Raising Minimum Wage Is Necessary

Almost everybody can remember the first time they were paid. Whether it was a weekly allowance from parents for doing chores, or an actual first job at minimum wage, it is likely that they will all mention the satisfaction of having their own money to spend. Today, many minimum wage workers feel that the money they are making is not enough, and have demanded to raise the minimum wage. But is this money really necessary, or is it just extra? The fact that minimum wage at this time buys about 20% less than it did in 1981 makes it seem as if it is necessary, but that is not actually the case (“Raise”). The small amount of people that would benefit from the raise and the negative effects the raise would cause businesses prove that raising the minimum wage would not benefit the country in the long run.
In 2014, about three million people made minimum wage or less. Those people made up about …show more content…
While consumers would have more spending money, most companies would offset this increase in consumer funds by increasing the prices of their products. As stated before, each employee would become more expensive to the employer, and one way businesses would counter this is by increasing prices. Increasing the minimum wage will not make much of a difference if the price of everything else also increases (Geraghty).
Another argument for raising minimum wage involves the relationship between the minimum wage and poverty. Proponents of raising the minimum wage claim raising the minimum wage would lift about two million Americans out of poverty (“Raise”). However, that number is miniscule compared to the 43.3 million that would still be in poverty (“Poverty”). Also as stated before, raising the minimum wage is likely to reduce the amount of jobs and increase unemployment, which would add to the amount of people in poverty anyway