Should Minimum Wage Be Increased Essay

Improved Essays
Should the minimum wage be increased? Recently in the news, multiple people have been arguing if the minimum wage should be increased and the repercussions in raising the minimum wage. A few of the reasons we have a minimum wage is to protect workers from being given an unfair amount of money for the work they do and to protect them from poverty. Throughout the years, the minimum wage increased numerous times. The minimum wage was increased to help keep up with inflation in the past. Some economists argue that when the government raised the minimum wage, the minimum wage increase had negative effects on the economy. Others argued differently by telling people that more people accessing jobs rather than losing their job. Raising the minimum …show more content…
People will lose jobs to robots that are capable of doing mundane work that requires simple little skills. Employers of small businesses will be unable to pay workers above today’s minimum wage, so people would be compelled to do more work in little time to make up for the minimum wage increase. When the minimum wage increases, employers are likely to hire someone with more skills than someone who has fewer skills. This will lead to a higher unemployment rate. Also, people will be less motivated to go for promotions or find a better paying job. People will have a harder time finding jobs out of high school, so people will be required to continue their education to improve their chances of finding a job. Raising the minimum wage will not help the poverty issue because people already make between the minimum wage and whatever the minimum wage will be. This will force employers to raise everyone’s pay above the minimum wage. The pay increase for minimum wage would not help reward the employees who do more than their job titles, since everyone would obtain the pay increase. People would quit their jobs since the people who might not show up or do their job would also obtain a pay increase for doing nothing at

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Last year, President Obama raised the national minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $9 minimum. Many people disagree on whether raising minimum wages is constructive for the economy because there are many pros and cons to raising minimum wage. Some say raising minimum wage would have a positive affect on the economy. Furthermore, with more money to spend increases would likely be shown in both gross national product sales as well as an increase in taxes derived from sales taxes which strongly benefits the government. However, on the other hand, the anti-minimum wage faction advocated that increasing minimum wage could cause more unemployment.…

    • 1619 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Social Problem Minimum wage was first created in 1938 during the Great Depression under Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) presidency. Minimum wage started off as $0.25 an hour and has been changed for a total of 22 times by the year 2009. Initially, minimum was introduced to cover women and minors, due to the fact that white men were able to rely on the union as a safety net and that they earned higher wages (Kaufman, 2012). Currently in Louisiana minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Although the current minimum wage is significantly higher than what it used to be at $ 0.25, it still does not suffice to meeting the modern individual’s needs in 2017.…

    • 636 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Baker 1 Chris Baker Debra McDowell English III 12 May 2016 Controversy of Minimum Wage “Most employees are paid more than the basic minimum wage. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), in 2011 94.8 percent of employees who were paid by the hour were paid an hourly wage that was greater than the Federal minimum wage of $7.25” (“Digest 4”). The controversy of minimum wage is rising in the world and the people are arguing to raise it or keep it the same. Many people do not know the bad and good aspects of raising it.…

    • 1017 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    President Obama proposed to Congress in the State of the Union Address that the federal minimum wage should be raised from $7.25 an hour to $9 an hour. He also remarked that “even with the tax relief we have been put in place, in which a family with two kids that earns the minimum wage still lives below the poverty line….that’s wrong.”. “According to a poll taken earlier this year by the Pew Research Center, Americans are in favor of increasing the minimum wage from its current level by a wide margin (71% to 26%).” I represent one of those 71% of United States citizens who believe that the minimum wage should be raised. Raising the minimum wage will therefore rippling through the chain effect to raise the standards of living, the number of…

    • 1045 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As of January 1st, 2016, the minimum wage in California is 10 dollar per hour and throughout the year, the minimum wage increases by a few cents. Currently, the minimum wage increased to 10.30 per hour. What is minimum wage? Minimum wage is a standard limit meant to guarantee a fair wage for the lowest pay workers (EPI). Some might agree that raising the minimum wage will help improve the life of low-income family.…

    • 920 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Everyone needs money to help them with their daily life activities like eating, shopping and even paying bills. For that, you will need a good paying job, right? CATO Institute, a public policy research organization, states “Some policymakers are proposing to raise the minimum wage, but that policy would be harmful. Research shows businesses would respond to the increased costs by reducing employment, particularly for low-skilled workers” (CATO). Basically saying this minimum wage will not help anyone, and it will do nothing but damage.…

    • 2332 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The federal minimum wage was first introduced during the Great Depression by Franklin Roosevelt. Minimum wage started off at $0.25 an hour and has been increased several times to finally have reached an hourly salary of $7.50. Minimum wage has been increased 23 times because it has become clear that one cannot live and or raise a family from the hourly amount minimum wage offers. In the 2016 election raising minimum wage was one of the many questions that caused debates between people in America. After doing my research and hearing a great deal of debates, I have made my decision that minimum wage should not be increased during this time.…

    • 736 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Minimum wage today is seven dollars and twenty-five cents. In these hard economic times, the government wishes to raise minimum wage to fifteen dollars or more. Money is, essentially, a key item that makes the world go round. Why do people care about money so much? Money is what programs the world.…

    • 1327 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Should Minimum Wage In The U.S Be Raised? The question of whether or not minimum wage should be raised in the U.S has been an ongoing debate among the general population for a while, but especially in the recent years. The minimum wage federally in America right now is $7.25 and has been since 2009. Many people debate on very opposite ends of the spectrum, most people are either really set on raising the wage, or completely against it.…

    • 1181 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One of the most frequently asked questions in our country seem to be should minimum wage be raised or should it be lowered or eliminated altogether, from where I stand minimum wage should be raised. Changes to the minimum wage would strengthen the economy and business, lift Americans out of poverty. Paying people a fair wage is a sign of respect and acknowledgement of the value of people contributions to the business. Increasing the minimum wage will lower the poverty level. While an increase in the minimum wage would raise the earnings of many workers and lift some families above the poverty line, some minimum-wage workers would remain poor.…

    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Raise Minimum Wage Essay

    • 761 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The minimum wage should be increased because a lot of people are suffering from low pay to make ends meet. The total of money companies is paying employees today is not enough. A lot of companies are making a profit from their employees; they simply don’t want to pay them because they know if one of the people working for them quits, they are going to find ten more desperate people who would do anything to have this job. Today, it is extremely important to raise the minimum wage because the insufficient wage is too low, it causes parents to work two jobs, also companies should raise salary high enough to inspire people to go to work.…

    • 761 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Damaging Consequences of Raising the Minimum Wage Who wants to earn more money for performing the same work? Most of the working population would say “sign me up”. An often-debated way to accomplish this would be for the federal government to raise minimum wage. While on the surface, this simple idea may sound like a win-win proposition; but when logic and simple economics are applied, the result is a lose-lose proposition. Raising the federal minimum wage can actually have adverse effects on the economy and the portion of the work force that it is intended to help.…

    • 2029 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Millions of people and families would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage. Today the federal minimum wage is currently at $7.25, but should be at nearly $10, or better yet even higher. But the last time Congress voted to raise the wage to its current rate of $7.25 an hour was seven years ago. Since then, the cost of life 's essentials have shot up. Groceries cost 20% more, a gallon of gas costs 25%more, and average tuition at a community college increased 44%.…

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Should the minimum wage be raised to fifteen dollars an hour? There is a good amount of people that think that this is a good idea when it is actually a bad idea. First, the raise of the minimum wage to fifteen dollars would be a higher wage than some people make with an education. If minimum wage raises, then all wages would increase accordingly. Also, the price of merchandise would be raised on everything to make up for the raise in minimum wage.…

    • 986 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Minimum wage has been a highly controversial topic in the United States for eighty years now. Federal minimum wage is set at $7.25 currently and there are many debates on raising it from that to $12 or $15. Many Americans think this is a good idea and its going to yield a higher yearly income, this is true. On the contrary is is also going to inflate the prices of the goods we purchase. Raising the minimum wage to $15 would not be morally justifiable according to utilitarianism and comparing inflation to what MacKinnon calls living wage.…

    • 838 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics