By Dakota Lenske
A
major topic of discussion across the country right now is minimum wage. With a
lot of families in America surviving off of a minimum amount of income it would
be a great help to have minimum wage raised. According to an article on the
website Reuter,”the number of poverty stricken families in America rose from
46.2 million to 46.5 million in the last year.” That is a huge increase in
poverty, especially when our economy was just starting to make a comeback. An increase in minimum wage would allow these
families to have a better income and help get America as a whole out of
poverty. One of the biggest issues is that if the minimum wage is raised,
workers hours would be cut to make up for the pay increase. But as Jared Bernstein
from CNN states, “Even if employers give workers fewer hours, worker’s hourly
wages would be higher so they could still come away with higher earnings.”
Though
a raise in minimum wage is a good thing for most, it also has its negatives.
Teens and even adults who haven’t had a job yet need somewhere to start and
that somewhere for most people is a low paying job, such as flipping burgers.
But with a high paying minimum wage the question is, will employees want to
hire new inexperienced workers. It is a big risk that most companies probably
won’t want to take. The wage of new workers has a big impact on the financial
market and economy. It plays the biggest role on determining poverty in our
country. With a raise it could either help or become an even bigger disaster. With
a raise in minimum wage we could see a rise in the economy with families having
a better income, and also boost the financial state of our economy. Making more
money a year, people have more money to spend on things such as clothes or household
products thus putting more money back into the economy. But at the same time we
could see a huge job loss because of people being unable to attain a good
paying job. That could result in a huge growth in poverty and a loss in the
economy because there wouldn’t be any money put into it.
There
is also a third opinion in this topic, and that is having minimum wage stay
where it is. Doing this would give people getting into the work trade a good
starting income. If people out there want more money than they should prove
themselves and work for it. In my opinion there are too many people nowadays
who want to get rich for doing nothing and that is why there are so many broke
people out there. Minimum wage was made for teens so they had something to start
with and then could work up from there as they went through college and gained
experience and knowledge.
This
video does a good job explaining the ups and downs of minimum wage:
This topic is hugely discussed and widely know yet it seems to slip away every time it is brought up. minimum wage is an important attribute that defines our lower and middle classes. The marginal benefit of raising the minimum wage would be that our lower class would rise and this would be a marginal benefit but only in the short run. The rest of the economy would then demand more and prices would rise setting the standard back to the equilibrium. If the standard was not set back to equilibrium and the minimum wage was raised without anything else being raised or changed then the world would become a overflow of cash similar to what happened to Germany after the first world war, we would become bankrupts and the income effect would be lowered. It almost appears that a rise in minimum wage would cause a downfall in the private sector and those who produce goods and services because they are not achieving as much total revenue as they should be.
ReplyDeleteYou do a really good job explaining the different approaches to this problem and it seems obvious that a solution is not simple. There are just too many factors that go into the success of minimum wage in the economy to be able to say that a certain increase would for sure be a success or not.
ReplyDeleteRaising minimum wage would just raise the cost of living, causing raising minimum wage to be for nothing. If places such as Mcdonalds have to pay their employees more, then they will raise their prices. when they raise their prices the product becomes more expensive to the consumer, causing that extra money they are earning to go right back into their daily costs. raising minimum wage will just increase inflation throughout the economy.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your statement. Although if the minimum wage does increase, Mcdonalds might not just raise there prices. They may also cut some of there employees to make up for the wage increase. Other than that you are spot on with you statement.
DeleteI could see raising minimum wage by a few cents, maybe to $7.50 an hour but the people who want to be paid $15 an hour for flipping burgers is ridiculous. People need to realize that this wouldn't just affect their income but the price of living. If people want to earn more money, I believe that they should gain an education to get a better job.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the minimum wage should not be raised to $15 an hour, but it should at least be raised to $10. This would help decrease the amount of poverty in the united states. It is also good to remember that one way to raise the minimum wage for employees is the maximum wage as well. Lowering the wage for a $200,000 paying job a year by a few thousand dollars won't affect that worker too much, but would create more disposable income for lower paid workers.
ReplyDeleteIf the minimum wage was increased there wouldn't be much of a difference. The reason why I say this is because when the minimum wage is increased from $7.25 then everything else would be increased as well. The price of living would increase because people now have more money. Companies would increase the price of there products which would counter react the increase in minimum wage and use this as a advantage for them to make more money. I do think it would be good to raise the minimum wage for the families that are living of the minimum wage, but there wouldn't really be any changes to there life's.
ReplyDeleteThis was a good topic to write about, especially considering that it has to do with our writing assessment. You did a good job discussing the economic benefits of all sides of the argument. My opinion is that minimum wage should stay where it is and we should find other ways to help poor people. Minimum wage is a good concept, and with time and inflation rates it will "increase" eventually. It was obviously set at a rate where people can get by, not comfortably, but well enough. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI believe that minimum wage should be increased but not to a ridiculous number such as $15 dollars and hour. For something such as flipping burgers at McDonalds? It could be a bit more understandable if you were making burgers at say a 5 star restaurant or something but no one is going to get that as a first job unless they are some sort of culinary genius. Raising minimum wage by maybe a dollar or 50 cents would help a little bit more. A bit more money in people's pocket is always a good thing to have. Many aren't able to live on just minimum wage of one job, sometimes multiple jobs are needed. If minimum wage is increased a little and people have more money like I said before than they will be much more willing to buy products and put more money into the businesses that they buy from. People are more willing to maybe go out and buy an apartment or even a home, they will want to spend a little bit more leisurely if there is just a little bit more and put more into the economy. Though just like with every subject there are the downsides that could be argued as well. This is a good topic to discuss for it can be talked about for quite awhile with different views and different solutions and opinions on what should be done. Keep the minimum where it is at, lower it or raise it? An important question that should be addressed more.
ReplyDeleteThis question comes up many often when you talk about the future of the economy. Since there are so many events that can happen in different directions when you increase minimum wage, I personally think it is a good idea to raise them. When I talk about raising minimum wage, I mean up a couple of cents, or maybe, to an extreme, a dollar, the reason being that raising minimum wage would technically raise living costs, which would most likely happen all the time. The reason why I want minimum wages to raise, is to give not only the teenagers who are working these low-paying jobs, but also a chance for many of the adults who are working in these same jobs to support their families with a better income. Even though many other factors come into play after increasing the minimum wage, I think that the benefit of raising minimum wages will affect millions of people around the country. It could substantially increase incomes of millions of Americans who are living in poverty and therefore, it would give them a chance to start a new life
ReplyDeleteI really liked this topic and how you discussed all sides of it. My opinion is that minimum wage shouldn't be raised, or if it is, only by a little. I believe this for a couple reasons. First of all, raising the minimum wage would just give everybody more money, but everything else would just cost more then, so basically it would be pointless. I also don't think minimum wage should be increased to a ridiculous amount like $15 per hour because this will make more people less motivated to get better, high paying jobs, which may result in even more poverty. If somebody really has a problem with minimum wage being too low, they should just work harder to get a better paying job and they won't have to deal with the issue.
ReplyDeleteNice job Lenske! You did a very good job addressing the both sides of the topic. In my opinion I do not think minimal wage should be raised. Yes, it is beneficial to many, giving people more money that is greatly needed, but raising the minimal wage will only lead to inflation. As more and more people have money, and more of it, the prices of everyday products rise. If minimal wage does rise, I would suggest and raising it by only a dollar or so.
ReplyDeleteGood post Lenske, it addressed the multiple aspects of this issue. Personally, I think minimum wage should be increased to somewhere around 10 per hour--15 seems a bit extreme. This would be about enough to raise thousands of families above the poverty line, encouraging them to buy more and put the money back into the economy. Contrary to what a few others have said, the pay raise would not cause an increase in the price of common goods because there isn't money being added to the system, it's simply redistributed.
ReplyDeleteWhile maintaining a "price floor" on minimum wage is important, raising it would cause negative consequences to the economy. Minimum wage is already at an extremely reasonable amount and people need to recognize that. If businesses were having to start people at an even higher salary they wouldn't be able to hire as many people, therefore have a smaller workforce, and therefore lose the ability to produce at full potential. This in turn would hurt the economy as a whole because all businesses would be producing at a lower level. I agree with your opinion that people should be working their way up and putting in the effort to receiving a higher salary instead of relying on the government to keep minimum wage as high as they want it to be. Also, when looking at the minimum wage issue the benefits to the workers need to be worried about less than the effect it would have on businesses and the economy as a whole. That is why I believe that minimum wage should remain constant in order to maintain the current economy.
ReplyDeleteAs great as raising the minimum wage would be for High School students such as ourselves, it will hurt the society as a whole. We may be making more money, but with the rise of wages, comes the rise of cost. Everything we buy and spend that new money on will cost more and when looked at in a ratio perspective, would make little difference. Hearing talk of raising the minimum wage to $9, I think, is ridiculous. Could you imagine the sales tax on items we buy every day? Its effects overall would be considerably pointless, and would hurt the economy in the long run. I think minimum wage should remain where it is today.
ReplyDeleteNice job Dakota! I really like how you include different view points when it comes to this topic. I think that minimum wage is perfectly fine where it's at. If someone wants to make more money than they should try to find a better job. For high school students, a minimum wage job is fine and they should be blessed that they even have a job. Overall, nice job!
ReplyDeleteI agree if the minimum wage is raised than more people would be out of a job. I saw a chart on fox news that if the minimum wage that the employment in the United States would suffer. Teens and people without a high school diploma and people that never went or finished high school would never be able to get a job; not even at the local McDonalds…ect. In that case the minimum wage should stay the same in all states across the United States.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion I think that minimum wage should not be raised, but I liked to see how you touched on both sides of the argument instead of being bias. Most minimum wage jobs are obtained by high school or college level students, which how much they are being paid for their work makes sense to me. This would also allow for people who never graduated high school or dropped out to be paid at the same level. I've always thought that you should have to work for your money, but there are many different view points on this type of topic.
ReplyDeleteIt is definitely true that the existence of a minimum wage dis-incentivizes people to risk money in starting a new business. Sure, it would be great for people to get paid more per hour, but you have to think about where the money would come from. A company isn't a money pit. There are a few options they have to make up the difference in profit. Does the company raise prices to compensate? Does it cut everybody's hours to make up for the increased cost? Does it fire people? It is far better to allow companies to pay people how they want to pay people. If wages are too low, people will seek work elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteI thought you did a great job addressing both sides of the topic about raising the prices of minimum wage. In my opinion I think that there shouldn’t be a raise in minimum wage because then there would be some people let off of their jobs because then some companies wouldn’t be able to afford to keep so many people, paying at that specific price. To a lot of people it would be a huge benefit because it allows them to make more money than they have in the past which allows them to support themselves and their families more. If they were to raise actual minimum wage, they should only do it by small increments, and not my major dollars.
ReplyDelete