The Pros And Cons Of Minimum Wage

There is a continuous debate about whether the minimum wage is too low or if it should remain the same. There are tremendous amounts of publications of books and articles about the minimum wage that helped with the research. The goal of this paper is not to settle the debate whether it is too low or fine where it is, but to enlighten the reader and possibly share quality information about my topic. Minimum wage is too low; in order for people to live without poverty, they should be paid at a higher rate. Furthermore, the lowest wage that employers can legally pay workers is minimum wage (The University California Poverty). Minimum wage originated in New Zealand during the 1890’s, but eventually spread to the United Kingdom in 1909(Neumark …show more content…
Minimum wage should rise along with inflation. In 1938 the act did not cover all of the workforce (The University of California Poverty). This act only covered industries whose combined employment could make up about twenty percent of the workforce (The University California Poverty). Since 1938 the coverage has been expanded and now covers about eighty-four percent of the workforce, around 130 million workers (The University California Poverty). Though this is supposed to be a federal law, not all states follow it (The University California Poverty). There are still four states whose minimum wage is lower than the federal law states: Wyoming, Minnesota, Arkansas, and Georgia still have their minimum wage under $7.25 an hour (The University California Poverty). Also five states still do not have a minimum wage law in effect: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina (The University California Poverty). States should have to take on a minimum wage and should not be able to bypass a federal law. States have the ability to change the minimum wage in their state, but twenty states still have the minimum wage within their state equivalent to the federal minimum(The University California Poverty). Twenty- one states have a minimum wage set above the federal minimum, as well as the District of Columbia (The University California Poverty). Minimum wage in North Carolina is very low, at a rate of $7.25 an hour (Babones). The overall average cost of living in North Carolina was rated at 94.5 out of 100(Sterling). This is totaled by averaging total grocery, health, housing, utilities, transportation, and other miscellaneous costs. If the average is over 100 then the cost of living in that area is higher than the United States average(Sterling). If the average is below 100 then the cost living in that area is relatively low (Sterling). The highest