The $15 an hour minimum wage movement is sweeping across the United States. Proponents of the wage increase believe the minimum wage should be a living wage and the increase would lift thousands of lower income workers out of poverty. Whereas opponents of the wage increase claim it would amplify inflammation and exacerbate the unemployment rate. The only true way to find out the impact of a $15 an hour minimum wage is to test it out with certain cities. That’s why; Seattle, Washington, L.A, California, San Francisco, California, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania all plan on increasing the wage over a gradual period of time to test the effects of such a high wage increase.
Seattle, Washington was one of the first cities to pass the $15 an …show more content…
Bernie Sanders has constantly brought up this argument at his 2016 campaign speeches,"I want to applaud the workers who are organizing today in the fight to raise the minimum wage to $15/hour. The truth is that by putting more money into the pockets of workers in underpaid jobs, we can put more money back into our neighborhoods, strengthen the economy and create more good jobs,"(). While his points sound nice on paper, they have yet to all come true in Seattle. Since Seattle already had a strong economy, there’s not enough correlation to contribute the wage increase to helping the economy. “In other words, relatively high minimum wages in Seattle and in Washington more broadly have had their intended impact and have been perfectly compatible with a strong economy, one that’s handily beating national averages,”(Bernstein). The wage increase has been more like an icing on the cake for Seattle. It hasn’t had a big impact because the economy is already booming there. If a $15 an hour minimum wage law were passed in a city with a weaker economy, such as Cleveland, it would have more of a negative effect. In order for such a high wage increase to be successful, a city 's economy has to be strong. Cleveland is still baking its cake, its economy is still recovering. A strong wage hike in Cleveland would be like
Seattle, Washington was one of the first cities to pass the $15 an …show more content…
Bernie Sanders has constantly brought up this argument at his 2016 campaign speeches,"I want to applaud the workers who are organizing today in the fight to raise the minimum wage to $15/hour. The truth is that by putting more money into the pockets of workers in underpaid jobs, we can put more money back into our neighborhoods, strengthen the economy and create more good jobs,"(). While his points sound nice on paper, they have yet to all come true in Seattle. Since Seattle already had a strong economy, there’s not enough correlation to contribute the wage increase to helping the economy. “In other words, relatively high minimum wages in Seattle and in Washington more broadly have had their intended impact and have been perfectly compatible with a strong economy, one that’s handily beating national averages,”(Bernstein). The wage increase has been more like an icing on the cake for Seattle. It hasn’t had a big impact because the economy is already booming there. If a $15 an hour minimum wage law were passed in a city with a weaker economy, such as Cleveland, it would have more of a negative effect. In order for such a high wage increase to be successful, a city 's economy has to be strong. Cleveland is still baking its cake, its economy is still recovering. A strong wage hike in Cleveland would be like