The Social Problem
Minimum wage was first created in 1938 during the Great Depression under Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) presidency. Minimum wage started off as $0.25 an hour and has been changed for a total of 22 times by the year 2009. Initially, minimum was introduced to cover women and minors, due to the fact that white men were able to rely on the union as a safety net and that they earned higher wages (Kaufman, 2012). Currently in Louisiana minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Although the current minimum wage is significantly higher than what it used to be at $ 0.25, it still does not suffice to meeting the modern individual’s needs in 2017. This fact alone makes minimum wage a social problem.
There are individuals and families working minimum wage jobs and still are not able to live off their earnings. Leaving this population in conditions that are arguably comparable to those of third world countries. The underline issue is that there are people employed by jobs that work anywhere between 35-40 hours a week, but still keep …show more content…
Today there is an ongoing debate related to minimum wage, stating whether we should raise the price or not. The supporting side of raising minimum wage states that it will create better living conditions for that target population, in addition to create new employment opportunities. Opposing views argue that raising minimum wage would in fact decrease employment resulting in a higher number of unemployment rate. Opposing views also argue that many business will not be able to afford paying their employees higher than $7.25, and would force business to either close, lay off workers, and reduce hiring. There is also disagreement with raising the federal minimum wage because it does not take into consideration each state’s cost of living (Addison & Blackburn,
Minimum wage was first created in 1938 during the Great Depression under Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) presidency. Minimum wage started off as $0.25 an hour and has been changed for a total of 22 times by the year 2009. Initially, minimum was introduced to cover women and minors, due to the fact that white men were able to rely on the union as a safety net and that they earned higher wages (Kaufman, 2012). Currently in Louisiana minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Although the current minimum wage is significantly higher than what it used to be at $ 0.25, it still does not suffice to meeting the modern individual’s needs in 2017. This fact alone makes minimum wage a social problem.
There are individuals and families working minimum wage jobs and still are not able to live off their earnings. Leaving this population in conditions that are arguably comparable to those of third world countries. The underline issue is that there are people employed by jobs that work anywhere between 35-40 hours a week, but still keep …show more content…
Today there is an ongoing debate related to minimum wage, stating whether we should raise the price or not. The supporting side of raising minimum wage states that it will create better living conditions for that target population, in addition to create new employment opportunities. Opposing views argue that raising minimum wage would in fact decrease employment resulting in a higher number of unemployment rate. Opposing views also argue that many business will not be able to afford paying their employees higher than $7.25, and would force business to either close, lay off workers, and reduce hiring. There is also disagreement with raising the federal minimum wage because it does not take into consideration each state’s cost of living (Addison & Blackburn,