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Minimum Wage Research Paper

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Affirmative Rough Draft Jane Hanscom
1/21/15
3A
“By allowing the minimum wage to remain at a nearly unlivable level, we have deemed certain jobs not worthy enough to meet even our country’s minimum standard of living.” –Andy Stern, former president of the Service Employees International Union, and Carl Camden, president and chief executive officer of Kelly Services.
It is because I agree with Andy Stern that I am compelled to affirm today’s resolution,
Resolved: Just governments ought to require that employers pay a living wage.
For Clarification of today’s round I offer the following definitions:
According to Black’s Law Dictionary
Just- Right; in accordance with law and justice
Government- The regulation, restraint, supervision, or control …show more content…
Contention 1: Requiring a living wage increases quality of life for its citizens.
“Raising wage floors induces higher quality jobs, and in turn, those employees have a greater purchasing power and have the ability to buy higher quality items than if they only have enough money for survival, but nothing more.” –San Francisco Living Wage Coalition, SanFrancisco Living Wage Laws and Other Issues Affecting Low-Wage Workers
Requiring the living wage gives people a better chance to survive, and to use that money to have a better quality of life. The citizens will be able to purchase and consume better quality items, which will improve their quality of life. If you only have the money to survive, your quality of life will not improve.
If we use my criterion of utilitarianism, we will measure the pleasure and pain of our actions, and soon realize that raising the living wage which improves the quality of life of its citizens.
Contention 2: Poverty will decrease if the living wage is required.
“As an increase to minimum wage moves families above the poverty threshold, their need for public assistance decreases.” –Kim M Daniel, The Post

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