The minimum wage is the lowest wage permitted by law to be paid to a working
individual. It creates a standard by which everyone is guaranteed to be paid for their work. In
America, working at the minimum wage is also a sure guarantee that you are a part of the
minority working class. The minimum wage has at different times been a common practice in
certain parts of the world for centuries, it wasn’t however until 1938 that the Fair Labor Act was
passed in America, establishing a minimum wage in the American workforce. In an effort to
lessen oppressive child labor and exploitation of workers, President Franklin Roosevelt signed
the act which set the current minimum wage to 25¢ and regulated child labor. However, between
now and …show more content…
Although it is not a bad thing, if the American government and large corporations conform to
these protestors whims they are knowingly attempting a brief and feeble fix to the larger problem
which we know is inflation.
The minimum wage is an ineffective system, and to those who must rely on it, the
minimum wage holds no dependence. According to CBS news an adult living in San Francisco
must earn at least $12.83 to even scrape by with “not much of a living”. With a federal minimum
wage of only $7.25 the majority of workers are not even earning enough to cover living costs.
They are forced to either work more than one job, or go into debt. This is where the inefficiency
of the minimum wage really becomes apparent. Economist Jared Bernstein, who works with the
Cooney 3
government in economics, states in his article from New York Times, “... that increasing the
minimum wage is a simple, effective policy that achieves its goal of raising the value of low-
wage work...” But if it is effective why is the government being forced to repeatedly raise
individual. It creates a standard by which everyone is guaranteed to be paid for their work. In
America, working at the minimum wage is also a sure guarantee that you are a part of the
minority working class. The minimum wage has at different times been a common practice in
certain parts of the world for centuries, it wasn’t however until 1938 that the Fair Labor Act was
passed in America, establishing a minimum wage in the American workforce. In an effort to
lessen oppressive child labor and exploitation of workers, President Franklin Roosevelt signed
the act which set the current minimum wage to 25¢ and regulated child labor. However, between
now and …show more content…
Although it is not a bad thing, if the American government and large corporations conform to
these protestors whims they are knowingly attempting a brief and feeble fix to the larger problem
which we know is inflation.
The minimum wage is an ineffective system, and to those who must rely on it, the
minimum wage holds no dependence. According to CBS news an adult living in San Francisco
must earn at least $12.83 to even scrape by with “not much of a living”. With a federal minimum
wage of only $7.25 the majority of workers are not even earning enough to cover living costs.
They are forced to either work more than one job, or go into debt. This is where the inefficiency
of the minimum wage really becomes apparent. Economist Jared Bernstein, who works with the
Cooney 3
government in economics, states in his article from New York Times, “... that increasing the
minimum wage is a simple, effective policy that achieves its goal of raising the value of low-
wage work...” But if it is effective why is the government being forced to repeatedly raise