch of inflation have clamored for an increase in the minimum wage. The concept of a $15 minimum wage is a symbol for creating less disparity for minimum wage workers. However, while the concept is pure of heart and idealistic, it would be dangerous for the U.S. economy. This can already be seen in places like Seattle, Washington, Emeryville, California. Consumers would suffer as businesses would be forced to raise prices in order to make up the difference from the added human resources expenditures

Mike Durant once said, “Making it more expensive to create new jobs is a perfect way to guarantee fewer of them.” The recent, “Raise the Wage” campaigns have sparked an interest in many low-wage workers. However, those who support this initiative are unaware of the economic problems that will arise if this is successful. Several cities have already raised their minimum wages and some, like Seattle, are raising it as high as $15 per hour. Currently, supporters of this campaign argue that the government should implement this increase federally. However, doing so will have broad and adverse financial implications. Ever since the Great Depression, the minimum wage has been in effect — to reduce poverty and solidify that

Within the recent years, an argument was presented for a $15.00 federal minimum wage. Though it sounds appealing, receiving $15.00/hour, many are not considering what the consequences would be. Where is this extra money coming from? Who is paying the price? Are taxes not going to be raised? Will the price of the goods be raised?

America, the Land of Opportunity. Is it really, though? Our minimum wage is so low that people are struggling. The price of living is going up, and minimum wage is not. Raising the minimum wage will not only affect teenagers flipping burgers. Believe it or not, many American workers will benefit from raising the minimum wage. Thirty-five million workers, which is more than one in every four, are being paid minimum wage. Thirty percent of percent of black workers, thirty-eight percent of Latino workers, and fifteen and a half million working men all are being paid minimum wage. These people would all benefit vastly from raising the minimum wage. It is a myth that people who receive minimum wage are working teenagers in fast-food. Eighty-nine percent of minimum-wage workers are twenty years old or older. Twenty-seven percent of minimum-wage workers have children, and may have trouble supporting their children with such a low income. It is also a myth that

On the negative side of the equation, 500,000 Americans would lose their jobs” (Williams). In the same article economist Thomas Sowell stated “the net economic effect of the minimum wage laws is to make less skilled, less experienced or otherwise less desired workers more expensive – thereby pricing many of them out of jobs” (Williams). Although that could possibly be true, research from the Department of Labor from the 13 states that have raised the minimum wage earlier this year are showing faster job growth than the states that have done nothing. The findings show the 13 states that raised the minimum wage as gaining an average of .85% while the other 37 states only show .61% growth (Frizell). As John Schmitt, senior economist at the liberal Center for Economic and Policy Research states “it raises serious questions about the claims that a raise in the minimum wage is a jobs disaster”

To this day, the American economy and its workers are experiencing the effects of the enactment of the minimum wage law. The cost of living has increased exponentially and the minimum wage hasn’t risen effectively. In fact, 47 million, or 14% of Americans are living in poverty to this day (“Poverty: 2013 Highlights”

The minimum wage has been an important element on the United States labor system and has sparked debates between employers and workers to this day. The main argument against raising the minimum wage is that the harmful effects raising the minimum wage would create do not justify the small-scale benefits generated by the raise. Business owners and conservatives claim that raising the minimum wage will result in job loss, hurt low skilled workers, and may result in higher prices for consumers. In a 2012 paper published in the peer-reviewed Industrial and Labor Relations Review (ILRReview), economists Richard Burkhauser, Benjamin Hansen, and Joseph Sabia, state that while some low-skilled workers living in poverty do see their incomes rise when the minimum wage increases, many others lose their jobs or have their hours significantly cut. Their study concluded that New York’s 2004-2006 $1.60-per-hour minimum wage hike was associated with a 20.2 to 21.8 percent reduction in the employment of younger, less-educated individuals, with the largest effects for those ages 16-to-24. Conservatives believe that even though teenagers are

On the employees side if they get the $15 dollar and hour they say it will help them get out of poverty level living and wont need government assistant to live their day-to-day life and letting the government assistance go to some families that really need it. In some cases like McDonalds workers they want to become a union so they can officially have a voice when it comes to getting better wages and other benefits. On the employer side of the story, they say it will hurt business and the customers in the long run. If restaurants end up having to pay their employees the asking amount of $15 and hour the some of that cost to pay their employees the increased wages will go to the customer. The customer will have to pay for those wages by paying higher prices for the food at these restaurants. There will also be less hiring, especially entry-level and low skilled employees. The International Franchise Association say that if the workers get their $15 wage that it can wipe out the profit margin for many companies. There is also the fear that some franchises wont be able to pay the employees the $15 an hour and make any money for them selves that they will go out of business. So now instead of have lets say twenty employees working and $8 and hour now the business has to close because it could not keep up with the wages change and not making a profited now you

Proponents of raising the minimum wage claim that if the minimum wage was raised, then many economic and social problems would be alleviated. This contention is at odds both with economic principles and years of creditable research. The effect of raising or even having a minimum wage has been studied extensively and the majority of studies have proven that raising a minimum wage does not have the desired effect. Both micro and macroeconomic forces affect the results of raising the minimum wage. The secondary effects of raising the minimum wage are bad both for

Twenty-Two years ago, President Clinton announced that his administration intended to seek an increase in federal minimum wage. The general consensus was really positive, and the public agreed that the increase was actually very overdue. However, many had reservations regarding how a raise in minimum wage would cause problems while the country was in a state of economic recovery. Both sides had political and economic merit, and an ongoing debate of the minimum wage continued into the next century. Today, the minimum wage has been pushed to the forefront of economic discussion again. To the average American, minimum wage could likely be how one makes

The study, “Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania,” conducted by David Card and Alan B. Krueger, compared the effects of a wage increase on fast food restaurants in New Jersey to Pennsylvania which had similar economies and restaurants, but no pay increase. Their study showed that the wage increase did not reduce employment at fast-food restaurants, though they did cause raised prices by 4.3%. However, the price increase did not harm the business, thereby successfully passing on the cost of the wage increase to consumers

Opponents to minimum wage raise claim that the minimum wage costs jobs by pricing low-wage workers out of the labor market. However, when we review academic studies that examine the effects of minimum wage increases on

One down fall of a raised minimum wage is the possibility of inflation of prices. The money used to pay workers would need to come from somewhere. The solution to that is to raise prices. Grabbing a quick bite will become more pricey than customers bargained for. Researchers explored this concept by looking at 20 years of menus from top restaurants. The menus showed that prices had jumped 52% since 2005(Saltsman A.17). Increased food prices may lead customers to tip less causing waiters to lose money even after the minimum wage increase. Sue Vallenza is a bartender in Maine where the minimum wage increase was