The minimum wage law was signed in the year 1938, under the Fair Labor Standard Act
by President Roosevelt. The first minimum wage was $0.25 per hour which is equivalent to
$4.18 today. The minimum wage law was signed to have fair labor standards (Patton). But how
fair is it to push people to live in squalor? Absolutely unfair. The majority of the people directly
affected by low wages are from the age group of fifteen to twenty-five. Raising the minimum
wage would mean higher earnings for sixteen million workers, resulting in a thirty-one billion
dollar increase in higher earnings. “It would also lift nearly one million people out of
poverty”(thinking process). To benefit the country’s economy, minimum wages should be
increased all …show more content…
“People are continually
juggling which necessities to go without. Will it be “heat or eat,” rent or healthcare?” (Sklar).
Sometimes working in a full shift doesn’t pay the basic expenses. Plenty of citizens are staying
in homeless shelters or cars. A mother of two might feed her sons and call them a happy family
but what happens when the kids grow up? In today’s society, it is really tough to get a good …show more content…
If the mother cannot pay for their education, uneducated
kids will be working for minimum wage as well. Poverty is like a contagious disease; if you do
not try to eradicate it, it will multiply. “You cannot fight poverty with poverty wage” (Sklar).
From the article “Raising the Minimum Wage Will Help the Poor,” the author Sklar
brings poverty due to minimum wage into the limelight. Most of the people working with
minimum wage have high school degrees or beyond. They are retail clerks, farmers, childcare
workers, salespersons, fast food workers, janitors, and healthcare aides who cannot afford a
single sick day. Along with the prescribed medicine, the doctor suggests time is the remedy. But
for the low wage earner, taking three days off means losing at least 2% of their weekly income.
To make the ends meet, many people work in two shifts. For them getting a seven-hour sleep is a
luxury. Today the situation is such “where the health care aides can’t afford health insurance.
The people working in the food industry depend on food banks to help feed their children. And
the childcare teachers don’t make enough to save for their own kid’s education.”
by President Roosevelt. The first minimum wage was $0.25 per hour which is equivalent to
$4.18 today. The minimum wage law was signed to have fair labor standards (Patton). But how
fair is it to push people to live in squalor? Absolutely unfair. The majority of the people directly
affected by low wages are from the age group of fifteen to twenty-five. Raising the minimum
wage would mean higher earnings for sixteen million workers, resulting in a thirty-one billion
dollar increase in higher earnings. “It would also lift nearly one million people out of
poverty”(thinking process). To benefit the country’s economy, minimum wages should be
increased all …show more content…
“People are continually
juggling which necessities to go without. Will it be “heat or eat,” rent or healthcare?” (Sklar).
Sometimes working in a full shift doesn’t pay the basic expenses. Plenty of citizens are staying
in homeless shelters or cars. A mother of two might feed her sons and call them a happy family
but what happens when the kids grow up? In today’s society, it is really tough to get a good …show more content…
If the mother cannot pay for their education, uneducated
kids will be working for minimum wage as well. Poverty is like a contagious disease; if you do
not try to eradicate it, it will multiply. “You cannot fight poverty with poverty wage” (Sklar).
From the article “Raising the Minimum Wage Will Help the Poor,” the author Sklar
brings poverty due to minimum wage into the limelight. Most of the people working with
minimum wage have high school degrees or beyond. They are retail clerks, farmers, childcare
workers, salespersons, fast food workers, janitors, and healthcare aides who cannot afford a
single sick day. Along with the prescribed medicine, the doctor suggests time is the remedy. But
for the low wage earner, taking three days off means losing at least 2% of their weekly income.
To make the ends meet, many people work in two shifts. For them getting a seven-hour sleep is a
luxury. Today the situation is such “where the health care aides can’t afford health insurance.
The people working in the food industry depend on food banks to help feed their children. And
the childcare teachers don’t make enough to save for their own kid’s education.”