The Minimum Wage Should Be Increased to Help Low-Income Earners Get Out of Poverty

The Minimum Wage Essay Introduction

The concept of the minimum wage has sparked a major debate among economists and politicians in the United States of America. After recovering from the major recession that rocked the United States, the economy has still been on its knees for more than five years. It has made a serious impact on the main investors. However, the most significant influence has been on workers and families that have continuously survived on the minimum wage. This wage has been noted to be the same many decades after the end of the World War and has not gotten a review despite the standards of living going up. However, as many people that rely on the minimum wage continue to suffer the effects of the rising standards of living on a low wage, the corporate class has continued to gain large profits. The essay about minimum wage raising will analyze the pros and cons of wage increase both for politics and the economy of the USA.

The Minimum Wage Essay Body Paragraphs

It is very disturbing that the number of individuals that rely on the minimum wage is fast rising. The value of the minimum wage has lost its value more than tenfold since it was last reviewed. This has caused panic among most economists who describe this as a sign of an ailing economy. There have always been stereotypes among those who earn low wages, especially in an era that most individuals have had to acquire white-collar jobs.

The past studies have increasingly shown that the minimum wage earners are now composed majorly of teenagers. However, this has recently changed to the extent that half of the minimum wage earning population is composed of young adults that are about 25 years old.

Government intervention in such an issue is predictable. The expected response would be to raise the minimum wage. To a layman, this would make sense. However, to an economist and a keen observer, the idea of having the minimum wage raised is complex and raises a lot of questions concerning its viability on whether it does anything to improve the economy. The raising of the minimum wage is expected to up the living standards of the poor and those that rely on the minimum wage for living. However, it has recently been projected that raising the minimum wage by 10 dollars would do nothing on most payrolls and would translate to a very insignificant improvement in the economy.

Beyond the political and economist platforms, the question of the minimum wage is almost not debatable. Opinion polls have shown that up to 70% of Americans have shown unanimous support for the increment on the minimum wage. It is despite scholars arguing that it negates the principle of hard work among the citizens.

Taxpayers in the United States have contributed dramatic amounts of money in aid of poor families in the country. It has raised numerous questions as to whether this move is necessary with some people arguing that there was a need to wipe the misled notion of trying to find fairness in society. The campaign on fairness has seriously undermined the significance of hard work. Despite some political movements advocating for this, most people have been opposed to this concept claiming that the work is not charity rather something that should be defined by hard work.

The wrong notion instilled among the masses on the question of increasing the minimum wage is said to be a political weapon. It is more likely to be used by the Democrats who have greatly advocated for the rise in the minimum wage. It has often moved the masses who have championed the notion of increasing the minimum wage. However, experts have noted that despite this being a possible cause of a swing vote, the phenomenon will be bad for the economy.

When analyzed from a different perspective, however, one could see the need for the increment of the minimum wage. Other factors held constant, the current minimum wage translates to a pay cut when compared to the wage after World War II. It, in part, justifies the call for the hike in the minimum wage, since economists have argued that this has created an increasing an economic difference between those who earn peanuts and tycoons that run the economy.

Analysts have stated that there is no natural law that defines the minimum wage. The way it is set depends purely on public policy and political decisions. Keeping with this notion, in past decades, the minimum wage earners worked to keep pace with the rising living standards. However, the recent calls for a hike in the minimum wage have been described as a scheme to discourage hard work. It is clear that if the minimum wage is increased for any reason, be it political and economics, the cost of hiring employees will increase. It would mean that the employers will have to lay off some workers while reducing the number of employees they hire per year. It would translate to a situation whereby a significant number of minimum wage earners would miss out on employment (Dickens, 2014). The consequences of this move are complex. But to the working citizen, it would be irrational not to consider a minimum wage hike.

The government’s consideration for tax subsidies for the low income earning population, despite being welcomed by the masses, has introduced an interesting yet complex concept. Studies of Walmart have shown that this has created profits for large organizations and profitable businesses that have explored this advantage.

American taxpayers have continued to pay a lot of money to welfare organizations that seek to cushion low-income earners amounting to up to 60 billion dollars. This move raises the low-income earners out of the poverty line. However, it creates easy money for many corporate organizations that seek to exploit this money. It is because with the welfare funds the corporate businesses have now found cash flow among the minimum wage earners.

Experts who opposed the hike in the minimum wage have for a long time argued that the rise in the minimum wage will cost jobs for the individuals that tend to need them the most. The hiking of the minimum wage despite negating the value of hard work will make it difficult for large organizations to hire employees as noted earlier in this essay about minimum wage raising.

The Minimum Wage Essay Conclusion

Such arguments have been a source of major debates recently as people continue to fight against a collapsing economy faced with inflation. Perhaps, the economy of the minimum wage has been one of the most thorough yet not exhaustively researched concepts. Scholars have gone to the extent of studying two different countries that share borders. They have keenly observed the results after one of the nations boosts the minimum wage and the other does not. The conclusion has always been that the hike has minimal if any effect on employment. The concept of the hike for the minimum wage is complex.

A phenomenon has created politics of the day, with many politicians getting the ticket to the White House due to their support for the hike for the minimum wage. The masses have continually supported this move since it directly impacts them. However, only a few of them have considered the effect of this hike to the field of employment and to the job market. A minimum wage raise could be good for the welfare of the poor communities. However, the proponents of this concept perhaps need to take a keen look at economics and its basics to understand the effect on the economy and on the job market.

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