...Kelby Storm Rough Draft The minimum wage in America is a problem that is continuing to grow. This can be fixed by raising the minimum wage. In Webster's college dictionary "minimum wage" is defined as “the lowest hourly wage that may be paid to an employee” (“Websters College Dictionary” 845). The minimum wage determines what a human makes per hour which in America is not where it should be. At a job there is a low that can be set for how much the minimum is per hour worked. Many places put it at minimum wage just so that they can make as much money for the company without losing a bunch to pay the employees who are the one that keep the business running. Minimum wage is a very debatable topic as people view it as it is too high and others...
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...The percentage of poverty in America needs to be decreased. Forty-seven percent of Americans do not have access to at least four hundred dollars for an emergency or unexpected expense, and about half of them make under $15 dollars an hour (“The Universal Basic” 00:08:11-00:08:20). To fight the increasing poverty in America, the government should raise the federal minimum wage. Minimum wage is the amount of money an employer can legally pay an employee per hour. It makes sure workers are compensated fairly and protected from exploitation. Each state minimum varies in amount; however, the federal minimum currently sets at $7.25 per hour (Chang 12). Increasing the minimum wage would help workers and families without harming the business economy....
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...seven to eight years ago, about 8.4 million jobs were lost and 14.3% of Americans were living in poverty. Several years later, the government is still trying to get the Economy back on its feet. Democrats say that raising the minimum wage will increase earnings for millions of workers leading to cash flow which will stimulate the economy. Republicans say that although increasing the minimum wage would help many Americans by increasing their earnings, many Americans would also experience job loss. Increasing the minimum wage would help the economy greatly but could also hurt many of the low-income families. Rex Huppke of the Chicago Tribune, brings up a great point stating that raising the minimum wage is not an effective way to address the poverty issue America faces. When raising the minimum wage, not only will the families living in low-income housing be affected, but also young adults with their first jobs and teenagers working after school. This is a concern because these students aren’t the ones who need the help; it is the families with 5 children who...
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...The Hike to $15 America, the land of freedom and opportunity they say. I think that saying might just be false with the way our nation is today. The main reason I believe being that the federal minimum wage is too low. Minimum wage should be $15 in every state. If we want people to experience the freedom and opportunity, it can’t be done off $7.25. People have kids to provide for, colleges to attend, families to support, and so many more things. The luxury to afford to have all the “freedom” or “opportunity” the rich may have isn’t plausible for minimum wage workers. Every morning these people wake up and questions whether they have enough money for food or housing for example. Robert Reich, an American political economist, professor, author, and political commentator, made some good points on this issue. Reich also believes that the minimum wage should be $15 an hour. We both agree with federal minimum wage being hiked to $15 an hour. My reason as to why I agree with him being that Reich gives 7 very valid reasons as to why the raise should occur. The benefit over time would be well worth it. Congress instituted the minimum wage in 1938 as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act (DOL). The first minimum wage that was established was 25 cents an hour (James). The last minimum wage increase occurred in 2009, when Congress raised the rate to $7.25 an hour (AFL). The District of Columbia and 19 states have also established local minimum wages higher than the federal rate (AFL)...
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...Minimum wage in California is predicted to increase up to $15.00 an hour by the year 2023. Most people fighting for an increase in minimum wage are restaurant workers, especially in the fast food industry, dissatisfied with the current minimum wage of about $10.00. Economists, on the other hand, oppose raising the minimum wage for numerous reasons, such as an increase in unemployment, the effects it has on minors, the effects of the free market, and the “-ism”’s that increase. The largest and most often point argued by economists that oppose raising minimum wage is that it increases unemployment. Statistics show that “...in 2013, a $1 increase in the minimum wage was associated with a 1.48 percentage point increase in the unemployment rate…”...
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...Ty Eggen “But raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour is not the way to get wages up in this country. In fact, it would cause perhaps as many as a million people to lose their jobs.” This was stated by Jonathan Trugman in an article published on November 24, 2015 on New York Post. The minimum wage in America should not be raised, but instead it should be kept at where it is currently at. If the minimum wage is raised, it could cause many various problems throughout the country, affecting all who live here. Today we will cover the problems that would arise if the minimum wage was raised, next some solutions and alternatives to not raising the minimum wage, and finally, the benefits of keeping the minimum wage where it is at right now. First,...
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...Minimum wage is one of the number one issues in America. There are debates on whether minimum wage needs a raise or stay the same. The current minimum wage in California is $10.50 per hour. Most people that work under minimum wage work more than 60 hours a week. Those people that work under minimum wage are most likely to live in poverty. People can not earn a living on minimum wage. This is why minimum wage needs to be raised. One reason minimum wage needs a raise is because it leads to a healthier population and less premature deaths. Over the past few years, fast food prices drop while the healthier food prices increase. The author states that in “many poverty-dense regions, people are unable to access affordable healthy food, even when...
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...cost of living has been increasing over the years but the minimum wage has not increased. The minimum wage today truly is the bare minimum. For example; You’re driving to work and then notice you are in need of gas. So you drive to the gas station where you see that gas prices have continued to increase. This is our American minimum wage earner trying to get to work. Many don’t know that the average minimum wage worker has to work over a half hour for only one gallon of gas. Let me remind you that these are the people that look after our kids in daycares, that clean dishes at your favorite restaurant, and stock our selves at the grocery store. They do not get paid holidays to spend with their families, or vacation time to relax. These are the people that are getting up to barely make ends meet. Someone has to do these jobs for business to run and make a profit. If you ask me they deserve a raise. I do however on the other hand understand why some people are against increasing the minimum wage. How much does a person deserve to get paid that has little or no college education that is flipping burgers for us at the nearest McDonalds? The answer I have to that is enough to not be living in poverty. Also, from my experience working in the food service is no easy task and for someone who is working hard they shouldn’t have to work over a half hour for just one gallon of gas. Another thing is that small business owners especially don’t want the minimum wage to increase so they don’t...
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...parent’s low paying jobs. Why should the kids suffer because of their parents, this is an unfair deal for the kids that are the key to our successful economy. If the minimum wage is increase, many people will be allowed to have a better future for themselves and their children. America is a country of increasing imbalance, where the wealthy are moving ahead while the working class is falling behind. In America, inequality exists in income, wealth, power, and education. People who are poor in the United States tend to stay in that cycle almost throughout their whole lives, not always by choice but because they do not have any other choice or opportunity. Poverty class has become much more significant in the lower income gap than the upper class,...
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...Stagnate Wages & Immigration: An Explanation & Solutions There have been ongoing debates about how immigrants are stealing jobs from native-born Americans. However way it is projected in politics there is no doubt that the influx of people immigrating to the U.S has been a major source of economic growth. Looking at immigration from an economic standpoint we will see that there are some who benefit and some who are left at a disadvantage from the flood of immigrants over the years. It’s a complicated issue as to why wages in America have not seen meaningful increases even as the economy has seen evidence of improvement. The questions remains on weather policies like increasing the minimum wage or educating our expanding population and letting the wages adjust naturally are good choices to increase stagnate wages. By looking at the supply and demand labor model, we will see that immigration and its tie to stagnate wages in the United States and long term or short-term steps that can be taken to resolve the issue. Based on the basic economic model the labor supply is represented by the supply curve, and that it is upward sloping. The businesses represent the downward sloping demand curve, as they are the ones with jobs to offer. When surges of immigrants enter the labor force, it shifts the supply curve to the right along the demand curve. The demand curve does not change because workers are not able to dictate how many workers a firm will need for a particular job...
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...what job pays more than others? Is working at, above or below the minimum wage important? Many companies are increasing pay for low-wage workers, in tune with the amount of people arguing for a higher minimum wage standard. These companies include McDonald's, Walmart, TJ Maxx, The Gap, and Target, according to an article from Forbes Magazines. First, with big companies increasing their wages above the minimum wage, some people believe that other companies should also raise their wages above the minimum wage so that they won’t have their employees seeking jobs from these bigger companies. Companies should attempt to find a balance between the wages they can supply and meeting the needs of workers who are attempting to provide for themselves or their families. The cost of goods and services have increased, and with this, it is harder for people to create sustainable living circumstances with the current minimum wage. An article named “Our Research: Minimum Wage” claims “[this] will enhance consumer spending, which can increase the demand for small firms’ good and services and boost their businesses’ bottom lines while strengthening the economy” (Small Business Majority)....
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...Economic affect Minimum Wage In the America, the federal government upholds a national minimum wage to protect the purchasing of ordinary workers. It seems good that the government protects your purchasing power by adjusting the minimum wage with respect to the increase rate. For many decades now, there have been heated debates concerning minimum wages and increased in those wages. Most people have a tendency to assume that when the minimum wage is increased people will benefit. People do not stop to think of the consequences that come from minimum wage increases. The general population merely assumes that people should make an adequate amount of income and never stop to consider the consequences, nor do they stop...
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...Minimum wage people make too much money without working for it. Low minimum pay in society is critical because the littlest wage creates a standard of living. The problem America faces today is that everyone is pushing for a higher minimum wage and means everyone will have a better standard of living. These people don’t realize is, what about the effects if they raised the lowest pay. The government will decide to change the minimum wage if it's what the massive of America wants and we must educate them on why the Government shouldn’t raise minimum wage. Why does the government get control on deciding what people get paid? An increased minimum wage will only negatively impact the economy by causing job loss for low skill workers, price increase on goods and services, and still would not be enough for a comfortable living. Whenever people complain about minimum wages, they don’t realize the jobs they have are meant for high schoolers, not careers....
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...Raising the Minimum Wage Student Name: Sylvie Makendi Course/Number: com /170 12/14/15 Faculty Name: Angela Grosse With $7.25 a person can maybe buy a whopper meal at burger king and a pack or chewing gum at a local convenience store. For a person working minimum wage to buy that whopper and pack of gum, they must work one hour. That is not enough to live a sustainable life. The meager wage brings forth recent discussion about whether or not the federal minimum wage should be increased. This divisive issue is especially prevalent within the bipartisan American political parties, the majority of Republicans do not want the minimum wage to be raised, and the majority of Democrats want the minimum wage to be raised. However, this issue should not be a political one because raising the minimum wage benefits everyone regardless of their political party of affiliation. There are many reasons to raise a minimum wage. In today’s society, it’s expensive to live in America and even getting day by day is tough. Raising the minimum wage will be beneficial for both workers and employers in the United States. It will put more money in people’s pockets. This money is invested back into their communities and small business which will help uplift the downtrodden economy. The growth of the national economy, the decrease in poverty and reduction in government sponsored social programs shows that the federal minimum wage should be raised to more than $ 7.25. Raising the minimum wage would help...
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...Raising minimum wage 3/21/15 Professor Arin Black English 102 July 24th very easily could have been the day of rejoicing for Americans around the United States thanks to the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, which amended the FLSA (The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938) to increase the federal minimum wage in steps. The first increase came on July 24th, 2007 when minimum wage was increased to $5.85, then in 2008 when minimum wage rose again to $6.55, and lastly on July 24th 2009 when minimum wage was raised to its current $7.25. Instead of raising minimum wage consistently as the years before, six long years have passed since the minimum wage has risen at all in the United States and this has left Americans to have very little to rejoice about. Not only does the government owe their citizens a raise in minimum wage, but it is long overdue. Many Americans are drowning in debt but somehow find a way to enjoy their life as comfortable as possible without the help of a higher minimum wage. For many this may seem like the norm but poverty has grown ever so steadily and there has yet to be an answer for this since July 24th, 2009. Given this, I absolutely agree the minimum wage needs to be increased in order to match the rise in costs of living which, unlike minimum wage, has risen dramatically since the last time anything was done about it. To begin, I’d like to take you deeper into the history of our rise in prices throughout the economy since the last rise in minimum wage in July...
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