The minimum wage currently stands at $7.25. This is equivalent to two gallons milk, one fast-food meal, and two gallons gas. Imagine working 12-hours per day with only enough money for rent and food for your family. Due to all the hours you work, it’s difficult to pay your utilities. Once you do that, you won’t be able save enough money for other luxuries. In fact, you don’t have any savings. You live paycheck to paycheck. This is how millions of American workers are living. This story has the shocking aspect that millions of Americans could be spared from poverty if the US government raised the minimum wage. This would benefit workers and the economy, as raising the minimum wage will put more money into the pockets of minimum wage workers. In addition, it would allow consumers to spend more.
Nearly 8 million Americans are employed full-time and yet live below the poverty line. Some claim that increasing the minimum wage will not benefit workers who might not require it. According to The Economic Policy Institute’s analysis, 84% of low-wage workers are under 20 years of age. (LA Times, Stern, Camden). To me, any worker who shows up at work every day and works hard should be paid enough to prevent them from falling into poverty. The minimum wage should be raised. After a hard day’s work, imagine that your family is not able to pay the bills. This sends a message about dignity and taking responsibility for your family. The Congressional Budget’s analysis of the data shows this is not true. “The potential employment or unemployment impacts of increasing the Federal min wage rate…are difficultly predictable, but are likely be small” (Congressional Digest 12. The Congressional Budget office concluded that the benefits of increasing minimum wage should outweigh their costs. The minimum wage increase to $10.10 would reduce poverty by 900,000. It would also raise the average income of families to triple the poverty level (Chat,
The minimum wage could also be beneficial for businesses. Institute of Industrial Relations University of California Berkeley found that security personnel’s annual turnover fell from 95% – 19% to $6.45 to $10 an hour when their hourly wage was increased. The turnover rate improved and 35% reported an improvement in customer service and work performance. This is great news for businesses and the economy. The minimum wage increase will decrease unemployment rates because employees stay employed and do not have to take government unemployment benefits.
The living wage is another reason the minimum wage should rise. Pennsylvania State University states that a living wages is the minimum wage required to support a family if one person provides care and they work full-time (2080 hours per annum). The minimum wage must be at least the same level as a living wage to ensure that people can support their families. This is especially important for children. According to the Living Wage Calculator at Pennsylvania State University, Los Angeles’s living wage is $11.99 an hour, while the minimum wage is $8 an hour. This means that workers make $4 less than what they need to provide for their families and themselves. This is very alarming because employees who earn minimum wage won’t have enough to pay their bills or buy food. For college students, it is possible that they don’t have enough money to cover tuition and books. It can be demotivating to realize that hard work does not provide enough for a decent life for your family.
Criticians argue that small businesses are unable to afford minimum wage increases and support them. Central Valley Business Times polled 500 small-business owners with less than 100 employees to find that the majority of them support raising the minimum wage.
Because small businesses spend more, the increase is a benefit to them. Small business also enjoys the increased sales. They will get the additional money they pay for labor, which will improve their business and economy. Business will require more workers to fulfill increased demand, which will lead to a decrease in unemployment.
