why minimum wage should be raised persuasive essay

Persuasive Essay Sample: The Minimum Wage Must Be Raised

“Trying to just Survive” were the words of a man interviewed about his view on the minimum wage (Lenahan). The minimum wage is a topic that divides those who live working minimum wage jobs and policymakers. The minimum wage has been a topic up for debate for a while as workers find the federal minimum wage of $7.50 simply unlivable anymore. At the same time, prominent political policymakers refuse to give in to the truth behind the workers' plea as they worry about significant business and inflation. Although raising the minimum would increase price inflation, raising the minimum wage is essential, as it would provide a livable wage for low-income workers while stimulating and growing the economy.

Minimum wage workers struggle to make ends meet as they find that making 7.50 an hour is not enough for the cost of living anymore. According to “Should, the Federal Minimum Wage Be Increased?” As decided 13 years ago, the minimum wage is $7.25; in 1968, it was $1.60, when adjusting to inflation, that is equivalent to $11.16. When adjusting for inflation to today’s standard, the minimum wage is “53.9% higher than today’s $7.25 federal minimum wage” (Should the Federal Minimum Wage Be Increased). The 53.9% difference shows that the minimum wage must be revised as workers suffer from making essentially 3.91 an hour less than they would if inflation was adjusted. This dramatically impacts the workers' social mobility as workers are barely floating above the poverty line, without dependents. Factoring in two dependents would mean that “the federal minimum of $7.25 leaves an adult with two children thousands of dollars below the federal poverty threshold” (Raising the Minimum Wage: Good for Workers, Businesses). The sad reality of the minimum wage and families who struggle with a single income on minimum wage is the struggle to make a decent life and fund their children's education and lifestyle. This adds to the growing concerns of starting a family. People struggle with monetary issues, live paycheck to paycheck, and worry about covering their essential bills. The minimum wage is a change that must be made to completely change the lives of everyday workers and increase social mobility in the United States. 

Additionally, increasing the minimum wage would help stimulate the economy while causing more worker productivity and a stable workforce. While initially, it could be a concern that raising the minimum wage would affect the job opportunities as a business would not want to hire employees due to the cost, this has been disproven. According to Raising the Minimum Wage: Good for Workers, Businesses, “Leading economists have found that increases in the minimum wage have no discernible effect on employment.” Thus, proving that raising the minimum wage would not have an adverse effect on unemployment and workers getting laid off. Instead, it would help stimulate the economy more as workers would have to pay more taxes. It would add to the country's overall economic health as the goods and services would grow along with more economic prosperity. The country's overall GDP would increase, causing the country's standard of living to rise (Minimum Wage: Good for Workers, Businesses). In addition, the raising of the country’s GDP would help businesses reduce their training cost as it would help employee turnover. Raising the minimum wage would allow companies to " increase productivity and customer satisfaction” (Should the Federal Minimum Wage Be Increased? 15 Pros and Cons). The increase in productivity and customer satisfaction would allow businesses to produce and sell more products, leading to a more stable income. 

It could be argued that raising the minimum wage would cause inflation because it would inflate the market, and prices would go up, which is true. However, the minimum wage has failed low-income workers. The minimum wage has not been raised since 2009. It has been 13 years since the federal minimum wage has been raised. Contrary to the minimum wage, “Since2009, inflation has increased by 11%” (Lenahan). As inflation has increased, minimum wage workers have still had to deal with the same 7.25 federal wage, meaning having to sacrifice time with their family and loved ones to afford to live. 

The time to act is now. The minimum wage should no longer stay stagnant while families suffer and income inequality is at an all-time high. Inflation is at its peak currently, and workers will no longer stand the abuse of their time and effort for a wage that is no longer livable. The minimum wage increase would not only help reduce poverty for workers, but it would allow the economy to grow and flourish.

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No More Lies: The Truth About Raising the Minimum Wage

“I budget and budget, and I still can’t really buy no food,” explained Carolyn Allen, a 58-year-old minimum wage worker at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. She dreams of paying her medical bill and still being able to afford Pine-Sol or bleach to clean her house. Other minimum wage workers, like Laugudria Screven Jr. , resort to earning income other ways — in Screven’s case, by selling his blood plasma twice a week. The strategy leaves him feeling drowsy and weak, but allows him to afford rent and approximately one meal a day.  

The United States has a long, contentious history surrounding the minimum wage. Opponents of raising the minimum wage argue that most minimum wage workers are teens working their first jobs, that raising the minimum wage will kill businesses or jobs or that raising the minimum wage will have no effect at all on purchasing power because of the resulting increase in inflation. However, the arguments against raising the minimum wage range from disingenuous to objectively false. It’s time to raise the minimum wage.  

The “Minimum Wage” is More Minimal Today than Ever

The United States minimum wage originated with the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA), which also set overtime pay and child labor restrictions. The contemporary opposition to the FLSA foreshadowed the current arguments against raising the minimum wage. The FLSA’s opponents claimed that the president was creating a “tyrannical industrial dictatorship” and that businesses would not be able to provide any jobs if they had to cope with “everlastingly multiplying governmental mandates” and “multiplying and hampering Federal bureaucracy.” 

These doomsday predictions proved untrue: the minimum wage did indeed impact the nature and distribution of employment, but industries did not buckle. At the time, two of the most low-paying industries in the South were the textile industry and the lumber industry. Southern textile mills did see a slight decrease in employment, but northern textile mills — which had paid slightly more than the southern textile mills prior to the institution of the FLSA — saw an employment increase of approximately equal magnitude . The lumber industry in the South and throughout the U.S. saw an increase in employment after the passage of the FLSA. Notably, other independent variables shifted in both industries: the textile industry had been trending to more automation prior to the bill, while the lumber industry was trending to a more labor-heavy resource base. Overall, the minimum wage leveled no industries and granted many workers a higher wage. 

Over time, the minimum wage has slowly crept higher with increased inflation and productivity.  However, this growth has not kept pace with other market factors, eroding the real value of the minimum wage.  

Today, the real value of the minimum wage is 31 percent   less than the real (adjusted for inflation) minimum wage in 1968, and 17 percent less than the real minimum wage in 2009. If minimum wage growth had tracked the growth in workers’ productivity since 1968, the minimum wage would be $18.42 , more than double the federally mandated minimum wage. For comparison, productivity since 1973 has increased 74.4 percent , while average hourly compensation has increased just 9.2 percent . As of 2020, the federally mandated minimum wage of $7.25 for non-exempt workers is not enough to lift a family of two above the poverty line.  

The slow growth of wages in comparison to productivity is not universal: the top 1% of workers saw their wages grow 138% since 1979, while the bottom 90% saw their wages grow 15% in the same time period. In 1965, the typical CEO earned 20 times what the typical worker did, while in 2013, the typical CEO earned 296 times the typical worker’s salary.  

Increasing the Minimum Wage Would Promote Health and Well-Being

Raising the minimum wage pays social dividends that stretch beyond any debate about the discrepancies between workers’ wages and CEO’s wages.  

First, workers who are affected by a minimum wage increase see immediate and significant health benefits for themselves and for society. A study conducted in 2011 found that blue-collar workers in states with higher minimum wage rates are much less likely to have untreated medical needs, as they are better able to afford care. Particularly in a country prone to global pandemics, an individual’s health can quickly become a community’s health: workers who leave illnesses untreated put everyone around them at risk. Additionally, an increased minimum wage corresponds to a lower smoking rate . Low-income workers currently make up 75 percent of smokers, but reducing the stress of poverty allows them to quit. Other studies have found that a higher minimum wage correlates with fewer teen pregnancies and less teenage alcohol consumption .  

Second, children disproportionately benefit from increasing the minimum wage. Across the United States, 28.2% of children have a parent affected by increasing the federal minimum wage to $9.80, and even more have a parent who would be affected by a higher minimum wage hike. In 2017, a study conducted by the School of Public Policy at Georgia Institute of Technology found that a minimum wage increase of just $1 would reduce reports of child neglect by 9.6%. “Money matters,” said Lindsey Rose Bullinger , co-author of the study, “when caregivers have a more disposable income, they’re better able to provide a child’s basic needs such as clothing, food, medical care, and a safe home. Policies that increase the income of the working poor can improve children’s welfare, especially younger children, quite substantially.” Bullinger’s study did not have enough data to determine if an even higher minimum wage would result in even fewer cases of child neglect, but Bullinger noted , “our findings point in that direction.” Infants also benefit from increasing the minimum wage: the American Journal of Public Health  estimated that between 2,800 and 5,500 premature deaths in New York City alone could have been prevented if the minimum wage was $15 an hour rather than $7 an hour. That figure constitutes approximately 8.33% of all of the premature deaths in New York City.  

Opponents of raising the minimum wage frequently argue that minimum wage jobs are intended for teenagers working entry-level jobs, and that a minimum wage raise would needlessly benefit teens living at home and working for pocket money. However, this argument defies reality.  

In California, 96 percent of workers who would benefit from the proposed minimum wage increase to $15 are over the age of 20, and 58 percent are over the age of 30. These numbers hold nationwide: the average age of an impacted worker would be 35 , and 51 percent of those affected would be 30 years of age or older. Only 13 percent of those impacted would be 20 or younger. On average, these affected workers earn half of their family’s income, and the majority of them work full time .  

Historically marginalized communities are the most likely to benefit from a minimum wage hike: in California, workers earning less than $15 per hour are 55 percent Latino or Latina , while the general population of workers is only 38 percent Latino or Latina . Nationally, about 40 percent of all black workers’ wages would increase, and more than half of workers who would be affected by a minimum wage increase are women. While 19 percent of families nationwide have incomes that are less than twice the national poverty line, 50 percent of workers who would benefit from a minimum wage increase come from these families. 

Increasing the Minimum Wage Won’t Decrease Employment

Carry on a conversation about minimum wage for more than twenty minutes, and inevitably, an opponent of raising the minimum wage will inform you, often with a condescending tone, that any Econ 101 student knows that raising the minimum wage will cost jobs. Many introductory economics courses do, in fact, teach a simple theory that raising the minimum wage will reduce employment. According to this theory, as the minimum wage rises, employers will be willing to employ fewer workers, since their salaries will be more expensive.  

The argument is far too simplistic to drive real-world policy for the world’s largest economy.  The argument incorrectly assumes a fantasy textbook-“perfect” market.  A “perfect” market has many buyers and sellers, no market power, no differences between the goods sold by each firm, and perfectly even information for buyers and sellers. (In a labor market, the “buyers” are employers, and the “sellers” are employees who are selling their time and effort.) Unsurprisingly, the US labor market is not a “perfect” market, so the opponents of increasing the minimum wage unwittingly make two huge, unjustified assumptions: first, that the demand for labor is not fixed, and second, that the wage employers pay without government intervention is the equilibrium wage.  

The first assumption — that demand for labor is not fixed — describes a phenomenon known as elasticity. When a demand curve is very elastic, the buyers respond to a slight increase in the price of the good —in this case, the wage —by dramatically reducing how much of the good they consume. However, if a demand curve is very inelastic , the buyers will buy the same amount of the good with little regard to how much it costs. The demand for labor in the United States tends to be elastic if and only if: (1) the product being produced has a high price elasticity of demand, meaning that people will buy a lot less of it if it costs slightly more; (2) other factors of production can replace the labor; (3) the supply of other factors of production can be purchased or used at higher levels without their prices rising; (4) if the labor costs are a large percentage of the costs of production. While some industries fall under these categories, many do not and would therefore not be likely to see a large shift in the amount of labor demanded. 

The second assumption — that wage employers pay the equilibrium wage — ignores the existence of “labor monopsonies.” A “monopsony” is a market with only one buyer — in terms of employers, it is a market with only one (or very few) employers. In the United States, economics experts have become increasingly worried that the US market has become filled with monopsonies . Rural U.S. localities in particular often have only one or two main, large employers. These employers are free to create a “race to the bottom” on wages — since there are far more workers than jobs, the dominant employer can start a reverse bidding war among job seekers, where desperate people compete with each other for work, and accept lower and lower wages. To keep wages low and desperation for employment high, these companies can limit the number of jobs to perpetuate the competition, ensuring high profit margins for themselves. However, a fixed reasonable minimum wage prevents companies from creating this desperate downward spiral and encourages them to employ a greater number of employees. In other words, monopsonies tend to employ fewer workers and pay them less when left to their own devices than they would if they were required to pay a minimum wage. In monopsony labor markets, a minimum wage would increase employment.

Of course, our Nation is made up of diverse regions, with widely varying local economies.  Viewing the U.S. as a whole, would a minimum wage increase result in less employment, more employment or the same amount of employment? Setting aside politically-motivated soundbites and editorials, the economic consensus suggests that a modest increase in the minimum wage likely won’t reduce employment and may even increase it. Some estimates found that increased economic activity from a minimum wage increase to $9.80 hourly would generate 100,000 new jobs . Other economists found no reduction in employment. In 2010, Dube, Lester, and Reich studied the time period between 1990 and 2006 and found no evidence of any job losses due to minimum wage increases in industries identified as “high impact” (predominantly restaurants and retail jobs). In 2013, the same economists conducted a similar study focused on teens, and found no impact on their employment, either. A 2014 study by Hoffman agreed that teen employment was also not impacted . In 2014, Dube and Zipperer conducted a study using a newly created control group approach, and came to the same conclusion . In 2009, Addison, Blackburn, and Cotti conducted yet another study and concluded that if they accounted for general trends, they did not find any evidence of job loss due to the minimum wage in retail or restaurant sectors. Of course, some survey methods have found more significant job losses, so it’s worth looking at what has actually occurred in jurisdictions that did raise their minimum wage. A study conducted by professors at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Center of Wage and Employment Dynamics found that the minimum wage hikes in Chicago, Washington, Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle, had not caused “ significant employment losses ” but had caused “ positive and statistically significant earnings effects. ” 

Increasing the Minimum Wage Will Benefit Small Businesses

Opponents to raising the minimum wage frequently invoke small businesses, arguing that raising the minimum wage will kill the local businesses and tip the market in favor of mega-corporations. However, if that’s true, someone forgot to tell the owners of small businesses — a study conducted by the American Sustainable Business Council found that 61 percent of small business owners across the US support raising the minimum wage. In some parts of the country, the number is even higher — it reaches 67 percent in the Northeast — and the lowest support, in the South, still reaches 58 percent .  Republican pollster Frank Lutz found that 80 percent of business executives in companies of varying sizes support a minimum wage increase to some degree.  

So, why do so many businesses support increasing the minimum wage?

They know that raising the minimum wage offers business a number of benefits. First, employees who are paid a higher wage tend to be more productive due to morale improvements, better health, less absenteeism and reduced “decision fatigue.” The Center for American Progress also found that raising the minimum wage causes reduced employee turnover . Employee turnover is expensive: replacing low-wage workers costs about 16% of the employee’s annual salary.  

Second, the worker-productivity benefits center mostly around a given business and the wages it pays its customers. However, business owners also have reason to advocate for a minimum wage increase across the entire market. Consumers who suddenly earn more also spend more, driving up proceeds for businesses. This assertion makes logical sense: people living below or close to the poverty line frequently forgo products they wish they could afford, but with more income, they will likely purchase those products. In practice, past minimum wage increases have indeed resulted in a boost in consumer spending. A minimum wage increase to $5.85 per hour in 2007 generated an additional 1.7 billion dollars in consumer spending and a minimum wage increase in 2008 to $6.55 per hour generated an additional 3.1 billion dollars in consumer spending.  

Gina Schaefer, owner of a collection of small hardware stores, notes , “When the minimum wage rises, it puts money in the pockets of those who most need to spend it, from paying the rent to buying more groceries to picking up lightbulbs, tools, and paint from the local hardware store. A higher minimum wage means more money circulating in the economy. It’s a virtuous cycle: our employees shop at other businesses and their employees shop at ours.”  

Why then don’t small businesses simply increase wages on their own, without waiting for the Federal Government to intervene?  Many do, and they benefit from it. But if a Federally-mandated increase is absent, others fear they will be undercut by competition.

Minimum Wage Does Not Mean Minimum Prices

Finally, opponents of increasing the minimum wage point to their own wallets: I don’t want to pay more for goods and services, so please don’t pay employees more .

But while economists concur that raising the minimum wage will likely cause prices of some goods and services to rise —so long as the raise is moderate, it will impact prices only slightly. And certainly raising the minimum wage will not cause prices to rise so much that the minimum wage hike was “useless,” as some detractors contend.   

For example, studies conducted by economists at California State University, San Bernardino, found that prices of impacted goods and services increase only 0.36 percent for every 10 percent increase in the minimum wage. Therefore, raising the minimum wage does indeed allow low-income workers to afford a wider range of purchases, even if the prices have increased very slightly. For example, if a worker for $7.25 an hour receives a 10% pay raise to $7.98 an hour, they can expect a good that cost $7.30 before the minimum wage increase to cost just $7.32 after the minimum wage hike. Even with that slight price increase, the worker is vastly better off.  

The United States has a long history of treating the free market as holy and rebelling against any form of government intervention. However, when big businesses and their pocket politicians advocate for keeping the minimum wage below a living wage, they aren’t just swindling their workers and damaging the economy: they’re swindling you, even if you aren’t working for minimum wage. They’re creating a less healthy, less productive, less solvent population and they’re relying on social welfare programs to pay their workers for them. Small businesses don’t benefit; workers don’t benefit. It’s time to stop pretending they do, and time to get serious about raising the federal minimum wage.  

Featured Image source: WorkingNation

Published in Opinion

• economic inequality
• economic reform
• minimum wage

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Fact Sheet | Wages, Incomes, and Wealth

Why the U.S. needs a $15 minimum wage : How the Raise the Wage Act would benefit U.S. workers and their families

Fact Sheet • January 26, 2021

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This fact sheet was updated February 19 with a new section on tipped workers .

The federal minimum hourly wage is just $7.25 and Congress has not increased it since 2009. Low wages hurt all workers and are particularly harmful to Black workers and other workers of color, especially women of color, who make up a disproportionate share of workers who are severely underpaid. This is the result of structural racism and sexism, with an economic system rooted in chattel slavery in which workers of color—and especially women of color—have been and continue to be shunted into the most underpaid jobs. 1

This fact sheet was produced in collaboration with the National Employment Law Project .

The Raise the Wage Act of 2021 would gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025 and narrow racial and gender pay gaps. Here is what the Act would do:

• Raise the federal minimum wage to $9.50 this year and increase it in steps until it reaches $15 an hour in 2025. 2
• After 2025, adjust the minimum wage each year to keep pace with growth in the median wage, a measure of wages for typical workers.
• Phase out the egregious subminimum wage for tipped workers, which has been frozen at a meager $2.13 since 1991. 3
• Sunset unacceptable subminimum wages for workers with disabilities employed in sheltered workshops and for workers under age 20.

The benefits of gradually phasing in a $15 minimum wage by 2025 would be far-reaching, lifting pay for tens of millions of workers and helping reverse decades of growing pay inequality.

The Raise the Wage Act would have the following benefits: 4

• Gradually raising the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2025 would lift pay for 32 million workers—21% of the U.S. workforce .
• Affected workers who work year round would earn an extra $3,300 a year —enough to make a tremendous difference in the life of a cashier, home health aide, or fast-food worker who today struggles to get by on less than $25,000 a year.
• A majority (59%) of workers whose total family income is below the poverty line would receive a pay increase if the minimum wage were raised to $15 by 2025.
• A $15 minimum wage would begin to reverse decades of growing pay inequality between the most underpaid workers and workers receiving close to the median wage, particularly along gender and racial lines. For example, minimum wage increases in the late 1960s explained 20% of the decrease in the Black–white earnings gap in the years that followed, whereas failures to adequately increase the minimum wage after 1979 account for almost half of the increase in inequality between women at the middle and bottom of the wage distribution. 5
• A $15 minimum wage by 2025 would generate $107 billion in higher wages for workers and would also benefit communities across the country. Because underpaid workers spend much of their extra earnings, this injection of wages will help stimulate the economy and spur greater business activity and job growth .

Raising the minimum wage to $15 will be particularly significant for workers of color and would help narrow the racial pay gap.

• Nearly one-third (31%) of African Americans and one-quarter (26%) of Latinos would get a raise if the federal minimum wage were increased to $15. 6
• Almost one in four (23%) of those who would benefit is a Black or Latina woman.
• African Americans and Latinos are paid 10%–15% less than white workers with the same characteristics, so The Raise the Wage Act will deliver the largest benefits to Black and Latino workers: about $3,500 annually for a year-round worker. 7
• Minimum wage increases in the 1960s Civil Rights Era significantly reduced Black–white earnings inequality and are responsible for more than 20% of the overall reduction in later years. 8

The majority of workers who would benefit are adult women—many of whom have attended college and many of whom have children.

• More than half (51%) of workers who would benefit are adults between the ages of 25 and 54; only one in 10 is a teenager.
• Nearly six in 10 (59%) are women.
• More than half (54%) work full time.
• More than four in 10 (43%) have some college experience.
• More than a quarter (28%) have children.

The Raise the Wage Act follows the lead of the growing number of states and cities that have adopted significant minimum wage increases in recent years, thanks to the ‘Fight for $15 and a union’ movement led by Black workers and workers of color.

• Since the Fight for $15 was launched by striking fast-food workers in 2012, 9 states representing approximately 40% of the U.S. workforce —California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, and the District of Columbia— have approved raising their minimum wages to $15 an hour . 10
• Additional states—including Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Vermont, Missouri, Michigan, and Maine—have approved minimum wages ranging from $12 to $14.75 an hour . 11

Not just on the coasts, but all across the country, workers need at least $15 an hour today .

• Today, in all areas across the United States, a single adult without children needs at least $31,200—what a full-time worker making $15 an hour earns annually—to achieve a modest but adequate standard of living. 12 By 2025, workers in these areas and those with children will need even more, according to projections based on the Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator . 13
• For example, in rural Missouri, a single adult without children will need $39,800 (more than $19 per hour for a full-time worker) by 2025 to cover typical rent, food, transportation, and other basic living costs.
• In larger metro areas of the South and Southwest—where the majority of the Southern population live—a single adult without children will also need more than $15 an hour by 2025 to get by: $20.03 in Fort Worth, $21.12 in Phoenix, and $20.95 in Miami.
• In more expensive regions of the country, a single adult without children will need far more than $15 an hour by 2025 to cover the basics: $28.70 in New York City, $24.06 in Los Angeles, and $23.94 in Washington, D.C.

Workers in many essential and front-line jobs struggle to get by on less than $15 an hour today and would benefit from a $15 minimum wage.

• Essential and front-line workers make up a majority (60%) of those who would benefit from a $15 minimum wage. 14 The median pay is well under $15 an hour for many essential and front-line jobs; examples include substitute teachers ($13.84), nursing assistants ($14.26), and home health aides ($12.15). 15
• More than one-third (35%) of those working in residential or nursing care facilities would see their pay increase , in addition to home health aides and other health care support workers.
• One in three retail-sector workers (36%) would get a raise, including 42% of workers in grocery stores.
• More than four in 10 (43% of) janitors, housekeepers, and other cleaning workers would benefit.
• Nearly two-thirds (64%) of servers, cooks, and other food preparation workers would see their earnings rise by $5,800 on a year-round basis.
• Ten million workers in health care, education, construction, and manufacturing would see a raise —representing nearly one-third (31%) of the workers who would see a raise.

Phasing out the egregiously low $2.13 minimum wage for tipped workers would lift pay, provide stable paychecks, and reduce poverty for millions of tipped workers.

• There are 1.3 million tipped workers throughout the country who are paid as little as $2.13 per hour because Congress has not lifted the federal tipped wage in 30 years. Another 1.8 million tipped workers receive wages above $2.13, but still less than their state’s regular minimum wage. 16
• Seven states (Alaska, California, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington) have already eliminated their lower tipped minimum wage . In these “one-fair-wage” states, tipped workers in these states are paid the same minimum wage as everyone else before tips. 17 For restaurant servers and bartenders, take-home pay in one-fair-wage states is 21% higher, on average, than in $2.13 states.
• Having a lower minimum wage for tipped jobs results in dramatically higher poverty rates for tipped workers. In states that use the federal $2.13 tipped minimum wage, the poverty rate among servers and bartenders is 13.3%—5.6 percentage points higher than the 7.7% poverty rate among servers and bartenders in one-fair-wage states. 18
• Eliminating the lower tipped minimum wage has not harmed growth in the restaurant industry or tipped jobs. From 2011 to 2019, one-fair-wage states had stronger restaurant growth than states that had a lower tipped minimum wage—both in the number of full-service restaurants (17.5% versus 11.1%) and in full-service restaurant employment (23.8% versus 18.7%). 19

Growing numbers of business owners and organizations have backed a $15 minimum wage.

• In states that have already approved $15 minimum wages, business organizations representing thousands of small businesses have endorsed a $15 minimum wage.
• Business groups that have endorsed a $15 minimum wage include Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, 20 the American Sustainable Business Council, 21 the Patriotic Millionaires, 22 the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce, 23 the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce, 24 and others.
• Growing numbers of employers have responded to pressure from workers and raised their starting pay scales to $15 or higher. These include retail giants Amazon, 25 Whole Foods 26 (owned by Amazon), Target, 27 Walmart, 28 Wayfair, 29 Costco, 30 Hobby Lobby, 31 and Best Buy; 32 employers in the food service and producing industries, such as Chobani, 33 Starbucks, 34 Sanderson Farms (Mississippi), 35 and the Atlanta-area locations of Lidl grocery stores; 36 health care employers including Michigan’s Henry Ford Health System 37 and Trinity Health System, 38 Ohio’s Akron Children’s Hospital 39 and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, 40 Iowa’s Mercy Medical Center and MercyCare Community Physicians, 41 Missouri’s North Kansas City Hospital and Meritas Health, 42 and Maryland’s LifeBridge Health; 43 insurers and banks such as Amalgamated Bank, 44 Allstate, 45 Wells Fargo, 46 and Franklin Savings Bank in New Hampshire 47 ; and tech and communications leaders such as Facebook 48 and Charter Communications. 49

Our economy can more than afford a $15 minimum wage.

• Workers earning the current federal minimum wage are paid less per hour in real dollars than their counterparts were paid 50 years ago . 50
• Businesses can afford to pay the most underpaid worker in the U.S. today substantially more than what her counterpart was paid half a century ago. 51
• The economy has grown dramatically over the past 50 years, and workers are producing more from each hour of work, with productivity nearly doubling since the late 1960s . If the minimum wage had been raised at the same pace as productivity growth since the late 1960s, it would be over $20 an hour today . 52

Research confirms what workers know: Raising wages benefits us all.

• High-quality academic scholarship confirms that modest increases in the minimum wage have not led to detectable job losses . 53
• After the federal minimum wage was raised to its highest historical peak in 1968, wages grew and racial earnings gaps closed without constricting employment opportunities for underpaid workers overall. 54
• Comprehensive research on 138 state-level minimum wage increases shows that all underpaid workers benefit from minimum wage increases, not just teenagers or restaurant workers. 55
• Multiple studies conclude that total annual incomes of families at the bottom of the income distribution rise significantly after a minimum wage increase. 56 Workers in low-wage jobs and their families benefit the most from these income increases, reducing poverty and income inequality.
• By providing families with higher incomes, minimum wage increases have improved infant health and also reduced child abuse and teenage pregnancy . 57

An immediate increase in the minimum wage is necessary for the health of our economy.

• Raising the minimum wage now will tilt the playing field back toward workers who have dangerous jobs and little bargaining power during the pandemic. 58
• Providing underpaid workers with more money will directly counter the consumer demand shortfall during this recession. 59
• Even the Congressional Budget Office’s 2019 study of the impact of raising the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2025 clearly showed that the policy would raise incomes of underpaid workers overall and significantly reduce the number of families in poverty. 60

Low wages threaten the economic security of workers and their families, who then turn to social benefits programs to make ends meet.

• In states without laws to raise the minimum wage to $15, nearly half (47%, or 10.5 million) of families of workers who would benefit from the Act rely on public supports programs in part because they do not earn enough at work. 61
• These workers and their families account for nearly one-third of total enrollment in one or more public supports programs. 62
• In states without a $15 minimum wage law, public supports programs for underpaid workers and their families make up 42% of total spending on Medicaid and CHIP (the Children’s Health Insurance Program), cash assistance (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF), food stamps (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP), and the earned income tax credit (EITC), and cost federal and state taxpayers more than $107 billion a year . 63

Notes and Sources

This fact sheet is an update of Why America Needs a $15 Minimum Wage , published by EPI and the National Employment Law Project, February 2019.

Unless otherwise indicated, the figures presented in this fact sheet come from a forthcoming EPI analysis of the 2021 Raise the Wage Act .

1. Kate Bahn and Carmen Sanchez Cumming, “ Four Graphs on U.S. Occupational Segregation by Race, Ethnicity, and Gender ,” Washington Center for Equitable Growth, July 1, 2020.

2. The analysis is based on the 2021 Raise the Wage Act.

3. Sylvia Allegretto and David Cooper, Twenty-Three Years and Still Waiting for Change: Why It’s Time to Give Tipped Workers the Regular Minimum Wage , Economic Policy Institute, July 2014.

4. Estimated effects of the 2021 Raise the Wage Act throughout this fact sheet are from a forthcoming Economic Policy Institute analysis of the legislation and include benefits for both directly affected workers (those who would otherwise earn less than $15 per hour in 2025) and indirectly affected workers (those who would earn just slightly above $15 in 2025).

5. Ellora Derenoncourt and Claire Montialoux, “ Minimum Wages and Racial Inequality ,” Quarterly Journal of Economics 136, no. 1 (February 2021); David Autor, Alan Manning, and Christopher L. Smith, “ The Contribution of the Minimum Wage to U.S. Wage Inequality over Three Decades: A Reassessment ,” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 8, no. 1 (January 2016).

6. See also Laura Huizar and Tsedeye Gebreselassie, What a $15 Minimum Wage Means for Women and Workers of Color , National Employment Law Project, December 2016.

7. For racial/ethnic wage gaps, see Appendix Table 1 of Elise Gould, State of Working America Wages 2019 , Economic Policy Institute, February 2020.

8. Ellora Derenoncourt and Claire Montialoux, “ Minimum Wages and Racial Inequality ,” Quarterly Journal of Economics 136, no. 1 (February 2021).

9. Alina Selyukh, “ ‘Gives Me Hope’: How Low-Paid Workers Rose up Against Stagnant Wages ,” National Public Radio’s All Things Considered , February 26, 2020; Kimberly Freeman Brown and Marc Bayard, “ Editorial: The New Face of Labor, Civil Rights is Black & Female ,” NBC News, September 7, 2015; Amy B. Dean, “ Is the Fight for $15 the Next Civil Rights Movement? ” Al Jazeera America , June 22, 2015.

10. Economic Policy Institute calculation using Current Employment Statistics data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Values calculated using the listed states’ share of total U.S. nonfarm employment in calendar year 2019 (prior to the COVID-19 pandemic). For recent minimum wage changes, see the Economic Policy Institute Minimum Wage Tracker, https://www.epi.org/minimum-wage-tracker/ . We include the District of Columbia in this list even though it is not a state.

11. Yannet Lathrop, Impact of the Fight for $15: $68 Billion in Raises, 22 Million Workers , National Employment Law Project, November 2018.

12. Based on calculations from the Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator , which measures the income a family needs to attain a secure yet modest standard of living in all counties and metro areas across the country.

13. Congressional Budget Office projections for the consumer price index were applied to the Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator .

14. Economic Policy Institute analysis of the legislation, forthcoming.

15. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics, May 2019 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates United States (online database).

16. Economic Policy Institute analysis of Current Population Survey outgoing rotation group microdata, 2017–2019

17. Economic Policy Institute analysis of Current Population Survey outgoing rotation group microdata, 2017–2019

18. Economic Policy Institute analysis of Current Population Survey outgoing rotation group microdata, 2017–2019

19.  Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2011–2019.

20. Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, “ Federal Business for a Fair Minimum Wage—$15: Signatories List in Formation ,” accessed January 22, 2021.

21. Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, “ Federal Business for a Fair Minimum Wage—$15: Signatories List in Formation ,” accessed January 22, 2021.

22. Patriotic Millionaires, “ Endorsed Bill: The Raise the Wage Act ,” accessed January 22, 2021.

23. Greater New York Chamber of Commerce, “ Celebrating Juneteenth ,” June 18, 2020.

24. Kate King, “ New York Boosts Minimum Wage and Some Businesses Balk ,” Wall Street Journal , January 4, 2021.

25. Arjun Panchadar, “ Amazon Raises Minimum Wage to $15, Urges Rivals to Follow ,” Reuters , October 2, 2018.

26. Abha Bhattarai, “ Amazon Boosts Minimum Wage to $15 for All Workers Following Criticism ,” Washington Post , October 2, 2018.

27. Melissa Repko, “ Target Raises Minimum Wage to $15 an Hour Months Before its Deadline ,” CNBC , June 17, 2020.

28. Michael Grothaus, “ Walmart Is Giving 165,000 Employees a Pay Raise Between $15 and $30 per Hour ,” Fast Company , September 18, 2020.

29. Lucia Maffei, “ Wayfair Sets $15 Minimum Wage for All U.S. Workers ,” MassLive , January 8, 2021.

30. Sarah Nassauer and Micah Maidenberg, “ Costco Raises Minimum Wage to $15 an Hour ,” Wall Street Journal , March 6, 2019.

31. Hobby Lobby, “ Hobby Lobby Raises Minimum Wage ” (press release), September 14, 2020.

32. Gillian Friedman, “ Best Buy to Join Retailers Paying a $15 Minimum Wage ,” New York Times , July 22, 2020.

33. Chobani, “ Chobani Increases Employees’ Starting Wage to at Least $15/Hour ,” (PR Newswire release), Vending Marketwatch , October 30, 2020.

34. Janine Puhak, “ Starbucks to Raise Minimum Wage to $15 for US Employees over Next Three Years ,” WDRB.com , December 12, 2020.

35. Sanderson Farms, “ Sanderson Farms Increases Pay Rates for Hourly Employees ” (press release), June 3, 2019.

36. Kara McIntyre, “ Lidl to Raise Atlanta-Area Starting Pay to $15 An Hour ,” Patch (Atlanta, Ga.), January 5, 2021.

37. Henry Ford Health System, “ Henry Ford Among the First Michigan Health Systems to Raise Minimum Pay Rate to $15 Per Hour ” (press release), October 9, 2020.

38. Michael Kransz, “ Michigan Health System with 8 Hospitals Increases Minimum Wage to $15 an Hour ,” MLive.com , October 19, 2020.

39. Betty Lin-Fisher, “ Akron Children’s Hospital to Raise Its Minimum Wage to $15 ,” Akron Beacon Journal , October 3, 2019.

40. Kelly Gooch, “ Ohio Children’s Hospital to Boost Minimum Pay for 3,000 Employees ,” Becker’s Hospital Review , October 3, 2019.

41. Michaela Ramm, “ Mercy Announces Minimum Wage Increase, General Pay ,” The Gazette , December 22, 2020.

42. North Kansas City Hospital, “ North Kansas City Hospital and Meritas Health Raise Minimum Base Wage ,” December 21, 2020.

43. LifeBridge Health, “ Lifebridge Health Raises Minimum Living Wage for Hospital Team Members to $15 an Hour ” (press release), Greater Baltimore Committee, January 8, 2021.

44. Amalgamated Bank, “ Fight for $15 ” (web page), accessed January 22, 2021.

45. Amanda Mull, “ Corporations’ Social Crusades Often Leave Out Workers ,” The Atlantic , June 28, 2019.

46. Wells Fargo, “ Wells Fargo to Raise Minimum Hourly Pay Levels in a Majority of Its U.S. Markets ” (news release), March 4, 2020.

47. Scott Souza, “ Franklin Savings Bank Raises Minimum Wage in NH To $15 ,” Patch (Merrimack, N.H.), October 31, 2019.

48. Tomi Kilgore, “ Facebook Raising Minimum Wage to $20 Per Hour for Bay Area, New York and D.C. ” MarketWatch , May 13, 2019.

49. Charter Communications, “ Charter Statement Regarding Plans to Permanently Raise Minimum Wage to $20/Per Hour over Next Two Years for All Hourly Employees ,” April 6, 2020.

50. David Cooper, Raising the Federal Minimum Wage to $15 by 2024 Would Lift Pay for Nearly 40 Million Workers , Economic Policy Institute, February 2019.

51. David Cooper, Raising the Federal Minimum Wage to $15 by 2024 Would Lift Pay for Nearly 40 Million Workers , Economic Policy Institute, February 2019.

52. David Cooper, Raising the Federal Minimum Wage to $15 by 2024 Would Lift Pay for Nearly 40 Million Workers , Economic Policy Institute, February 2019.

53. Paul J. Wolfson and Dale Belman, “ 15 Years of Research on U.S. Employment and the Minimum Wage ,” Tuck School of Business Working Paper no. 2705499, 2016.

54. Ellora Derenoncourt and Claire Montialoux, “ Minimum Wages and Racial Inequality ,” Quarterly Journal of Economics 136, no. 1 (February 2021).

55. Doruk Cengiz, Arindrajit Dube, Attila Lindner, and Ben Zipperer, “The Effect of Minimum Wages on Low-Wage Jobs: Evidence from the United States Using a Bunching Estimator,” Quarterly Journal of Economics 134, no. 9 (May 2019).

56. Arindrajit Dube, “ Minimum Wages and the Distribution of Family Incomes ,” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 11, no. 4 (October 2019); Kevin Rinz and John Voorheis, “ The Distributional Effects of Minimum Wages: Evidence from Linked Survey and Administrative Data .” U.S. Census Bureau Center for Administrative Records Research and Applications Working Paper 2018-02, 2018.

57. George L. Wehby, Dhaval M. Dave, and Robert Kaestner, “Effects of the Minimum Wage on Infant Health,” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 39, no. 2 (Spring 2020); Kerri M. Raissian and Lindsey Rose Bullinger, “Money Matters: Does the Minimum Wage Affect Child Maltreatment Rates?” Children and Youth Services Review 72 (January 2017); Lindsey Rose Bullinger, “The Effect of Minimum Wages on Adolescent Fertility: A Nationwide Analysis,” American Journal of Public Health , March 2017.

58. Peter Dorman and Lawrence Mishel, “ A Majority of Workers Are Fearful of Coronavirus Infections at Work, especially Black, Hispanic, and Low- and Middle-income Workers ,” Working Economics Blog (Economic Policy Institute), June 16, 2020.

59. Cristian Alonso, “ Beyond Labor Market Outcomes: The Impact of the Minimum Wage on Nondurable Consumption ,” Journal of Human Resources , forthcoming.

60. Ben Zipperer, “ Low-Wage Workers Will See Huge Gains from Minimum Wage Hike, CBO Finds ,” Working Economics Blog (Economic Policy Institute), July 9, 2019.

61. Ken Jacobs, Ian Eve Perry, and Jenifer MacGillvary, The Public Cost of a Low Federal Minimum Wage , University of California Berkeley, Labor Center, January 2021.

62. Ken Jacobs, Ian Eve Perry, and Jenifer MacGillvary, The Public Cost of a Low Federal Minimum Wage , University of California Berkeley, Labor Center, January 2021.

63. Ken Jacobs, Ian Eve Perry, and Jenifer MacGillvary, The Public Cost of a Low Federal Minimum Wage , University of California Berkeley, Labor Center, January 2021.

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Reasons Why Minimum Wage Should Be Raised Essay: Benefits for Workers, Society, and The Economy

The minimum wage controversy has been among the most discussed and argued issues for many years. Those in favor of raising the minimum wage argue that the increased income would enable low-wage workers to better their lives, reduce poverty and income disparity, as well as bring an economic boost. On the contrary, many opponents of raising the minimum wage contend that it will cause job losses and lead to higher prices.

This essay, written by a custom essay company , can help you understand the topic. By examining the evidence and arguments from both sides of the debate, we can gain a better understanding of the potential impact of raising the minimum wage and make informed decisions about public policy in this area.

My Thoughts on Should Minimum Wage Be Raised Essay

The minimum wage has long been a contentious issue in the United States, with opinions divided on whether it should be increased or left at its current level. Those in favor of increasing the minimum wage argue that it would help to alleviate poverty, reduce income inequality, and stimulate economic growth. However, opponents of a minimum wage hike suggest that it could lead to job losses, inflation, and reduced economic competitiveness.

Nevertheless, by considering the potential benefits and drawbacks of increasing the minimum wage, I would like to to provide a comprehensive analysis of this complex issue and help readers come to an informed opinion.

Reduction of Poverty and Inequality

One of the most compelling reasons for raising minimum wage is the reduction of poverty and inequality. According to the Economic Policy Institute, raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour could lift 1.3 million workers out of poverty and reduce income inequality. This is because low-wage workers, who are often from marginalized communities, rely on minimum wage jobs to support themselves and their families. By increasing the minimum wage, their income would increase, allowing them to meet their basic needs, such as food, housing, and healthcare.

Boost in Consumer Purchasing Power

Increasing the minimum wage would also lead to a boost in consumer purchasing power. When low-wage workers earn more, they are more likely to spend more, which would stimulate the economy. For instance, a report by the National Employment Law Project estimated that raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour would generate an additional $118 billion in economic activity over a five-year period.

Improved Health Outcomes

Low-wage workers often cannot afford basic healthcare services, which can lead to serious health consequences. By raising the minimum wage, workers would have access to better healthcare services, which would lead to improved health outcomes. This is because when low-wage workers have better health, they are more productive, which benefits both the employer and the employee.

Reduced Reliance on Social Services

Low-wage workers often rely on social services such as food stamps, housing subsidies, and Medicaid to make ends meet. By raising the minimum wage, workers would be able to earn enough to support themselves and their families without having to rely on social services. This would reduce the burden on taxpayers and enable the government to allocate resources to other areas of need.

Encourages Workforce Productivity and Loyalty

By paying workers a fair wage, they are more likely to be productive and loyal to their employer. This is because they feel valued and appreciated, which leads to higher job satisfaction and engagement. Additionally, when workers are paid a fair wage, they are less likely to leave their jobs, which can reduce the costs associated with hiring and training new employees.

While there are differing opinions on the impact of raising the minimum wage, there is evidence to support the many benefits that come with increasing it. Raising the minimum wage can help to reduce poverty and income inequality, boost consumer purchasing power, improve health outcomes, and reduce reliance on social services.

Furthermore, paying workers a fair wage can lead to increased productivity, loyalty, and job satisfaction. While there may be some initial costs associated with raising the minimum wage, the long-term benefits can outweigh them. As society moves forward, it is important to consider the potential impact of increasing the minimum wage and work towards a more equitable and just society where all workers are paid a fair wage for their labor.

Through thoughtful policy-making and continued advocacy, we can ensure that the benefits of raising the minimum wage are realized for workers, society, and the economy as a whole.

Tips on Writing Why Should Minimum Wage Be Raised Essay

The issue of minimum wage has become a hotly debated topic in recent years, with advocates calling for an increase in the minimum wage to address issues of poverty and inequality. If you are passionate about this topic and want to share your views, writing an essay on why minimum wage should be raised can be a great way to do so. However, to make your essay stand out, it’s important to approach it with a clear and well-structured argument. Here are some tips on how to write an excellent essay on why minimum wage should be raised, so you can effectively convey your ideas and contribute to the ongoing discussion around this important issue.

Research the Topic

Before you start writing a raising minimum wage essay, it is important to research the topic and gather as much information as possible. This will help you to understand the various arguments and counter-arguments related to the minimum wage. Use reputable sources, such as academic journals, government reports, and news articles, to gather information.

Develop a Strong Thesis Statement

A thesis statement is the backbone of your essays on raising minimum wage and sets the tone for the rest of your writing. Make sure your thesis statement is clear, concise, and reflects your stance on the topic. A strong thesis statement might read: “Raising the minimum wage is necessary to reduce poverty and inequality, boost the economy, and provide workers with a fair living wage.”

Support Your Argument with Evidence

To write an opinion article , you need to support your claims with evidence. Use statistics, data, and examples to illustrate your points and provide evidence for your claims. For example, you might use data to show that raising the minimum wage has led to increased consumer spending in other countries, or you might cite research that shows how low wages can lead to poor health outcomes.

Address Counter-Arguments

When writing about a contentious topic like the minimum wage, it is important to address counter-arguments. Acknowledge the other side’s point of view and provide evidence to counter their claims. This will help you to build a more persuasive argument and show that you have considered all sides of the issue.

Use Clear and Concise Language

Your essay should be easy to read and understand. Use clear and concise language to communicate your ideas effectively. Avoid using jargon or technical language that might confuse your reader. Make sure to proofread your work carefully to catch any spelling or grammar errors that could detract from your argument.

By following these tips, you can develop a compelling argument that supports your position and addresses counter-arguments.

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Should We Raise The Minimum Wage?

Cardiff Garcia

Stacey Vanek Smith

Should We Raise the Minimum Wage?

Burr vs Hamilton. The Celtics vs the Lakers. Godzilla vs King Kong. To this list of famous rivalries you can now add: advocates of raising the minimum wage to 15 dollars an hour... versus opponents of raising it.

We have been watching economists duke it out on social media and in their papers, arguing for and against the idea. This is a topic where things can get heated, but it's also a really important and nuanced debate.

To show what's at stake, Stacey and Cardiff take sides on the minimum wage debate. Get ready for a fight over the minimum wage... with maximum rage!

Articles on Minimum Wage:

Characteristics of minimum wage workers (2019) , from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

How Increasing the Federal Minimum Wage Could Affect Employment and Family Income , from the Congressional Budget Office

Minimum Wages and Racial Inequality (paywall), by Ellora Derenoncourt and Claire Montialoux

Impacts of Minimum Wages: Review of the International Evidence , by Arindrajit Dube

City Limits: What do Local-Area Minimum Wages Do? , by Arindrajit Dube and Attila S. Linder

Racial Inequality and Minimum Wages in Frictional Labor Markets , by Jesse Wursten and Michael Reich

The Disparate Impact of a National $15 Minimum Wage , by Paul H. Kupiec

Myth or Measurement: What Does the New Minimum Wage Research Say about Minimum Wages and Job Loss in the United States? , by David Neumark and Peter Shirley

The Distributional Effects of Minimum Wages: Evidence from Linked Survey and Administrative Data , by Kevin Rinz and John Voorheis

The Economic Impact of a High National Minimum Wage: Evidence from the 1966 Fair Labor Standards Act , by Martha J. Bailey, John DiNardo, and Bryan A. Stuart

History of Changes to the Minimum Wage Law , from the Department of Labor

Why $15 Minimum Wage is Pretty Safe , by Noah Smith

The Minimum Wage Pushback , by Noah Smith

Minimum Wage Tracker , from The Economic Policy Institute

$15 Minimum Wage Subverts Biden Recovery Plan (paywall), by Michael R. Strain

How Can Price Theory Help Us Navigate the Minimum Wage Debate? , by Brian Albrecht

Pay Is Rising Fastest for Low Earners. One Reason? Minimum Wages. , by Ernie Tedeschi

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• minimum wage

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.

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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.

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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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Home — Essay Samples — Economics — Minimum Wage — Argumentative Essay On Minimum Wage

Argumentative Essay on Minimum Wage

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Published: Mar 5, 2024

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The issue of minimum wage increase has been one of the most debated in the last few years. Low-paid workers have protested against minimum wages which have not been adjusted for inflation for several years. While low-paid workers argued that meager pay practices put them on the verge of poverty, economists argued that such an increase will result in mass layoffs. Although minimum wage increase to $15 per hour may result in a lower number of vacant positions, it should be raised as it will positively affect the United States economy.

Low minimum wages cost the United States government billions of dollars. A lot of discussions are centered on the economic impact of the minimum wage increase. While minimum wage increase will, obviously, require businesses to pay their workers more and will require businesses to find new ways to compensate for increased expenditures, the economy, in general, will benefit from such an increase. While increasing the minimum wage is costly for businesses, not increasing the minimum wage is costly for the United States government.

Individuals who earn less than $18,000 a year cannot meet their basic needs and get compensated by the government (Owens par. 1). In spite of the fact that they are employed, current hourly rates are not enough to allow them to buy food, clothing, medications, and other necessary things. It is the government’s responsibility to provide competition for the poorest populations. Such compensation may come in the form of food-purchasing assistance or medical care coverage (Owens par. 4).

The United States government initiated such programs, as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to provide benefits for families with low income. A family living on the current minimum wage will be eligible for such program (Owens par. 4). Another issue to consider is health care. Low-income individuals cannot afford health coverage, and many of them do not pay for medical services in full. As a result, the United States government is responsible for covering these expenses. Uninsured individuals cost the United States $49 billion each year (Kennedy par. 2). Companies which pay workers less than $15 an hour simply offload their payroll expenses onto the United States government.

Raising minimum wage will reduce poverty with no significant effect on employment. Those against minimum wage increase argue that if such increase takes place, it will result in higher unemployment due to mass layoffs initiated by businesses to compensate for increased costs. The opponents of the increase argue that businesses will have no choice but to employ fewer workers. However, studies suggest that measured employment effects of minimum wage increase are very small due to a variety of factors in play (Schmitt 1). Businesses can cope with increased minimum wage through “improvements in organizational efficiency; reductions in wages of higher earners (“wage compression”); and small price increases” (Schmitt 1).

This fact means that if the minimum wage is increased, businesses will have to choice but to improve its operational performance and reduce wages of their top managers, who, sometimes, earn millions of dollars annually. While minimum wage increase has no employment response, it does help eliminate poverty. Currently, many employers pay low minimum wages simply because they can. If businesses were allowed to pay even less, some might even pay lower wages. As a result of such practice, many families are struggling financially and cannot afford many things due to the high cost of living in the United States. In order to reduce poverty, it is necessary to increase minimum wages to $15 an hour.

Since companies will be required to pay low-wage workers at least $15 an hour, more of these people will be able to afford better food and clothing, and be able to buy pharmaceuticals and offer some kind of medical coverage. By and large, businesses have no interest in keeping low-paid workers above the poverty line. Low-paid workers are typically people who lack the skills required for better jobs or a struggling financially. As such, they have no choice but to work for the minimum wage. It is the government’s responsibility to oversee the relations between the employer and employees, as it is in the government’s best interests to reduce poverty and improve the well-being of its citizens.

The issue of raising minimum wage level is a complex one and requires careful examination. While the necessity of minimum wage increase is not universally accepted, much of the opposition seems to come from business owners who are interested in keeping their profits high. The United States government has to recognize the needs of its citizens and work towards eliminating poverty and improving the quality of life. Minimum wage increase is a step forward in this direction.

Works Cited

Kennedy, Kelly. Up to $49 billion unpaid by uninsured for hospitalizations. 2011. Web.

Owens, Christine. Wal-Mart CAN afford $15 minimum wage . 2016. Web.

Schmitt, John. Why Does the Minimum Wage Have No Discernible Effect on Employment? 2013. Web.

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Argumentative Essay On Support Raising The Minimum Wage

Type of paper: Argumentative Essay

Topic: Social Issues , Workplace , Marketing , Salary , Market , Taxes , Welfare , Poverty

Published: 03/31/2020

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Statement of the problem

The minimum wage is a controversy subject when it comes in receiving wages, as most workers will come to an agreement that, one can never be paid enough. Nevertheless, employers may cause problems with that declaration, believing that they pay greater than the amount entitled to the employees, hence creating a conflict between minimum wages.Arguments supporting raising the minimum wage In my opinion, I consider that it would be a good impression to increase the minimum wage. The motives behind this is because the cost of living has gone up to the level where individuals are not making adequate money to pay for their requirements anymore, hence causing ones nation's debt to remain at growing edge. The other reason why it is beneficial to raise the minimum wage is that, it would assist ones economy in the long-run by increasing consumer expenditure. As the minimum wage was to be increased, and then individuals would receive more money to the point where they are capable to meet for their necessities and have money to spare. This would cause to an upsurge in consumer expenditure, and would not just be helpful to businesses, but, to the economic growth in national and local economies. Increased minimum wage, addresses poverty and ways to fight it (Dube, Arindrajit, William and Michael 949). This propose that a rise in the minimum wage would help people considered as a part of the "near poor" category to move out of poverty completely and keep it very enduringly. I agree with this argument, and I believe that it would help individuals who are in poverty, and would not just be helpful to us as a person, but also to the state ''as well.'' Source-side politicians argue that, a minimum wage is bad for the economy because, it affectedly raises income levels and that ''in time,'' it is not good for business and will result to inflation and ineffective capital markets. Raising the minimum wage, would contribute in welfare form, and decrease the number of individuals on welfare (Osterman127). This is achieved by making wages high sufficient to inspire individuals to go to work, instead of staying on welfare. In addition, with more money to spend and more individuals in the job market, this would upsurge both gross national product sales, and a rise in taxes resulting from sales taxes. Though the anti-minimum wage clique argues that increasing the minimum wage would put more individuals out of work, a study conducted by interviewing restaurant owners about the effects of increasing minimum wages, clearly showed that no employments were lost. The research was conducted in New Jersey, where the government had increased minimum wage to the upper most level in the United States (Addison, McKinley and Chad 401). The research shows that what occurs is that individuals do not go out and start-firing workers subsequently due to minimum wages increase but they just adjust on how to deal with the issue. A negative in change sometime arises by decreasing the number of overall hours worked and motivating the employees to increase the extent of work output in the work performance. In general, the study showed that low minimum wages encourages more mothers on welfare to remain on welfare. The study also shows that, where minimum wages were lower, there were highest rates in individuals on welfare. In additional, argument for increasing minimum wages comes from the understanding that higher wages raises purchasing power (Shulman 150). Low wages lead to the failure of the nations to engross exports, resulting to the sale of good sat lesser prices in their market. Wage increase in developing nations is important for their welfare because of the current tendency in free trade. If wages are not elevated to escalate purchasing power, the issue of the inability to engross exports can worsen. This will cause the global competitive environment on low wages to act as a lasting brake on income growth in developing countries. This will then repudiate some exporter's consumer markets and development of income (Oysterman 135). The law of supply also indicates that a high price level will increase the quantity demanded. With a very little exclusion, this law prevails for all categories of the market, as well as the labor market. Therefore, increases in the minimum wage will enhance the number of individuals interested to join the labor force.Conclusion An upsurge in minimum wages should be encouraged internationally, since if workers in other nations are poor to purchase their products, then their employers will have no option but to export in expensively priced products to the advanced world. Increasing the minimum wage will help these employees to structure for lost ground due to inflation and will help to make work pay. As Ouster man indicated, most economists agree that increasing the minimum wage raises the incomes of low wage workers; hence, individuals are able to meet their required necessities. Therefore, minimum wage increase should be supported across the globe as it is of more benefits towards the employees and the economy of the nation at large.

Addison, John T., McKinley L. Blackburn, and Chad D. Cotti. "Do minimum wages raise employment? Evidence from the US retail-trade sector."Labor Economics 16.4 (2009): 397-408. Dube, Arindrajit, T. William Lester, and Michael Reich. "Minimum wage effects across state borders: Estimates using contiguous counties." The review of economics and statistics 92.4 (2010): 945-964. Oysterman, Paul. "Improving the quality of low-wage work: The current American experience." International Labor Review 147.2‐3 (2008): 115-134. Shulman, Beth. The betrayal of work: How low-wage jobs fail 30 million Americans and their families. The New Press, 2013.

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Why Minimum Wage should be Raised

How it works

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. Minimum wage is some times seen as what we should make to make a way of life. When minimum wage is more set to be an entry point for some young adults first entering the work force. Thats not always the case sometimes its a single mother busing tables, or a father who maybe had some bad life decisions and can’t find good employment.

The question to raise minimum wage so many factors stand in the way of this. With our world becoming more and more tech savvy the need for a minimum wage employ is less and less. Why have a blockbusters and pay employees to run it when we have red box the cost of operation is cut in half. With our apps when can place our own food orders and soon taking away the need to have someone service us. In major retails we are starting to see more and more of the self check outs. This is pulling away jobs and replacing a person with a robot or type of system. This can be seen as something that will take away a large amount of jobs to people. Yet can offer a career to others who might have gone to School to learn technology, or study app development to build the many apps we use. We have to see that minimum wage isn’t the goal we at all cost have to try and want more. If the federal government was to raise minimum wage to 15.00 an hour how many people in high school would drop out and get a job how many people that have trades or skills to do a special job be surpassed by anyone that can clean tables or answer phones. Where I would like to see minimum wage raised I’m not sure it’s what we need.

the best way to think about it minimum wage is for minimum skills it’s a stepping stone in life. With the exceptions of the single mother why can’t we have better government support for her better health care better daycare assists while she is going to school and working to try and provide a better way of life. with making 15.00 an house would she want to leave the small food chain she’s working at would she be happy with her way of life and not want to finish college? This minimum wage set at 7.25 is 290 for a full time 40 hours employ that comes to just 15,080 a year. This income would leave a two-person household say, a single parent with one child just below the federal poverty threshold of $15,130. That’s full time if our single mother can’t work that she Can only do 27 hours a week that’s 195.75 a week with only 10,179 a year. Can someone really care for a child and maintain a safe living environment. I don’t think minimum wage should be 15.00 an hour but I think we need to see some kind of increase just raising it to 9.80 an hour thats about 20,400 for a year of full-time work.

I see we need to raise minimum wage some to help the ones in need and stay with the increase in cost of living we see rising and rising, but this again is just a stepping stone we need to keep pushing the youth of today, tomorrow, and tell them keep the goals of a career in mind we don’t need to settle for just minimum wage. When you want to go to college and become a registered nurse think about this RNs make an average salary of $67,760 per year, and an average hourly wage of $32.56. That’s about 5 times more than minimum wage. cardiologist make anywhere from 335,765 to 504,349 a year this is what we need to keep in mind we get paid for what we learn what we can do. If minimum wage was to go up to $15.00 an hour would companies have a higher turn over rate? This question come to mind would the level of applicants skills decrease?

With the statement I made of the youth wanting to drop out of school when things started to get hard in life knowing they can go out and get a job and live and just get by it would seem we would have less quality employment the basic math, reading, and learning would suffer. I think this would have an increase in crime maybe drug use. It’s to easy to just quit and know you will be some what ok. the fear of living pay check to pay check should be enough to help keep the youth in school and to want to become a nurse or the doctor in the emergency room saving lives. Our youth has to see minimum wage as temporary and not long term I say this with the understanding of the ones out there having life issues we need to have the focus turned to the government options we have to help the ones in need that really need the helping hand to the next step in life. With all this said minimum wage needs to be raised. Does it need to be $15.00 no I don’t think is does I see more of a down fall of issues and problems that come along with it from employers to employees. 

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Should Ohio raise its minimum wage to $15?

The fight for $15 – a proposal to increase Ohio’s minimum wage through a constitutional amendment is moving forward. Yet, a new restaurant-trade association survey shows that not all restaurant workers are on board with a plan to boost pay and remove tips.

We talk with those for and against, and a lawmaker sponsoring a related bill.

• John Barker , president and CEO of the Ohio Restaurant & Hospitality Alliance
• Matt Schmidt , brand ambassador for Schmidt's Restaurant and Sausage Haus
• Sen. Bill Blessing , bill sponsor in the Ohio Senate
• Mariah Ross,  ballot initiative director of Raise the Wage Ohio
• Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage

If you have a disability and would like a transcript or other accommodation you can  request an alternative format .

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The Delivery Business Shows Why Unions Are Struggling to Expand

The Teamsters union has made little headway in organizing workers at Amazon and FedEx despite wage and other gains it secured at UPS last year.

By Peter Eavis

Peter Eavis covers the delivery services and the logistics industry.

Last year, two unions representing workers at three large automakers and UPS negotiated new labor contracts that included big raises and other gains. Leaders of the unions — the United Automobile Workers and the Teamsters — hoped the wins would help them organize workers across their industry.

The U.A.W. won one vote to unionize a Volkswagen factory in Tennessee last month and lost one this month at two Mercedes-Benz plants in Alabama. The Teamsters have made even less progress at UPS’s big nonunion rivals in the delivery business, Amazon and FedEx.

Polling shows that public support for unions is the highest it has been in decades . But labor experts said structural forces would make it hard for labor groups to increase their membership, which is the lowest it has been as a percentage of the total work force in decades. Unions also face stiff opposition from many employers and conservative political leaders.

The Teamsters provide an instructive case study. Many of the workers doing deliveries for Amazon and FedEx work for contractors, typically small and medium-size businesses that can be hard to organize. And delivery workers employed directly by FedEx in its Express business are governed by a labor law that requires unions to organize all similar workers at the company nationally at once — a tougher standard than the one that applies to organizing employees at automakers, UPS and other employers.

Some labor experts also said the Teamsters had not made as forceful a push as the U.A.W. to organize nonunion workers after securing a new contract with UPS.

“You didn’t have that energy that you saw with the U.A.W.’s leaders,” said Jake Rosenfeld, a sociologist who studies labor at Washington University in St. Louis.

Teamsters officials said the UPS deal, which increases the average annual compensation, including benefits, of a UPS driver to $170,000 from $145,000, was helping them gain members. At DHL, a delivery company where the union has long had a big presence, the union added 1,100 members last year and is pushing to gain another 1,500. The Teamsters are also pursuing a legal challenge against Amazon that could allow them to gain ground at the company and its contractors.

“It’s been very helpful for us to mobilize,” Sean O’Brien, the Teamsters’ president, said in an interview, referring to the UPS contract. “We’ve set the standard in the industry.”

But the union has also suffered losses. Yellow, a trucking company that employed 24,000 Teamsters, shut down and filed for bankruptcy protection last year.

Amazon and FedEx said they were confident in their approach to managing and compensating workers. Amazon said it had made investments that bolstered pay and benefits at its delivery contractors. FedEx said its nonunion model allowed it to quickly increase pay whereas UPS’s union employees were bound by the terms of five-year contracts.

“Our culture, built and tested over 50 years, is based on the philosophy that if we take care of our people, they will deliver outstanding service for our customers, which will drive business results for our company,” Tracy Brightman, FedEx’s chief people officer, said in a statement.

Around 310,000 UPS employees belong to the Teamsters. Many of them see FedEx and Amazon drivers on their routes and talk about pay, benefits and working conditions.

“We make much more money than anyone else in the industry,” said Essence Carlisle, a part-time package handler at UPS’s hub in Louisville, Ky. “I definitely intend to make a career here.”

The UPS deal gave part-time employees, over half the company’s unionized work force, a 26 percent raise, to at least $21 per hour. Ms. Carlisle makes close to $24 an hour and works around 20 hours a week, giving her time to run a bakery on the side, she said. Her friends who have full-time driving jobs at Amazon make around $19 an hour, she said.

As big as the raises at UPS were, they did not increase pay by a lot more than inflation. The top wage rate immediately after the latest deal, $44.25 per hour, was 22 percent higher than five years earlier. Over that period, consumer prices rose 21 percent.

And UPS typically hires new union workers into part-time jobs, which they hold for a few years. As a result, some people may be unwilling to seek a job at the company.

Even so, last year’s Teamsters contract was widely discussed online, spawning memes of UPS drivers arriving at customers’ doors in designer clothing.

“Joking or not, everybody was like, ‘Hey, man, I need a job at UPS,’” said Juan Martinez, a UPS driver in Southern California.

Under the new contract, Mr. Martinez expects to earn $110,000 to $120,000 a year, depending on how much overtime he gets, he said. He said his income allowed him to spend more on his children’s education.

Under the Teamsters’ deal with UPS, the top hourly wage will increase to $49 by the end of the five-year contract. Amazon said in January that the average pay of workers at its delivery contractors was $20.50 in the United States. FedEx declined to provide an average wage rate for its delivery workers.

Despite UPS’s superior pay over the years, the Teamsters have not made many inroads at FedEx or Amazon.

The high turnover of delivery and warehouse workers at Amazon and FedEx — where each part-time position was on average filled and vacated twice last year — makes it difficult to organize them.

Another challenge is that delivery workers at Amazon, and drivers who deliver for FedEx Ground, are employed by contractors. Mr. Rosenfeld, the labor academic, said trying to organize a few dozen people at each contractor could be time consuming and costly.

Last year, 84 workers at an Amazon contractor near Los Angeles joined the Teamsters. But days earlier, Amazon terminated the contract with the operator, Battle-Tested Strategies, the company said, for failing to follow proper safety procedures, among other things.

The Teamsters asked the National Labor Relations Board to rule that Amazon was a joint employer of the workers and order the company to reinstate the contract. The board has yet to rule.

A favorable ruling would be “a massive deal” and an “inspiration for thousands of other workers across the country,” said Randy Korgan, a Teamsters official.

Johnathon Ervin, the owner of Battle-Tested Strategies, said he believed Amazon had terminated the contract, which led to job losses for all his employees, because of the unionization effort. An Amazon spokeswoman, Mary Kate Paradis, disputed that.

Mr. Ervin said the minimum pay for his workers under the Amazon contract was $19.75. “If you are asking people to make this a career, you should have better work conditions and pay the drivers more,” said Mr. Ervin, a 26-year Air Force veteran.

Amazon didn’t respond directly to that criticism. The company noted that its contractors, which it refers to as delivery service partners, had created 279,000 driving jobs over the last five years.

“Helping D.S.P.s create a good overall working experience is important to us, which is why we’ve invested more than $8 billion in state-of-the-art technology, safety features, rates, programs and services for Amazon D.S.P.s and their drivers,” Ms. Paradis said in a statement.

Labor groups have made some gains at Amazon, including organizing workers at a Staten Island warehouse. But Amazon is challenging the election there, and that union has been embroiled in infighting .

At FedEx there is another potential barrier to unionization.

FedEx was founded as an airline, and employees of its Express business come under the Railway Labor Act, which requires unions to organize nationally, across a whole company, at once. Union officials say it’s easier to hold individual votes at each company location as allowed under the National Labor Relations Act, which governs workers at UPS and automakers.

Even so, some FedEx employees do belong to a union. Nearly 6,000 pilots at FedEx Express are represented by the Air Line Pilots Association . The Teamsters are trying to organize the mechanics who work on the company’s planes.

FedEx said its delivery workers had benefited from not being in a union because the company raised wages significantly during the home-delivery boom of 2021 and 2022, when UPS workers’ raises were set by an agreement reached before the pandemic. A FedEx spokeswoman noted that the company incurred an additional $1.4 billion in labor costs in its 2022 fiscal year.

Peter Eavis reports on the business of moving stuff around the world. More about Peter Eavis

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