...Battle to Raise Minimum Wage Lyvonda Wadley Baker College The raising of minimum wage will have a negative impact on the economy while $15 minimum wage increase ripples across the states. In the article The Hamilton Project explains, “U.S. policymakers continue to engage in an active debate over the minimum wage. Calls for minimum wage increases—at the federal, state, and local levels—are based on the premise that rises in the minimum wage will improve the economic well-being of low-paid workers (Kearney, M. S., & Harris, B. H. (n.d.)... Minimum wage increase would actually have a deleterious effect on the economy, low-skilled workers, unemployment, and surrounding businesses. “Congress instituted the minimum wage in 1938 as part...
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...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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... (History Of Minimum Wage) President Franklin D. Roosevelt characterized the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA), as “the most far-reaching, far-sighted program for the benefit of workers ever adopted in this or any other country.” A law drafted by Senator Hugo Black of Alabama and signed into law in June 1938, the FLSA was designed to “put a ceiling over hours and a floor under wages” by establishing an eventual maximum 40 weekly work hours. Henderson, David R. "Raising the Minimum Wage Will Not Reduce Poverty." Poverty. Ed. Viqi Wagner. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2007. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "The Negative Effects of the Minimum...
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...The Devastating Effect of Raising the Minimum Wage Raising the Federal minimum wage does not reduce poverty. If legislators raise the price of low and unskilled labor, businesses would reduce the workforce. The very laborers that are pushing for raising the minimum wage are the ones that will suffer the most. An increase in the minimum wage would lead to job loss and may result in higher prices for consumers. Minimum wage increases may result in severe economic devastation. Recently in New York between ten and fifteen thousand laborers marched in an effort to persuade lawmakers to increase the minimum wage to fifteen dollars per hour. The majority of those marching were activist students and employees of fast food industries. If protesters are successful in securing a fifteen dollar per hour minimum wage up to seventy percent of them will lose their jobs. For the first time in history, if the fifteen dollar per hour wage is approved, a fully automated solution would be an economically viable solution for struggling companies like McDonalds. Several companies are nearing commercial launch of the automated burger process. “Roboburger,” an automated burger machine can produce 8,500 burgers a day while 25 employees can produce 320 per day in comparison. If the companies are only required to pay a minimum wage of eight dollars per hour and contract labor, which means no benefits, it would still be viable to hire those 25 employees. The automation over the next few years...
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...increasing the federal minimum wage is actually beneficial to our country and its residents. “Minimum wage is defined as the lowest amount that employers can legally pay their workers per hour of labor” (History and Debate of Minimum Wage). Most jurisdictions have laws that enforce a minimum wage; however there are benefits as well as disadvantages to this type of policy. Minimum wage laws were initially established to reduce poverty and are upheld with particular goals in mind. Those who support minimum wage laws generally believe that these objectives are being sufficiently achieved, which is enough jurisdiction to maintain the laws. Those who are opposed the minimum wage laws usually believe that it harms less skilled workers and raises unemployment (History and Debate of Minimum Wage). There are many pros from the side that is in favor of raising the minimum wage. An increase in the minimum wage would create more job opportunities because it would cause minimum wage employees to spend more leading to an increase in earnings among businesses and requiring them to hire more employees to keep up with their increase in sales. Raising the minimum wage would also allow some people who rely on additional support from the government to be able to support themselves better without being as dependent on social programs. This would ultimately lead to lower taxes as well as a reallocation of funds that provide support for other’s needs. An increase in minimum wage would also lead to a...
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...The minimum wage is often thought of as a guarantee of fairness in the employment market. As it is erroneously perceived, the minimum wage ensures that every person receives a living wage. However, the minimum wage neither guarantees that an individual be employed in the first place, nor does it guarantee that an employee will be offered enough hours of work in order to garner a so-called “living wage.” A raise in the minimum wage, without a raise in productivity for the given work, will result in companies resorting to drastic measures to secure profits. These measures include cutting down worker hours, implementing rigorous productivity standards, and most importantly, raising the cost of products and services. An increase in the minimum wage will result in an increased difficulty for low-skilled individuals seeking work, as they now have to compensate for an inequity in the value they provide and the wage they are guaranteed. In addition, those already past the threshold of the minimum wage will be forced to endure a rise in the cost of living, despite the fact that they did not receive a raise in their personal wage. Lastly, raising the minimum wage will degrade the idea of the free market, a system which allows prospective employees to exchange their work to an employer for an agreed upon wage, including wages that may not conform to the restraints of the minimum wage. Ultimately, the federal minimum wage should not be raised as it will encourage an increase in the unemployment...
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...Raising the minimums raises the maximums Most of our nation’s low-income jobs and positions are not paying like they used to. Is federal minimum wage at an all-time low? Are we not in the greatest country, where American’s who work harder live more wealthily and have more success? The first federal minimum wage legislation was created in 1938, where law stated that workers earned 25 cents an hour. Since then the federal minimum has been revised and increased twenty-two times. The federal minimum wage was ignored from the year 1981 to 1990, and again until in 2007 where wages were raised to $7.25 per hour. Eight years later, the minimum standard remains the same which is an issue for most American’s considered to be middle class today. Actually, today’s minimum wage is lower than any rate during the years between 1956 and 1985. Nearly a quarter of America’s working adults are laboring for wages that do not support families at the minimally acceptable level (Curry). A person working full-time at the federal minimum wage earns $290 in a week, around $15,080 for the year (Gillibrand). With an annual salary of $3000 less than the nation’s poverty level line, an average family of three will struggle to make ends meet. These low-income families will need government assistance, for basic living needs. At this rate of pay, even an average family who has two working/supporting parents will still have financial burdens. They will be considered a poor family, with house-hold income of...
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...Chapter 3 Analysis ………………………………………………7 Chapter 4 Conclusion …………………………………………...10 References …………………………………………………………..12 Abstract This paper discusses some of the additional effects raising the minimum wage income has on society. The United States low wage workers, namely the fast food industry workers are currently demanding higher wages. We will discuss the effect of those higher wages to businesses, the workers and those who we would not think to be affected. Effects of Minimum Wage Increases Chapter 1 Introduction Anyone who watches the local or national news has heard of the recent debate over raising the nation’s minimum wage requirements. Employees of McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Burger King are protesting in the streets and going on strike demanding a $15 per hour minimum wage (Fast Food Workers). These restaurant chains and others do not believe the minimum wage should be raised to $15 per hour for fast-food workers. There are many arguments to support both the demand to raise the minimum wage and not to raise the minimum wage. This paper will focus on different arguments and the impacts of raising the minimum wage will have on society from different angles, the first being how employers may respond to the wage increase by reducing the amount of employees they employ. The second focuses on who the mandated increase will most likely impact. And the third and final being the artificial inflation effects on the consumer. History Raising the minimum wage...
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...Abolishing the Minimum Wage ENGL 101 / Janet Stallard Carla Woods American Public University Abolishing the Minimum Wage Many Americans think of the minimum wage as a means of raising the income of the working people. However, the minimum wage is not the best way to combat poverty. In fact, the minimum wage does more harm than good. The list of its negative effects is a long one: it causes unemployment; it prevents unskilled workers from getting the on-the-job training they need; it encourages teenagers to drop out of school; it promotes the hiring of illegal aliens; and it increases welfare dependency. For all of these reasons, the minimum wage should be eliminated. To evaluate the minimum wage, we must first understand why it was originally created and what its historical effects have been. The minimum w age was introduced in 1938 by President Franklin Roosevelt. According to Dr. Burton W. Folsom (1998), a senior fellow in economic education for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, the driving force behind this new legislation was not the plight of the working poor but the political might of the highly paid textile workers of New England, who were trying to protect their jobs as they faced competition from Southern textile mills. The Southern mills were able to produce cloth of equal quality more cheaply than their counterparts in the North because of the lower cost of living in the South, which allowed Southern factories to pay lower wages to their workers. In response...
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...Smith, Advertising Department Supervisor From : Jason Vu, Advertising Associate Date : March 24, 2010 Re : New Approach for Extra Income As a consequence of the recent increase in minimum wages, there is an increase in the discretionary income of our current advertising base. People with more money tend to spend more. Our current advertising approach does not take this into consideration. This is a proposal to modify the approach in our advertising strategy so that we can take advantage of the coming shift in our advertising base and enhance our advertising revenue by expanding our potential client base. The rationale behind the proposal and its implementation will be elaborated in the following report. When people have achieved basic survival needs such as food, shelter, and relatively secured physical and financial safety, they seek to attain things that they haven’t yet possess, such as status symbols or a sense of belonging to an exclusive group. If we can encourage our existing advertisement consumers to spend their extra income, hence shift the demand of our current advertising base to consume more upscale products, then we stand to gain an expanded and more profitable set of ads buyers. This project is a market study in potential new products in which ads targeted for the new minimum wage consumers segment can be created. This project will determine the current advertising consumers’ income. The result of this project will be used in devising a strategy to create and...
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...Paper: Minimum Wage and Economic Growth Economic Policy Institute, most commonly known as EPI, has always been a crucial factor in the effort to increase minimum wage and highlighting its positive effects for blue-collar families as well as the general economy. As of today, twenty-one states including Washington, D.C. have already advanced in setting their minimum wage above the federal minimum of $7.25; in other words, almost half of the United States workforce is now under the influences of minimum wages above the federal minimum. Therefore, EPI took the opportunity to conduct data and reports from these states, with the aid of the Economic Analysis and Research Network, also known as EARN, in order to advance economic policy at both state and regional levels, and at the same time, demonstrating the insufficiency of having $7.25 as the minimum wage. President Barack Obama, during his State of the Union, requested for a raise in minimum wage. In the late 1960’s, the purchasing power of the minimum wage was at $9.22 an hour in 2012 dollars, which is nearly two dollars above the current level of $7.25 an hour. Inflation is a cause of reducing the purchasing power of the dollar; so as a result, when the minimum wage is raised, the purchasing power of the eventual wage is less than the proposed nominal dollar value. The minimum wage is twenty-three percent less than its peak inflation adjusted value of 1968. One of the reasons that many support the increase of the wage is the...
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...Raising Minimum Wage Intermediate Microeconomics In the 2014 State of the Union address, President Obama called on Congress to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour (The White House, n.d.). Many arguments stand both for and against the $2.85 per hour raise, all of which cite the affects it may have on employer costs, household income, and the economy as a whole. The majority of the arguments, however, point toward the major economic benefits that are capable if such a raise occurs. The federal government put into place a minimum wage in 1938. Nominal minimum wage values have increased intermittently ever since, starting at $0.25/hr, growing until it reached its current $7.25/hr. It has increased the most recently in three $0.70 increments, from $5.15 to $5.85 in July 2007, to $6.55 in July 2008, and to $7.25 in July 2009, where it has stayed for the past six years. In more recent years, various cities and states have made their own decisions to raise their minimum wages. For example, in 2015, San Francisco raised its minimum wage to $12.25 per hour, with plans to raise it further, to $15 per hour in 2018. In 2016, California will raise its state-wide minimum wage to $10 per hour, making it the highest state’s minimum wage (Smith, 2015). There are four major arguments against the raise of minimum wage – job loss, less job availability for low-skilled workers, lack of poverty reduction, and higher prices for consumers. In the Southern Economic Journal, experts...
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...indefinitely on a job that pays $7.25 an hour? That is the national minimum wage set by the Fair Labor Standards Act in 2009. Projecting this to a 40-hour work week over 50 weeks it comes to a total of $14,500 a year. This is just above the U.S poverty level for a family of 2, but below the poverty level of $22,050 for a family of 4. Despite the fact that the minimum wage has been increased 3 times since 2007, it is almost $3.00 below what it was nearly forty years ago in purchasing power. It has not kept up with inflation. If it had, the minimum wage would be $10.74 per hour. In other words, the minimum wage is a far cry from being a living wage which is a wage that is high enough for fulltime workers to provide a decent life for themselves and their families. For the benefit of American citizens and the economy, the minimum wage must be increased! Those opposed to an increase in the minimum wage focus on a number of assumptions suggesting it would be a bad idea. Under close examination, all of their arguments fall apart. One of the main arguments for not raising the minimum wage is that it is a job killer. The reasoning is the increase in salary decreases profits and results in cutbacks in hiring. However, a study at the University of California, Berkeley, has shown that raising the minimum wage does not have a negative effect on employment. An analysis of those states that independently increased the minimum wage “had job growth slightly above the national average.” Another...
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...Understanding Rhetorical Structures September 15, 2015 Analysis 1.1 EN1420 Understanding Rhetorical Structures Should minimum wage be raised to $15/Hour? The city of Seattle, Washington has raised their minimum wage this year to $15/Hour leading to a long-overdue movement toward a living wage. Many retail and fast food workers are demanding that their state follow in Seattle’s lead by raising the minimum wage to $15/Hour but many conflicts have risen due to those demands. In my personal opinion minimum wage shouldn’t be raised. Across America, the ranks of the working poor are growing. While low-paying industries such as retail and food preparation accounted for 22 percent of the jobs lost in the Great Recession, they've generated 44 percent of the jobs added since then, according to a report from the National Employment Law Project. Last February, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that raising the national minimum wage would lift many people out of poverty. Lifting the minimum wage would provide some benefits for many low-income families. The starting minimum wage in California is $9/Hour for general retail and fast food workers. General retail and fast food jobs are meant for high school and college students to get them work experience and also to teach them responsibility. Retail and fast food jobs aren’t meant to make a career out of them but are meant to be a temporary job for students. In conclusion, people shouldn’t try to make a career out of retail...
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...people by effectively raising the incomes of the poor. Many politicians argue that raising the minimum wage best increases the incomes of the working poor. However, others believe that increasing the earned income tax credit (EITC) best provides financial relief to low income families, while still others believe neither policy is necessary. This paper examines the costs and benefits of a Kentucky state-level minimum wage increase, a state-level EITC, and a combination of both. Discussion following...
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