Introduction
Minimum wage has always been a contentious issue in the United States. The federal minimum wage has for a long time been placed at $7.25. However, recent years have seen the debate intensify on whether this federal minimum wage should be increased especially given the current tough economic times. Some have advocated for it to be increased while others have vehemently opposed any policy meant to increase the minimum wage arguing that it will have more negative repercussions than benefits. Various arguments have been forwarded either supporting to disapproving an increase in the minimum wage. This paper adopts the position that minimum wage should be raised and discusses several arguments that support this proposal.
First , every worker deserves to earn enough money that they can sufficiently live on (Shemkus n.p). Unfortunately with the current minimum wage, this is not the case. The meagre wages that workers in low ends jobs earn is barely enough to sustain their basic needs let alone other secondary needs (Giuliano, 171). It is unimaginable that an economic powerhouse such as the United States would have citizens who can barely afford their basic needs (Giuliano, 171). A minimum wage worker who potentially works for 40 hours a week would essentially make around $ 15,080 a year which is actually below the poverty threshold ($15,130) set by the federal government (Shemkus n.p). However, not many minimum wage workers work for 40 hours a week with research indicating that around 70% of them only work for less than 35 hours a week (Shemkus n.p). The majority of minimum wage workers, therefore, earn less than the set threshold and can almost be assumed to be living in poverty. This sad statistic is a strong argument on why the federal minimum wage should be raised. Proposals have been made to raise the wage to around $9.80 so that the annual accumulation can be about $20,000 which is fairly enough to support any minimum wage earner sufficiently.
Increase in the federal minimum wage is also recommendable as such a move would act as an economic stimulus (Shemkus n.p). The argument here is that when low income households start earning more due to increased minimum wage, more money is likely to be spent by them and this will result in the pouring of more dollars into the national economy (Giuliano, 178). The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago recently conducted a study where it found that an increase in the minimum would result in an increase of $700 in terms of spending by low-income households where at least one member is a minimum wage earner (Shemkus n.p). In addition, increasing the income of minimum wage workers results in an increased family’s financial security as well as raised ability to make purchases of both good and services. This in turn leads to the creation of jobs for other individuals. An increase of the minimum wage will greatly benefit the more than 28 million American families that depend on minimum wage. (Dube et al. 955). It will particularly be of greater benefit to women who are normally exploited and usually paid even lower wages than men (Dube et al. 955). Statistics show that around 70% of minimum wage workers in the country are women. Therefore, in one way or another, an increase in the federal minimum wage will help close the gender gap in terms of wage (Covert n.p). In addition, a large number of minimum wage workers belong to the minority communities such as the African Americans and Latinos (Covert n.p). An increase in minim wage will, therefore, economically improve the status of minority workers and pull them out of poverty (Covert n.p). Due to increased minimum wage which results in family higher income, family members will have more options in life. Some might, for example, decide to go back to school, others might decide to retire, and others might even decide to have children and so on (Auerback n.p). The former two aspects, in turn opens up jobs for other individuals. Increase in family income will also mean that family members have more time for community and social engagement including aspects such as politics (Auerback n.p). This is, therefore, another strong argument why minimum wage should be raised with immediate effect.
The other reason why minimum wage should be increased is because it will assist people to get out of debt (Auerback n.p). Many people in the lower class are usually held back from advancing to higher economic levels of the society due to the treadmill of debt that has plagued the country for a long time (Auerback n.p). Increased minimum wage will result in increased income and workers can use this money to get themselves out of debt and propel themselves towards upper economic levels of the society (Dube et al. 955).
The other major reason why minimum wage should be raised relates to ethics. Employers have for a long time been notorious for oppressing and abusing workers at the work places (Auerback n.p). Minimum wage workers have been the worst hit culprits especially those who are desperate and have no other source of income. Employers of such workers ultimate realize the desperation held by these workers and therefore use it as a leeway for massive exploitation (Auerback n.p). An increased minimum wage will help to mitigate this problem of employers adopting exploitive and abusive practices where minimum wage workers are taken advantage of. It will ensure that at least these workers are adequately remunerated for the hard work that they put in (Auerback n.p).
The other argument that supports an increase in the minimum wage is that an increase in this wage will decrease overall job turnover and consequently decrease costs of training.
There is increasing evidence that many Americans support the proposed increase in the minimum wage. Indeed the number of Americans who support increase of the minimum wage to around 10 dollars is a whopping 80% (Covert n.p). With such a large number of people supporting the initiative, it is the duty and responsibility of the government to listen to its people and effect the necessary adjustments of minimum wage.
Conclusion
The debate on minimum wage does not seem to end soon. Many arguments are likely to be forwarded on either the benefits or the cons of increasing the minimum wage. However, as the essay has shown, there appears to be a lot of benefits to be accrued as a result of increasing minimum wage. From enabling worker to earn money to live on, acting as economic stimulus, helping people out of debt and poverty, mitigating abuse and exploitation of employers and to reducing turnover, increasing minim wage is surely the way to go and the government needs to proceed fast with the proposal to increase raise the federal minimum wage.
Works Cited
Auerback , , Marshall . "Five reasons why we should raise the minimum wage."Saloncom RSS. N.p., 30 July 2012. Web. 27 Oct. 2014. http://www.salon.com/2012/07/30/top_5_reasons_why_raising_the_minimum_wage_is_good_for_you_and_me_salpart/
Covert, Bryce. "Five Reasons To Raise The Minimum Wage Right Now."ThinkProgress RSS. N.p., 24 July 2014. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. <http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/07/24/2346781/five-reasons-to-raise-the-minimum-wage-right-now/>.
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.
Giuliano, Laura. "Minimum wage effects on employment, substitution, and the teenage labor supply: evidence from personnel data." Journal of Labor Economics 31.1 (2013): 155-194.
Shemkus, Sarah. "Increasing the Minimum Wage: Pros & Cons."Salary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2014. <http://www.salary.com/increasing-the-minimum-wage-pros-cons/>.
