Is an increase to the minimum wage floor the answer to the ills of Americans living in poverty? In recent years, the minimum wage debate has raged on all fronts of our society from corporate boardrooms to dining room tables. However, when fast food and other traditionally low paid worker began to push for a fifteen-dollar an hour minimum wage floor the debate reached the media and took a life of its own. Proponents of an increase minimum wage insist that the increase to minimum wage would level the playing field for poor Americans, whereas opponents of minimum wage argue that the increase in minimum wage would hurt the low worker it was designed to help. This battle has been raging since the inception of minimum wage law in the late thirties
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In other words, any rate at which the minimum wage is set does not necessary take the low skill to a higher standard of living. According to David Neumark and William L. Wascher, authors of, Minimum Wage, “an increase in the minimum wage largely results in a redistribution of income among low-income families” (189). That is to say that raising the minimum wage would, in fact, lessen the amount of funds allocated to the majority of the workers—that is, if the worker can remain employed. To say it another way, as the going rate for any low wage job raises so does the quantity of workers willing to supply their labor. However, the businesses are less willing to demand more workers, and the excess workers seeking jobs are unemployed because of the shortage of jobs. Thus lowering the living standard of the worker minimum wage was to support. As written by Thomas E. Hall, author of Aftermath: The Unintended Consequences Of Public Policies, “[a]rtificially raising wages elevates the incomes of some low-skilled workers…but lowers the incomes of those unable to find work, many of whom might be willing to work for less than the minimum” (52). This goes to show that the consequences of artificially manipulating the labor market. People willing to supply the market with labor are without …show more content…
According to the article “The President’s Plan To Reward Work By Raising The Minimum Wage,” the White House writes, “The President is calling on Congress to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 . . .which would directly boost wages for 15 million workers and reduce poverty and inequality” (1). In other words, the President claims, that a dollar and seventy-five cent raise in minimum wage would lower poverty, yet, as mentioned earlier, the MIT online calculator indicates that any wage below $13.35 an hour—at least in Contra Costa County— would not be sufficient for worker to become self-sufficient. In fact, the notion of rewarding work for the sake of work seems to be counterintuitive. The reward for work should be, in nominal terms, the value one gets from completing their task and collecting their wages, which is created by the value that the worker creates within their selves. This goes to show the intrinsic flaw of minimum wage within a capitalistic society pushing for equality when the very worker is not creating the skills needed to demand a higher wage, a livable wage. The White House furthers its point of the validity of “rewarding work” by claiming working families would gain six months of housing or utilities for a year with a two dollar an hour increase (White House 3). This claim is overstated and
In other words, any rate at which the minimum wage is set does not necessary take the low skill to a higher standard of living. According to David Neumark and William L. Wascher, authors of, Minimum Wage, “an increase in the minimum wage largely results in a redistribution of income among low-income families” (189). That is to say that raising the minimum wage would, in fact, lessen the amount of funds allocated to the majority of the workers—that is, if the worker can remain employed. To say it another way, as the going rate for any low wage job raises so does the quantity of workers willing to supply their labor. However, the businesses are less willing to demand more workers, and the excess workers seeking jobs are unemployed because of the shortage of jobs. Thus lowering the living standard of the worker minimum wage was to support. As written by Thomas E. Hall, author of Aftermath: The Unintended Consequences Of Public Policies, “[a]rtificially raising wages elevates the incomes of some low-skilled workers…but lowers the incomes of those unable to find work, many of whom might be willing to work for less than the minimum” (52). This goes to show that the consequences of artificially manipulating the labor market. People willing to supply the market with labor are without …show more content…
According to the article “The President’s Plan To Reward Work By Raising The Minimum Wage,” the White House writes, “The President is calling on Congress to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 . . .which would directly boost wages for 15 million workers and reduce poverty and inequality” (1). In other words, the President claims, that a dollar and seventy-five cent raise in minimum wage would lower poverty, yet, as mentioned earlier, the MIT online calculator indicates that any wage below $13.35 an hour—at least in Contra Costa County— would not be sufficient for worker to become self-sufficient. In fact, the notion of rewarding work for the sake of work seems to be counterintuitive. The reward for work should be, in nominal terms, the value one gets from completing their task and collecting their wages, which is created by the value that the worker creates within their selves. This goes to show the intrinsic flaw of minimum wage within a capitalistic society pushing for equality when the very worker is not creating the skills needed to demand a higher wage, a livable wage. The White House furthers its point of the validity of “rewarding work” by claiming working families would gain six months of housing or utilities for a year with a two dollar an hour increase (White House 3). This claim is overstated and