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Why The Minimum Wage Should Be Raised

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There are many hard working yet underpaid people in the United States. Wages are not based on how hard people work but on a set legislature. However there are people who cannot survive on that set standard wage. The minimum wage, which is the lowest rate an employer can pay an employee, as determined by the government, is at most times never enough to support low income families which are families living below the poverty line. These families are suffering from poverty even though the heads of households or whomever provides for the family have steady minimum wage jobs. Currently the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour which is clearly not enough for these families and so it should be raised. At an increased hourly wage, poor people, those living below the poverty line will be able to earn enough money to provide themselves and their families with basic necessities such as health care, food and shelter. …show more content…
Sixty one percent of these uninsured Americans specify the high cost of health insurance as the reason for not obtaining any. Most of the persons who have no health insurance are those that are members of low-income families. As a matter of fact, 8 out of 10 of those uninsured were families with only one member employed and almost 6 out of 10 were families with income at least 200% below the poverty line (Kaiser Family Foundation). Working for only a minimum wage does not allow for health insurance coverage. Most of those covered, do so through their jobs and minimum wage workers do not even get those benefits through their employment. Therefore most if not all low-income workers would have to obtain insurance for themselves and their families out of their already limited pockets. An increase in the minimum wage would allow more of such people to be able to afford

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