Labor is the essential element that allows firms and businesses to rake in billions of dollars in profits each year. It is the foundation of the entire economy. Millions of Americans sell their resources and based on their education and skill level, they receive a salary or wage that is proportional. Many American, however, do not have the skills and educations to demand high salaries and wages and thus must succumb to working minimum wage jobs. Over the past century America has transitioned from a manufacturing orientated economy to a service orientated economy. Thus all of the people who worked in the mega factories of GM and Ford, no longer have blue collar jobs available. This has resulted in more and more people working minimum wage jobs, more specifically the fast-food industry. America is now faced with the question of whether or not to raise the minimum wage to fifteen dollars per hour in order …show more content…
According to Louis Jacobson, Germany set the minimum wage at “at 8.5 Euros per hour.” Germany is not the only country with a higher minimum wage, “In France, the minimum wage is currently… $12.10” and “Australia’s minimum wage was recently raised to… $14.81”(Jacobson). This clearly exemplifies that a higher minimum wage can be implemented in the United States with minimum repercussions. Like many other areas, U.S. legislation is lagging behind other Western European countries. Although the minimum wage in these countries is higher than the United States, their economies are still healthy and growing. I understand that the United States is a lot larger and raising the minimum wage may produce different results. One problem that I see with raising the minimum wage in the U.S. is that not all fifty states would benefit from it. Raising the minimum wage in Mississippi may be detrimental, however, raising the minimum wage in New York may prove to be
Before people push a minimum wage increase, they need to be totally aware of all of the positive and negative results and consequences that might occur as a result. The issue concerning what to do about the minimum wage has served as an ongoing controversy amongst several people. The federal minimum wage should not be raised for several reasons including the harmful effect on small businesses, the increase of poverty, and the augmentation of competition for jobs.
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.
In his January 2, 2014 online Atlantic article entitled “Should the Minimum Wage Depend on Your Age?, author Jordan Weissmann discusses the possibility of changing the minimum wage based on the age of the employee. He hooks in readers by bringing in what can also be considered background information by talking about a man named Charles Krauthammer who proposed that you have two minimum wages, one for the “Breadwinners” and a lower minimum for everyone else, and why hes idea is horrible. After hooking in his readers he goes on to try and prove his Thesis: that depending on the economic situation, basing wage on age could be more beneficial than some other ideas. To prove this thesis he claims that it's more beneficial because it is easier to
In addition, immigrants also try and apply for employment when they can, to try and reach their goal of the “American Dream” or their ideal theory of freedom. However, because of the necessity of jobs they can obtain, which are those many the American’s don’t want including: janitorial, agricultural, street cleaning, or even risky jobs. Getting less than minimum wage, not aware of the laws of the government as it pertains to paying taxes becomes a cycle where they are forced by many of the employers to break the law which otherwise would be followed. Not to mention, the occasional employer takes advantage of the 'illegal alien' and usually pays below minimum wage because they know the worker has no option but to either quit or accept it. And
A fifteen dollar an hour minimum wage will affect over three hundred thousand workers and cost over two hundred twenty eight million dollars over the next five years(Deng 1). San Francisco raised the minimum wage to fifteen dollars an hour. That being said The Mark Perry of the American Enterprise Institution, Adam Ozimek and Stephen Bronars of Edgewood Economics reported that since the increase many restaurants and hotels have laid off workers (Puzder 1). This comes as no surprise since in 2014 the Congressional Budget Office found that increasing the minimum wage to ten dollars and ten cents an hour would result in 500,000 job losses ( Puzder 1). As of right now 6.5 million Americans are working part time because they’re unable to find full-time jobs and opportunities ( Puzder 1). Raising minimum wage is only going to hurt those that are currently part time, unemployed and the upcoming generation of young adults just now about to enter the working
In 1912 the first law for minimum wage was created in Massachusetts but, in doing so it created a controversy among people in the United States such as immigrant workers, teenagers, families, the lower class, and people of color. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour meaning that people being paid minimum wage earn $15,080 yearly which in other words they’re receiving pay that’s just below federal poverty threshold of $15,130. However, some states have increased the minimum wage salary from an estimate of $7.25 to $9.50, and honestly it would be a great idea to increase minimum wage to $10.10 an hour in order to better provide for teenagers, families, people of color, lower class, immigrant workers and also provide better job opportunities
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door” (Goodreads). This poem by Emma Lazarus has graced the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty’s presence while greeting countless immigrants into the United States since 1886.
$7.25 equals two gallons of gas, one fast food meal, or a simple school supply. With the minimum wage at the current rate you must work one hour to earn the seven dollars and twenty-five cents that only supply you with small necessities for everyday living. This problem was encountered before and was resolved with the agreement to higher the minimum wage from $5.85 to the current $7.25. Although that was a big increase in salaries, was it truly enough? This controversy can lead to a major change in everyone’s everyday lives and boost our economy to a period of prosperity. The minimum wage should be increased to bring our economy out of a recession, bring families together,
“A 15 percent increase in the minimum wage nationwide would destroy about 290,000 to 590,000 young people's jobs, and about 400,000 to 800,000 jobs overall” (Henderson, David R). Due to the Fair labor Standards act, the federal minimum wage, or the lowest you can pay an employee for work, currently stands at $7.25 an hour. Although a number of Americans think that raising the minimum wage would benefit our country, it would actually bring a number of problems to our economy, such as a rise in job loss and high school dropout.
Around the country many states are debating whether or not to raise the minimum wage. However, before this can be debated it is important to look at the purpose of a minimum wage. To define minimum wage is easy it is simply the lowest an employer can pay an employee to work, but this isn't the purpose of a minimum wage. Minimum wage is set as an entry position. Minimum wage is supposed to be for young workers entering the workforce. Theoretically, young workers entering the workforce have little to no experience or skills so, therefore, they take minimum wage jobs so they can gain experience and develop skills. Once the young workers have worked at the bottom of the chain and gained experience the worker can begin
low expulsion rate of 10-25% of students whSal Galindo English Comp II Research Essay It seems as if in almost all of life’s problems the common factor more often than not, is money, more specifically a lack of money. These problems are especially prevalent with more than 76 million Americans who are currently working for minimum wage. The problem is minimum doesn’t mean what it once did in our economy and the lack of significant increase to wages, to match the sky rocketing price of everyday life, has created the most drastic discrepancy between the rich and poor in American history while also distorting our image of what minimum wage should be. Minimum wage was established in 1936 by then president Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Raising minimum wage is a very controversial topic. Minimum wage became a federal law in 1938 and only it was only twenty-five cents. Today minimum wage has increased and is currently ten dollars and fifty cents. As one can see minimum wage has increased dramatically and will continue to increase. Minimum wage should not continue to increase at this rate because many businesses will be affected, the price of living will increase and it will alter the way people live. With this minimum wage is hurting more lives rather than helping them.
Where to set the minimum wage has been a huge debate topic for years. The smallest increase or decrease can have a large overall impact on the economy. Do you think the minimum wage in California should be raised to $15 an hour? This is a question many in my home state are currently asking. California’s current wage is $9/hr., and the federal government is raising it to $10/hr. in January 2016. It may seem like common sense that if you have a higher minimum wage, then there will be less poverty. This is what I first thought when looking at this issue. However, Holtz-Eakin observed that a vast majority of minimum wage workers are in fact not living in poverty (Deutsch). Many minimum wage workers are not living under the poverty line, but simply
Franklin Roosevelt introduced minimum wage as a part of Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. The purpose of minimum wage were to prevent poverty and to stimulate the economy by increasing consumer’s purchasing power. However, in 2015, 78.2 million workers were paid hourly, representing 58.5% of all workers in the United States. Among those people, 870,000 workers earned the minimum wage, $7.25 per hour and 1.7 million workers earned below the minimum. In total, 3.3% of workers earned exactly or below the minimum wage. For years, there have been heated debates about whether the government should raise the minimum wage. In 2016, California, New York, and Washington D.C. agreed to increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour. Some people think raising the minimum wage will decrease poverty and improve the workers living. Instead, raising the minimum wage will make the job market more competitive and it will increase the poverty level. When minimum wage was raised to $10 per hour, it benefited 16 to 24 million people while half a million workers lost their job. Rather than improving, Faces of $15 will damage the U.S economy and deeply hurt living condition of Americans.
When the value of the U.S dollar hasn’t risen then you cannot raise the wage without negative effects. Recently, President Obama signed into a law negating the action to raise the minimum wage, in efforts to not lose more jobs than already have been lost. The reasoning behind why jobs decline when the minimum wage is increased is because the store or company owners have to pay their employees more; customers then pay more for services since the company that they get their sources from has to pay their employees more. Consequently, the company or business lays off a lot of their staff so they can be profitable. This is where being educated in a specific