The Advantages Of Raising Minimum Wage

When one turns on their television or glances at an app on their phone, it is likely that there will be a new story with a headline relating to the minimum wage. During an election year, the issue of whether or not to raise the minimum wage has been one in which Americans have heard multiple times. The viewpoint that opposes raising the minimum wage argues that it will cause inflation and drastically decrease the pace of economic growth. Others state that since corporate profits have thrived while workers wages have decreased, it is only fair to increase the minimum wage. The only thing the two sides seem to agree on is the idea that any wrong decision made will lead to economic and social decline across the country. The income inequality, …show more content…
One argument the video possesses in that increasing the minimum wage will force businesses to lay off employees and thereby increase levels of unemployment in the country. This opinion can be contradicted by the belief that raising the minimum wage would only increase economic proficiency and spur job growth across the United States. The video also supports the idea that an increase of the minimum wage would hurt businesses and force many companies to shut down altogether. This viewpoint stems from the belief that paying workers more will force the company to increase the cost of their products so much so that customers will no longer be interesting in purchasing the intended products. Once again, this notion can be proved as false in many cases. Many businesses, such as Gap and Costco, already pay their employees a few dollars above minimum wage and claim that that attract and retain great talent. These two businesses are not the only ones to benefit from paying their workers well. About 60% of small to medium sized business owners have recognized the benefits of raising the minimum wage for their …show more content…
For example, increasing the minimum wage would decrease high school dropout rates. A 2014 study concluded that raising the minimum wage would allow teens to search for a job with fewer hours of work for the same amount of pay, therefore giving them more time to study and reducing the chances of students dropping out to help pay bills (“Should the Federal Minimum Wage be Increased?”). Another example would be the reduced crime rates. A study done in 2013 found that low living wages lead to the most robberies and vehicle thefts. The reaearched assigned to this project noticed that over a 25 year period, increases in the minimum wage are found to significantly reduce crime rates. In fact, a 10 % increase of the minimum wage results in a 6.3%-7.0% decrease in murders" and a 3.4%- 3.7% decrease in theft or robberies (“Should the Federal Minimum Wage be Increased?”) While raising the minimum wage would by no mean eliminate teenage dropouts or crime rates in the country, any improvements are surely