We Need to Raise Minimum Wage Essay. Words3 Pages. A bill increasing the current minimum wage is greatly needed, and our government officials should demand a raise due to the increase in the cost of living, as it’s no longer realistic. We need higher paying wages for all, middle and lower class income levels · Why Minimum Wage should be Raised Minimum wage was set to keep employers from taking advantage of workers who were in desperate need of employment. Minimum wage should ideally provide enough income so the average American can make a decent living which includes providing shelter, clothing and food/5(18) · Minimum Wage should be Increased Having to work a minimum wage paying job drastically effects an individuals economic status and morale however, this issue is often overlooked. Today, in the United States, wages in comparison to the cost of living is not realistic. The cost of living is increasing while work wages are staying the same.4/5(12)
Why Minimum wage Should be Raised - Free Essay Example | blogger.com
This sample is NOT ORIGINAL. As enshrined in the United States Fair Labor Standards Act, FLSA, the minimum wage policy aims at curbing poverty and minimizing income inequality. Nonetheless, increasing the minimum wage elicits intense debate from opponents and proponents of the strategy.
This paper reviews secondary sources arguing for and against the should minimum wage be raised essay in minimum wage as a way to curb poverty and inequality, and in its conclusion from the findings, arguing that the federal minimum wage should not be raised. For over a century, the minimum wage remains a critical component of public policy. Neumark and Wascher trace its back to the s in Australia and New Zealand. It aimed at ensuring fair pay for work done, should minimum wage be raised essay.
In the United States, the provisions of the federal minimum wage are enshrined in the Fair Labor Standards Act, FLSA. With its history traced back to when applied to Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, the FLSA has undergone numerous amendments to what it is today, covering the whole of the United States.
It aims at helping families attain self-sufficiency, thus targeting low-paid occupations. Even though there are states with greater employee protection legislations, all states should adhere to both legislations.
In cases where the minimum wage set by the federal authorities differ from that set by the state authorities, employees are entitled to the higher minimum wage. Having not been amended for the past five years, there are calls to have the minimum federal wage increased.
Furthermore, depending on the increase in the Consumer price Index, these amounts would be reviewed by the Secretary of Labor after three years and yearly thereafter. Indeed, cities, counties and businesses have taken action to effect these amendments. These leaders raise critical issues that do not support the raising of the federal minimum wage.
As such, the federal minimum wage should not be increased, should minimum wage be raised essay. The widespread argument is that raising the minimum federal wage would improve the living standards of the people. This increment would cushion families from the effects of inflation. With women being the greatest beneficiaries, it is argued that the welfare of many more families would be positively impacted.
Secondly, raising the minimum federal wage would improve the economy. As documented by DOLapproximately 28 million workers stand to benefit from an increase in the minimum wage. The increased earning by the low-wage workers would cause them to spend more. According to the Executive Office of the Presidentincreasing the minimum wage would result in an increase in aggregate demand, citing the study by Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago economists which revealed that increasing the minimum wage would cause a 0.
Consequently, this would foster should minimum wage be raised essay performance of the economy. Increasing the minimum federal wage would attract more productive workers.
These include spouses not much interested in the work or retirees who also could manage without the work. To such people, quality of work is paramount, thus high productivity. This positively affects the performance of organizations, making production attractive. On the other hand, increasing the federal minimum wage poses a risk of increasing unemployment rates, thus hurting the low-skilled workers, the people whom it should positively impact.
Increasing the minimum wage would result in an increase in wage costs for employers across the country. To cushion themselves, employers would undertake job cuts so as to manage their expenses on wages. More specifically, Puzzanghera and Hennessey argue that this increment would cause a loss ofjobs, this being about 0.
Evidence from the American Action Forum indicates a slower employment growth in restaurants and retail occupations, these being fields where employers are most likely to be paid the minimum wage, in states that had implemented the raised minimum wages Morath, This acknowledges minimum wage as a critical determinant of hiring decisions. Since the recession, employers have been struggling with production costs, a fact that has even forced them to pay their employees below the minimum wage.
Adams gives examples of a Chinatown restaurant and Upper East Side pizza place in New York as among the many organizations which cannot pay even the current minimum wage. This is attributed to lack of enough wage competition as a result of the recession. Thus, increasing this minimum would cause most of them to close shop, leaving many should minimum wage be raised essay. With unemployment being one of the top concerns for America, raising the minimum wage should not be approved as it would destroy instead of create the much needed jobs in the country.
In the same way, prices of commodities would rise, should minimum wage be raised essay, thus creating a null net effect of the increment on the lives of the low-wage workers. Should the increase in minimum wage not affect the employment rate as intended by the Executive Office of the Presidentthe wage bill for these employers would rise.
Consequently, employers raise the money needed to pay for the higher wages by increasing prices of their products or services. Therefore, in as much as DOL argues that the spending of the people would increase, there could be a high likelihood of this not being realized as the wage increment would be consumed by the additional costs of commodities.
Therefore, there would be no meaningful net effect of the increased wage due to the increased prices of commodities, should minimum wage be raised essay. Another critical fact to consider is that raising the federal minimum wage compromises on the development of an economy. Evidence from primary studies conducted by Neumark and Wascher from the mids shows that increasing the minimum wage makes such wages attractive to the youth and teenagers who in turn leave school for jobs.
Increasing the minimum wage also makes firms shy away from offering training to young workers who are sources of wage growth in future, should minimum wage be raised essay. For these reasons, some states opt to offer the bare minimum wage as dictated by the federal authorities just for compliance. These findings attest to the fact that increasing the federal minimum wage could discourage education among the youth and teenagers and jeopardize the skills of the workforce in various firms thus negatively affecting the development of the economy.
There are better alternatives to dealing with poverty and should minimum wage be raised essay than increasing the minimum wage. One of the most fronted alternatives has been the alteration of the earned-income tax credit. Most of the low-wage earning employees struggle to meet their basic living expenses, especially those that have families to support.
The government, through the earned-income tax credit initiative, gives payouts to such people with low incomes. This is meant for the poor families and not the relatively affluent spouses, retirees or college students Morath, Increasing this credit provides a better alternative to curbing inequality and poverty, the basic reasons on which the argument on increased federal minimum wage is based.
In fact, Adams observes that even conservative groups such as the Employment Policies Should minimum wage be raised essay support this strategy. Moreover, studies show that increasing the minimum wage has no or little effect on poverty reduction.
Neumark and Wascher cite an academic study which documented no change in poverty rates following the federal and state wage increases effected between and Therefore, instead of increasing the minimum wage, other more effective alternative strategies to reducing poverty and inequality should be adopted. The minimum wage policy as documented the United States Fair Labor Standards Act, FLSA seeks to curb poverty and minimize income inequality.
The main aim of this policy is to help families attain self-sufficiency and therefore targets workers in low-paid occupations. When the government increases the federal minimum wage, it anticipates improving the living standards of its people, lifting them above the set poverty line. The economy also improves due to increased aggregate demand and also attracts more productive workers for employment.
Nonetheless, there being benefits and costs with increasing the minimum wage, its implementation should follow a consideration of the acceptability of the tradeoffs between the benefits and costs. Overwhelming body of evidence argues against increasing the minimum wage as a way to curb inequality or poverty. Increasing the federal minimum wage would almost certainly should minimum wage be raised essay to a reduction in employment opportunities, especially among the entry-level, low-skilled wage earners for whom a job presents the first step on their opportunity ladder.
It results in increased cost of commodities thus a null net effect on poverty levels in addition to compromising the development of the economy due to promoting school drop-outs among the youth and teenagers attracted by the higher wages.
There exist better alternatives to reducing poverty and minimizing income inequality such as increasing the allocation for earned-income tax credit. As such, should minimum wage be raised essay, the federal minimum wage should not be raised. Adams, S. Executive Office of the President. A year of action: Progress report on raising the minimum wage. Washington, should minimum wage be raised essay, D. Morath, E. Labor Day turns attention back to minimum-wage debate.
The Wall Street Journal. Neumark, D. Minimum wages. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Puzzanghera, J. Los Angeles Should minimum wage be raised essay. United States Department of Labor. Minimum wage. Should the Federal Minimum Wage Be Raised?. February 17, Should the Federal Minimum Wage Be Raised? Accessed 19 May, Essay Samples Minimum Wage Essays Should the Federal Minimum Wage Be Raised?
Minimum Wage, should minimum wage be raised essay. Abstract As enshrined in the United States Fair Labor Standards Act, FLSA, the minimum wage policy aims at curbing poverty and minimizing income inequality. Introduction Struggling with your HW? Get your assignments done by real pros. Save your precious time and boost your marks with ease. Just fill in your HW requirements and you can count on us!
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What the US gets wrong about minimum wage
, time: 5:06Minimum Wage Should not be Raised - Free Essay Example | blogger.com
· Raising minimum wage pay would benefit the economy in various ways. A higher minimum wage not only increases the income of workers which is sorely needed to boost demand and drive the economy but also reduces turnover, cuts the costs imposed on taxpayers by low-road employers and pushes businesses towards a high-road, high-human capital model/5(31) · Over years, the minimum wage has been reviewed upwards amidst increasing cost of living, with the latest proposal seeking to increase the federal minimum wage to $, up from the current $ per hour. Nonetheless, increasing the minimum wage elicits intense debate from opponents and proponents of the strategy · Why Minimum Wage should be Raised Minimum wage was set to keep employers from taking advantage of workers who were in desperate need of employment. Minimum wage should ideally provide enough income so the average American can make a decent living which includes providing shelter, clothing and food/5(18)
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