Should Minimum Wage Be Raised to a Living Wage?
Numerous economic issues have been debated in the modern American culture over the past few years. An important issue that is currently talked about across the nation is the topic of minimum wage. Should minimum wage get raised to a living wage? Would the costs be greater than the benefits if minimum wage is raised to a livable wage? How would the economy be affected? These are the some of the important questions that are brought up in this topic, which can determine how people think about this issue. Although numerous people would disagree, raising minimum wage to a living wage would greatly hinder the people and economy in America for a number of reasons. Minimum wage is not intended to be …show more content…
According to Just Economics, the minimum living wage for an individual is $12.50 an hour. That amount is almost double the current minimum wage. Just Economics defines a living wage as “The minimum amount that a worker must earn to afford his or her necessities without public of private assistance.” Essentially, this shows that the minimum wage of $7.25 is not enough to live off without assistance. People cannot live on the current minimum wage. There are countless advocates who are trying to convince people that minimum wage should be raised to a living wage. Sue Legg, who is a part of “The League of Women Voters,” is one of those promoters. In her article, The Minimum Wage is not a Living Wage, she writes, “A first step to narrow the inequality gap would be to pay fully employed workers a living wage that allows them to care for themselves and their families adequately” (Legg). However, in Legg’s article, she does not address the potential consequences that raising the minimum wage could have. Businesses would be greatly hindered if the minimum wage was increased to a living wage. If the minimum wage increased to a price such as $12.00, that would be about five dollars more per hour that businesses would have to pay employees. Many small businesses would have very little choice but to cut back on their employees, because the cost of having them working in the businesses would be greater than the profit margin. This is …show more content…
If the federal minimum wage were to be raised to a living wage, companies who are paying employees a couple of dollars above the current minimum wage would have to increase the wage of those employees to a wage higher than the new minimum wage. This would result in significant reduction for businesses to higher new employees because of the cost to keep them employed. James Sherk and David Cooper, who are the authors of “Should the Federal Minimum Wage Be Increased?” examine the pros and cons to raising minimum wage. In their article, while examining the downfalls to increasing the minimum wage, they say, “Raising the minimum wage will price less productive workers out of such jobs” (Sherk, James and Cooper, David). In this part of the article, they are making a point that if the minimum wage is raised, restaurants such as McDonalds will lay off their workers who are less productive. This will not be the case for just fast food restaurants, but in several small businesses across America. In another article which discusses the effects of raising minimum wage, Michael MacDowell
Numerous economic issues have been debated in the modern American culture over the past few years. An important issue that is currently talked about across the nation is the topic of minimum wage. Should minimum wage get raised to a living wage? Would the costs be greater than the benefits if minimum wage is raised to a livable wage? How would the economy be affected? These are the some of the important questions that are brought up in this topic, which can determine how people think about this issue. Although numerous people would disagree, raising minimum wage to a living wage would greatly hinder the people and economy in America for a number of reasons. Minimum wage is not intended to be …show more content…
According to Just Economics, the minimum living wage for an individual is $12.50 an hour. That amount is almost double the current minimum wage. Just Economics defines a living wage as “The minimum amount that a worker must earn to afford his or her necessities without public of private assistance.” Essentially, this shows that the minimum wage of $7.25 is not enough to live off without assistance. People cannot live on the current minimum wage. There are countless advocates who are trying to convince people that minimum wage should be raised to a living wage. Sue Legg, who is a part of “The League of Women Voters,” is one of those promoters. In her article, The Minimum Wage is not a Living Wage, she writes, “A first step to narrow the inequality gap would be to pay fully employed workers a living wage that allows them to care for themselves and their families adequately” (Legg). However, in Legg’s article, she does not address the potential consequences that raising the minimum wage could have. Businesses would be greatly hindered if the minimum wage was increased to a living wage. If the minimum wage increased to a price such as $12.00, that would be about five dollars more per hour that businesses would have to pay employees. Many small businesses would have very little choice but to cut back on their employees, because the cost of having them working in the businesses would be greater than the profit margin. This is …show more content…
If the federal minimum wage were to be raised to a living wage, companies who are paying employees a couple of dollars above the current minimum wage would have to increase the wage of those employees to a wage higher than the new minimum wage. This would result in significant reduction for businesses to higher new employees because of the cost to keep them employed. James Sherk and David Cooper, who are the authors of “Should the Federal Minimum Wage Be Increased?” examine the pros and cons to raising minimum wage. In their article, while examining the downfalls to increasing the minimum wage, they say, “Raising the minimum wage will price less productive workers out of such jobs” (Sherk, James and Cooper, David). In this part of the article, they are making a point that if the minimum wage is raised, restaurants such as McDonalds will lay off their workers who are less productive. This will not be the case for just fast food restaurants, but in several small businesses across America. In another article which discusses the effects of raising minimum wage, Michael MacDowell