Category: Minimum Wage

Introduction

Poverty poses a severe threat to sustainable national and world development. It implies the inability to provide the most necessary human needs for comfortable living conditions. At the same time, the established minimum wage levels also cannot provide the required income for a high standard of living. This work is designed to analyze the authors monthly expenses, compare them with a minimum wage, and evaluate the opportunities of assistance for people with low income.

Month Expenses

• Living expenses:

  • Application fee: $250;
  • Deposit: $500;
  • Mortgage: $1225;
• Utilities:

  • Electricity: $95.63;
  • Water: $61.46;
  • Gas: N/A;
  • Trash: $25;
  • Phone: $108;
  • Cable: N/A;
  • Internet: $60.25;
• Transportation:

  • Car payment $331.83;
  • Gas ($28 x 4 per month) = $112 A month;
  • Insurance: $202.81;
  • Maintenance: $25.00;
  • Bus Pass: N/A;
  • Gas Money for Transportation: N/A;
  • Uber: N/A;
  • Unexpected Costs: $200 a year;
• Food:

  • Groceries ($70 x 2 per month) = $150.00 a month;
  • Dining out $100 a month;
  • Fast Food $50;
• Clothing:

  • Laundry Supplies: $10;
  • Laundry costs ($ 5 per load x 4 loads per month) = $20 a month;
  • Dry cleaning: N/A;
  • Purchasing New clothes/items: $5;
• School:

  • Tuition costs ($ 630.00 x 1 per month if paying monthly);
  • School fees: N/A;
  • Books: $60;
  • Parking permit: N/A;
  • Supplies: $20;
  • Miscellaneous Costs: N/A;
• Health:

  • Medical insurance: $15.68;
  • Dental Insurance: N/A;
  • Prescription costs: N/A;
  • Vitamins/supplements: N/A;
  • Gym memberships: N/A;
• Personal hygiene expenses:

  • Hair: $29;
  • Nails: N/A;
  • Make-up: N/A;
  • Grooming: N/A;
• Entertainment:

  • Monthly Subscriptions/Passes: $45;
  • App Purchases: $1;
  • Significant other: N/A;
  • Hobbies: $30;
  • Gifts: N/A;
• Financial:

  • Savings: $3500;
  • Bank fees: $5;
  • Credit card Payments: $176.36;
  • Charitable/religious donations: $25;
• Miscellaneous expenses:

  • Dog Food: $20;
• Grand total a month that is due: $3,613.02.

Expenses and Minimum Wage Comparison

Minimal requirements for payments may vary in different states but should not be lower than the federal standards. In the State of Virginia, from May 1, 2021, the minimum wage should be $9.50 per hour (DeVore & Zhang, 2021). With a 40-hour working week, which implies 8 hours of work 5 days a week, and considering that the average number of weekdays per month is 22, $1,672 should be a minimum monthly income. The calculation is as follows:

• 22 days × 8 hours = 176 working hours;
• 176 hours × $9.50 per hour = $1,672 monthly

The same scheme with changed payment per hour is also used in the following calculations of the lowest and highest minimal income in the United States. According to the Statista Research Department (2021), until May 1, 2021, the minimum wage corresponds to the set federal minimum of $7.25 per hour in Virginia. In this case, the minimum monthly income is much lower  $1,276. At the same time, according to the same source, the highest minimum wage of $15 per hour is in the District of Columbia (Statista Research Department, 2021). With such a payment level, the monthly income is $2,640.

The authors total expenses are $3,613, which is higher by $1,941 than the expected minimum income of $1,672 in Virginia. At the same time, payments are higher than the federal minimum of $1,276 by $2,337. Moreover, even in the district with the highest minimum wage, a monthly income of $2,640 is less than the authors expenses by $973. Thus, considering the relatively moderate payments and purchase of only the most necessary things for a comfortable standard of living, a minimum is not enough. Moreover, the costs of health care and hobbies are pretty reduced, and a potential trip during a vacation or gifts during the festive season are omitted. Comfortable expenses are more than twice higher than the minimum wage in the majority of states.

Assistance Programs for Low-Income People

Several support tools help people with disabilities, seniors, children, and low-income people get the necessary minimum for life in the U.S. Such programs are designed to supplement earnings, provide benefits for food, health insurance, thereby helping people get out of poverty. Welfare programs are government-funded but state-managed, and a share of the funding can also be provided by the state government (Amadeo, 2021). As a result, the requirements (such as a certain level of income) for receiving assistance may differ in various states.

The main areas of assistance programs are health insurance, assistance in paying and finding housing, obtaining necessary food, caring for children, and tax reduction. Amadeo (2021) identifies six major federal programs: Temporary Assistance for Need Families (TANF), Medicaid, Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Programs (SNAP or food stamps), Supplementary Security Income (SSI), Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and housing assistance (para. 2).

At the same time, according to the official government website created to search for the necessary programs, many people eligible to receive aid do not benefit from it because of ignorance (Assistance for low-income, 2019). It is also crucial to mention that this site, Benefit.gov, is one of the E-Government initiatives and provides a lot of information about assistance programs (About us, n.d.). In particular, the site has a tool that personalizes the search for assistance that a person can claim  Benefit Finder.

Receiving assistance under various programs depends on the level of income, the number of people in the family, the age, the capabilities of the person, and other indicators. After the author introduced data taking into account the calculated minimum income in Virginia  $1,672 and one person in a household, Benefit Finder offered several programs. Some of the most beneficial are Virginia Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program  related to housing, Free File  financial assistance, and Adults and Dislocated Workers Program  help in finding work. Notably, the search results do not include major federal programs mentioned earlier  for example, SNAP or EITC. The reason is that these programs have a broader list of requirements, and, therefore, further discussion is devoted to programs proposed by Benefit Finder.

Virginia Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)

Virginia LIHEAP was created to help low-income families pay for the supply of electricity, heating, cooling, and weatherization of houses. As a result, low-income families reduce the burden of paying for the home and improve the housing conditions themselves. Favorable living conditions, in turn, contribute to peoples good health. Moreover, equipped houses prevent dangerous attempts to regulate the temperature and benefit the safety of the population.

Like any program, LIHEAP has requirements for those who want to get aid. According to Benefits.gov, annual income per person should not exceed $16,744 before taxes (Virginia Low Income, n.d.). For each family member, the maximum income increases by $5,902. Given that the specified monthly income of $1,672 per year will exceed the indicated sum of money, there is an apparent contradiction in the Benefit Finders recommendation.

The potential cause of such a mismatch in the Covid 19 pandemic, which is a crisis and could affect the establishment of requirements. Data on the Virginia Department of Social Services website showed that although applications for assistance due to the pandemic are closed, its maximum per person is $2,720, which corresponds to the previously indicated minimum (Energy Assistance, n.d.). Thus, it can be assumed that it is worth consulting with specialists and asking social services for help in some cases. In particular, telephone numbers of various services are often indicated on sites.

Free File

Free File is a convenient online service that provides support with taxes. It helps to fill out necessary documents, and incomprehensible aspects are clarified. The filing of a tax return thanks to the service is free (What is Free File? n.d.). It available on Internal Revenue Service (IRS), where one can get all the necessary information, hints and after sending a declaration, receives a receipt. According to Benefits.gov, to obtain software, a persons maximum income can be $66,000 (What is Free File? n.d.). This limit is relatively high, and for this reason, it is difficult to call the program assistance to low-income families. However, the tool can be very convenient and practical to use.

Adults and Dislocated Workers Program

This program is designed to provide citizens with work, help build their careers, and support employers in finding employees for business development. Those who want to participate in this program must be over 18 years old or (and) be dislocated employees (Workforce innovation and opportunity, n.d.). In order to use the program, one needs to contact the nearest job center. Helping to find a job can be valuable, but there is no guarantee that a new job found in this way will help raise live quality.

Sociological Concepts Analysis

Peoples behavior, lives, interactions with other people, and the position can be considered from a sociological perspective. Sociology has a wide range of issues under study and offers many ideas and concepts to explain various aspects of social life, including economic inequality. For example, peoples quality of life is significantly determined by societys structure and economic system. At the moment, capitalism dominates in most countries of the world. To better understand the opportunities and situation of people with a minimum wage, it will also be relevant to consider concepts such as class, social mobility, and poverty.

After the fall of the major communist systems, capitalism became the dominant economic system in the world. It is based on market exchange and profit-oriented production for its subsequent investment in the business expansion (Giddens & Sutton, 2017). Marx and Weber formulated two main points of view on capitalism. However, the Marxs perspective is more influential and considers capitalism as a particular stage in the development of society, in which capital and wage-labor are the main elements (Giddens & Sutton, 2017). The capitalist class is owners of the capital, which is assets  money, property, and other means that can be invested.

The class of workers is those who do not have capital and, for this reason, are forced to work for capitalists to receive payment. Although the revolutions predicted by Marx aimed at overthrowing capitalism and establishing communism did not occur, class division can be applied to society.

Marxists see capitalism as a system of exploitation of the working class, which is strengthened by inequality. While classes are interdependent, competition in the market becomes an obstacle to cooperation in society. To get ahead of competitors, capitalists can use any method to increase capital, widening the gap between the rich and the poor. In this case, from a Marxist point of view on capitalism, people with a minimum wage and their difficulties in improving the quality of life are a side effect of the economic system. At the same time, Weberians acknowledge that the system can be exploitative but believe that potential alternatives can be freedom-limiting, leaving no place for democracy (Giddens & Sutton, 2017). Following Webers perspective, the gradual development and rationalization of capitalism, rather than its end through revolution, should be the future for the working class.

As noted earlier, the class plays an essential role in determining human opportunities. This concept implies the economic situation of a group of people, determined by their occupation, the presence of property, and the way of life (Giddens & Sutton, 2017).

The following classes are distinguished: upper, upper-middle, middle, working, and low (The class structure in the U.S., n.d.). This stratification is relative since there are no clearly defined boundaries where one class ends and another begins. Moreover, there is the concept of a subjective social class related to class people define for themselves, and most Americans  about 40%, believe they belong to the middle class (Bird & Newport, 2017). The class in which a person is born often restricts movement between social classes. Such movement is related to the concept of social mobility (Giddens & Sutton, 2017). Thus, children growing up in low- or working-class families are more limited in opportunities than other classes, which reinforces inequality.

People with minimal income may be close to the poverty. This concept implies the impossibility of receiving something that is considered necessary for life in society (Giddens & Sutton, 2017). Sociologists distinguish absolute and relative poverty: the first refers to a state when it is impossible to provide necessary conditions for a healthy life, like food or shelter, and the second relates to the societys standard of living.

The concept of relative poverty is important for assessing the national level of poverty since items that can be considered ordinary in one country can be luxurious in another. In states, except for Alaska and Hawaii, the poverty threshold for one person is $12,880 income per year, and $4,540 is added for each person in the household (Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), 2021). Based on previous calculations, a person with a federal minimum wage is not considered poor since the annual income will be a little more than $15,000.

There are also two opposing sociological approaches to the causes of poverty. On the one hand, blame the victim claims that there are many opportunities for earning money, but people do not use them (Giddens & Sutton, 2017). On the other hand, following the blame the system, the countrys socio-economic conditions give rise to people with low incomes (Giddens & Sutton, 2017). Each family is unique and different factors can influence the level of income. However, following the previously mentioned concepts, the economic system reinforces inequality, and the class determines opportunities limiting social mobility. Thus, it can be assumed that improving the quality of life is possible but incredibly difficult to achieve.

Personal Reflection

This research was quite exciting and, at the same time, surprising to me. I viewed my expenses as relatively small, but their comparison with the minimum wage in the state and the federal minimum showed that I could not live on such income. To live so that expenses do not exceed income, I would have to reduce my monthly costs significantly. However, under conditions of the constant economy, it is not easy to provide a comfortable life and feel financial security.

The difference in the established minimum income and my expenses hit me unpleasantly. I imagined what needs should be abandoned to make the costs minimal  suitable housing, quality food, medicine, a car, and other aspects of life. I believe that the rejection of this minimum comfortable level is harmful, as health may deteriorate, which will lead to new expenses worsening the situation. The deterioration of health is only one of the potential problems because income also affects the education opportunities, changing jobs to the better ones, and other human activities.

Another reason for the surprise was the search for assistance programs  available for one person with a minimum income give little help. At the same time, the list of requirements for other programs is quite long, and they differ in the number of people, the presence of children in the family. Moreover, self-study of programs takes a long time, and there is no guarantee that the information found is accurate. Low-income families usually lack time to study laws and need help figuring out their rights and opportunities. This fact makes one think about the importance of the work of social services and how they help.

The examination of sociological concepts, in turn, was exciting since it opened up various perspectives on the problem of low income and its consequences. Even a shallow study of them demonstrates that processes occurring in society are complex. The main thing that I learned from the consideration of concepts is that low income deprives people of many opportunities and becomes the cause of the increase of inequality. Improving the quality of life is a rather laborious process, and it is pretty challenging for people who grew up in a community with a certain level to increase their incomes and improve their lives.

Conclusion

This study examines the problem of low income and the possibility of establishing a comfortable lifestyle. The author reviewed own monthly expenses and compared them with the minimum wage in Virginia, the federal minimum, and the highest accepted minimum in the States. It was found that under any of the standards, the authors expenses, implied to provide minimal comfort, significantly exceed the estimated income.

Government assistance programs for low-income families were also considered in the paper. With the consideration of one person and a minimum wage, few programs were found. At the same time, such well-known projects as EITC or Medicaid have stricter requirements for participation. The author also discussed such sociological concepts as capitalism, class, social mobility, and poverty for application to the researched problem. Based on their study, it can be assumed that raising the standard of living for low-income families is a rather challenging task.

References

About us. (n.d.). Benefits. Web.

Amadeo, K. (2021). U.S. welfare programs, the myths vs. the facts. The Balance. Web.

Assistance for low-income families. (2019). Benefits. Web.

Bird, R., & Newport, F. (2017). What determines how Americans perceive their social class? Gallup. Web.

DeVore, D., & Zhang, B. (2021). Employment law alert  Virginias new minimum wage. JD Supra. Web.

Energy assistance (EA). (n.d.). Virginia Department of Social Services. Web.

Giddens, A., & Sutton, P. W. (2017). Essential concepts in sociology (2^nd ed.). Polity Press.

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE). (2021). Poverty guidelines. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Web.

Statista Research Department (2021). State minimum wage rates in the United States as of January 1, 2021, by state. Statista. Web.

The class structure in the U.S. (n.d.). Lumen. Web.

Virginia Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. (n.d.). Benefits. Web.

What is Free File? (n.d.). Benefits. Web.

Workforce innovation and opportunity  Adults and Dislocated Workers Program (n.d.). Benefits. Web.

Many citizens of the United States of America are not satisfied with their hourly incomes. Hence, the population wants its government to raise the minimum wages in the country in order to reduce poverty. Increasing the minimum wage should help some works, and it will help stimulate the economy overall by increasing the purchasing power of many employees whose wages would also go up. Therefore, the minimum wage is essential to be raised.

Definition and Benefits of Raising the Living Wages

A minimum salary is the established amount of earned money, which has to be officially paid to a worker by his or her employer every hour of ones labor activity. An employee can sell ones labor or time for this payment to small businesses, U.S. government or any other profitable organizations and structures. The minimum wage is determined by the government and corresponds to the primary needs of the local population (Card & Krueger, 2016). However, there are some positive and negative factors, which can appear due to the minimum wage raising factor.

The first decisive is that raising the living wage would produce more working places and increase the economic system in the USA. If an average American received ten dollars per hour for his or her manual labor, instead of seven, these payments would help the country to create almost eighty-five thousand new jobs for its residents (Card & Krueger, 2016). Besides, the same factor would inject twenty-two billion dollars into the national political economy. Furthermore, the higher minimum wages might reduce poverty from foodless districts of metropolises (Barany, 2016). Citizens might be able to afford an inhabitable apartment or another piece of a living property. Another benefit from raising the living wage is that the U.S. government might reduce welfare expenses, which are provided to the low-income employees or challenged citizens every year. Nowadays, many Americans depend on income-support programs.

It would be proper to mention that the purchasing power of Americans has dropped since 1968 (Barany, 2016). The inflation does not affect the minimum salary in America. Therefore, raising the base pay might increase the purchasing power of American citizens. Moreover, the living wages are crucial to be raised in order to stabilize inequality among employed residents of the USA (Meer & West, 2016). This issue remains a tremendous challenge for Americans because only one percent of the countrys population earned twenty-two present of the pre-tax income in 2012.

Furthermore, increasing the living wages to employees might reduce gender or race inequality in the country. The official Statistics show that sixty-three percent of the minimum wage jobs are occupied by women (Meer & West, 2016). Raising the base pay in America would also raise the salaries of people whose income is a little bit over the minimum wage. Finally, the majority of people and young families cannot afford a decent housing for themselves because they do not get paid enough (Barany, 2016). This unsettled question can also be solved by raising the minimum wage.

Consequences and Disadvantages

Indeed, sometimes it does not seem to be possible to increase the minimum wage in a country or a state without incurring losses. For instance, many businesses in Seattle were obliged to provide thirteen dollars hourly payments to their employees, which had negative consequences  many workers were fired or their hours were cut. (Belman & Wolfson, 2014). It would be relevant to state that the base pay in the USA reached its highest peak (11, 25 dollars) in 1968. Besides, the United States Labor Department provided a Statistics of people who work for a minimum wage, which indicated that only three percent of Americans are occupied with this kind of jobs. Moreover, fifty-eight percent of employees work part-time, and forty-five percent of living wage employees are underage.

One of the most significant disadvantages of raising the minimum wage is that this law will force small companies to go out of business due to their inability to pay higher salaries. For instance, fast-food restaurants might be obliged to increase prices up to twenty-five percent in order to pay wages to their workers (Meer & West, 2016). Besides, the low-skilled workers might be disadvantaged, whereas students and young adults might be laid off during a business depression (Card & Krueger, 2016). Another consequential move is replacing workers by robots or similar automatic mechanisms  their involvement into the production process requires less human resources and investment. Moreover, big manufacturers are likely to move their fabrication processes to villages or less popular provinces in order to lower the expenses for their production.

Regular Peoples Viewpoint

The recent opinion poll indicated that the majority of the American population wants their minimum salaries to increase due to the lack of finances for housing, vehicles, children support, and so on. The minority of American residents were aware of both positive and negative consequences of raising the minimum wages (Belman & Wolfson, 2014). Unfortunately, only two percent of interviewed people said that their lifestyle and welfare is unlikely to improve due to the minimum wage raise.

It is a well-known fact that every American state has its own laws and regulations, which have their impacts on the minimum wages as well. Therefore, the highest minimum wage is paid to the workers of Portland subway system in Oregon. Employees of this structure receive eleven dollars and twenty-five cents per hour (Belman & Wolfson, 2014). According to the same rule, people from Wyoming and Georgia, do not make more than five dollars and fifteen cents per hour. The government tries to make all people more or less equal in their incomes. This effort somewhat disappoints highly-educated workers because they might receive a low salary for their job, whereas uneducated personnel receives the same amount of money.

Nevertheless, almost eighty percent of interviewed people agreed that the minimum wage of seven dollars and twenty-five cents is not enough for them to live on. Besides, some individuals who cannot find a well-paid job prefer to be on a federal welfare because it is almost equal to the living wage in the country. This factor worsens the local economy system (Card & Krueger, 2016). There is a group of Americans that is called The US Living Wage Movement. It was established in the 90s, and their primary goal is to reason the government into increasing the minimum wage up to fifteen dollars per hour.

Conclusion

The government of the United States has to increase the minimum wages for the countrys residents and citizens. Indeed, some economic difficulties might appear in the system at the first time, but pluses and benefits overweigh these insignificant issues. The higher minimum wages will increase the living standards, reduce poverty and will provide housing to every American person. Besides, this move will stimulate the economy by reducing robbery, unemployment, mass manufacturing, and so on.

References

Bárány, Z. L. (2016). The minimum wage and inequality: The effects of education and technology. Journal of Labor Economics, 34(1), 237-274.

Belman, D., & Wolfson, P. J. (2014). What does the minimum wage do? Kalamazoo, MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute.

Card, D. E., & Krueger, A. B. (2016). Myth and measurement the new economics of the minimum wage. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Meer, J., & West, J. (2016). Effects of the minimum wage on employment dynamics. The Journal of Human Resources, 51(2), 500-522.

Living Wage vs. Minimum Wage Dynamics

The difference between a living wage and a minimum wage is that a living wage is the amount of the minimum possible wage required to support a family. Indeed, the living wage is the remuneration of employees corrected for inflation. There is no difference based on the employee’s marital status. children, debt position, location, etc. It can also include public benefits, such as overtime pay, health care, and similar benefits. While there is no federal decent wage law, many American cities have adopted decent wage laws. Policymakers and economists usually compare the living wage to the cost of living to ascertain the relative financial health of employees.

The minimum wage is the lowest wage an employer is required by law to pay to its employees. The federal government allows it under the Fair Labor Standards Act, state or local governments. As of July 24, 2009, at $7.25 an hour. They set the federal minimum wage. Nothing has changed since then. Therefore, a full-time employee is entitled to a minimum wage of $15,080. However, the concept of the minimum wage has become useless during this period, as it has not been able to keep up with the rising cost of living, which has kept many workers living below the poverty line. State officials reserve the right to raise the minimum wage higher than the federal minimum wage. All employers must pay the higher of the two – the federal minimum wage or the state/local minimum wage.

Local Insights and National Impacts

Salary rates are generally set by the federal government. However, states can also set wage rates. But you should be aware that states are adding minimum monthly wage laws. Therefore, you must comply with these changes. The state should decide the wage for American citizens. State officials know the needs of their local workers and employers much better than a federal government that is a thousand miles away. Raising the federal minimum wage will not wage war on the economy. On the contrary, it will end up benefiting everyone in different ways. It will help Americans make ends meet; prices of essentials like housing and food are on the rise in America; this increase is not at all met by the minimum wage.

As a result, the minimum wage for workers America depends on to keep other commodities affordable has been literally missed. The United States needs a minimum wage. There is no doubt about it. A minimum wage is a useful financial tool for setting cost ceilings in many industries. However, there is no rule that the minimum wage cannot be a subsistence minimum. The current minimum wage is not enough to cover the basic living costs of most Americans. Of course, the cost of living varies by geographic area. Living in rural Iowa is much cheaper than living in San Francisco.

Addressing Income Disparities and Empowering the Workforce

However, it is not how many families are struggling but how much they are struggling that should lead to a national minimum wage. The federal government must establish minimum wages for workers across the country. This will help ensure that both the people of Iowa and the people of California have the money they need to live and raise their children. This can be used by states as a baseline for adjusting the local cost of living. However, it is up to the national government to set a standard for fair wages so that it can be an example.

An increase in the minimum wage of $ 10.10 would help 27 million workers bring home an additional $ 35 billion annually. It will help alleviate income inequality. Income inequality is no longer the only concern in America. It is an epidemic, and the country is the closest to a financial epidemic. The highest-paid workers in the country do not earn 10, 20, or even 30 times the lowest-paid workers. American corporate executives earn 933 times more per year than someone who works full-time and earns minimum wage. This is a dangerous precedent for Americans.

He suggests that some Americans are worth nearly 1,000 times more than others. It’s not true. Most CEOs wouldn’t be able to run companies without people willing to work for the minimum wage. These workers are the foundation of American society, not the people of the ivory towers. Raising the minimum wage will help alleviate this income gap by making it easier for people to live on an adequate minimum wage. America’s minimum wage workers are important. The federal government can show them by putting their needs ahead of CEOs and raising the minimum wage.

Minimum Wage’s Impact on Job Creation, Welfare, and Dignity

It won’t stop job creation, when asked about raising the minimum wage, politicians yell that it will slow job creation. For Washington, job creation is the trump card in the fight for equal pay. There is no historical evidence that raising the minimum wage will destroy jobs. In fact, this idea is absurd. The minimum wage has increased significantly over the last 50 years, and the number of jobs has not decreased. Minimum wage Americans earn twice as much as before, but that doesn’t end jobs.

The idea that the minimum wage is killing jobs is what big business owners and their private politicians want to believe. They don’t want to pay higher salaries because that means they have less money for themselves. Important findings of Harkin-Myler’s proposal indicate that if the federal minimum wage is raised to 10 10.10, the impact on GDP will be positive. This increase would affect 27.8 million workers, who would bring home much higher wages and then spend them on the economy.

The result will be 22 22 billion in GDP growth. This increase will create 85,000 new jobs. The rich do not even understand a world where the rest of the population has some form of disposable income. However, it is important that they begin to take this into account. Even though they would be displaced as the elite of society, they would actually benefit from it in the long run. When more people have more money to spend, it will give the economy a moderate boost, and a better economy will benefit everyone.

It would relieve people from relying on food stamps, and there is a great disconnect between those who need to use food stamps and those who actually depend on them. By definition, it can be assumed that meal coupons will only be used by the very poor and unemployed. Unfortunately, the underemployed also rely on food stamps to meet their needs. Raising the minimum wage can help minimum wage workers buy basic food so they don’t have to rely on government-subsidized food programs.

A recent report suggests that if the minimum wage were increased by only 10 percent, it would reduce enrollment in the food voucher program between 2.4 and 3.2 percent. You can also reduce program costs by 1.9%. If the government chose to raise the federal minimum wage to $ 10.10 an hour, the increase would result in a 7.5 percent reduction to 8.7 percent in today’s food stamps. This means that between 3.1 and 3.6 million people can buy their own food. Preventing more people from relying on food stamps will do more than save the government money.

This will increase the self-esteem of all people who work hard but need extra help. This will help them meet their needs and avoid the stigma that most of society attaches to government assistance programs. This increase in self-esteem by three and a half million people is worthless; however, it comes at a price. Workers should not have to bear this price. Instead, they should benefit from a government that helps them make a living for the benefit of an economy that pays workers a penny to make a profit.

Minimum Wage’s Fiscal Impact, Advantages, and Disadvantages

It will save the federal and state governments money, both the federal and state governments spend a lot of money helping the poor. They help the unemployed, the sick, and even those who work full-time but cannot provide for their families. Raising the minimum wage would save the government money since raising it to $10.10 would take 1.7 million people off various types of public assistance. For example, a higher minimum wage would mean a cheaper food stamp program.

An increase in the minimum wage will reduce the amount of money needed to run the program by 6 percent. This 6% reduction would result in savings of $4.6 billion per year. This is just one of the state aid programs that would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage. There are many other programs that would require less money if Americans were less dependent on the program. In all, the federal government alone can save $ 7.6 billion from all of these programs because 27 million U.S. workers will receive wages from which to live. This money can then be reallocated to help those who are poor and vulnerable and help fewer people trust government programs in the future.

The advantages of minimum wage are it can be helpful depending on the type of market, and it can help with reducing the tax burden, the disadvantage is it can disrupt the economic system, it can hurt the poor, and it can create unemployment. The cons of raising the minimum wage are that it would increase the income of the low-paid, provide an incentive to increase labor productivity, reduce income inequality, evidence effect on employment is limited, increases demand in the economy as low-paid earn more, deal with monopsony power of firms, and it reduces labor turnover.

The cons of raising the minimum wage are that firms respond by increasing prices, if it increases too much, it will cause unemployment, could cause restaurants to close, lack of au in recession, lack of geographical flexibility, poor areas hit hard by the cost of minimum wage, could lead to underground labor markets to avoid regulations, and it could encourage automated society with less human interaction.

Envisioning the Positive Impacts of Minimum Wage Increase

The current minimum wage is certainly not enough to allow people to afford everyday essentials, raising the wage would allow people to lead a healthier population and avoid premature death. Raising the minimum wage will boost economic activity and boost jobs. Raising the minimum wage would reduce poverty. An increase in the minimum wage would reduce public welfare spending. The minimum wage has not kept pace with inflation.

Improvements in productivity and economic growth have outpaced the increase in the minimum wage. Raising the minimum wage would reduce income inequality. An increase in the minimum wage would help reduce racial and gender inequalities. An increase in the minimum wage will have a ripple effect, increasing the income of those earning above the minimum wage. Raising the minimum wage will increase workers’ productivity and reduce employee turnover.

The current minimum wage is not high enough to pay people for housing. Today’s minimum wage is not high enough for people to meet their daily needs. Raising the minimum wage will lead to a healthier population and prevent premature death. An increase in the minimum wage will increase schooling and reduce the number of dropouts in upper secondary schools. Raising the minimum wage would reduce the federal deficit. Raising the minimum wage would reduce crime.

References:

1. U.S. Department of Labor. (n.d.). Minimum Wage Laws in the States – August 1, 2023. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/state/minimum-wage
2. Cooper, D. (2014). Raising the Federal Minimum Wage to $10.10 Would Lift Wages for Millions and Provide a Modest Economic Boost. Economic Policy Institute. https://www.epi.org/publication/raising-federal-minimum-wage-to-1010/
3. Allegretto, S. A., Dube, A., & Reich, M. (2018). Credible Research Designs for Minimum Wage Studies: A Response to Neumark, Salas, and Wascher. ILR Review, 71(5), 1177–1208. https://doi.org/10.1177/0019793917720610
4. Congressional Research Service. (2019). The Effects of a Minimum-Wage Increase on Employment and Family Income. https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R45090
5. National Employment Law Project. (2022). Raising the Minimum Wage Would Boost Incomes and Reduce Poverty. https://www.nelp.org/publication/raising-the-minimum-wage-would-boost-incomes-and-reduce-poverty/
6. Reich, M., Allegretto, S., & Montialoux, C. (2019). What Does the Minimum Wage Do? ILR Review, 72(2), 305–329. https://doi.org/10.1177/0019793918820813
7. Cooper, D. (2016). Raising the Federal Minimum Wage to $12 by 2020 Would Lift Wages for 35 Million American Workers. Economic Policy Institute. https://www.epi.org/publication/raising-the-federal-minimum-wage-to-12-by-2020-would-lift-wages-for-35-million-american-workers/
8. Dube, A. (2019). Minimum Wages and the Distribution of Family Incomes. Journal of Labor Economics, 37(S2), S363–S412. https://doi.org/10.1086/702490
9. U.S. Census Bureau. (2020). Income and Poverty in the United States: 2019. https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2020/demo/p60-270.html
10. Allegretto, S. A., & Reich, M. (2019). The Choices Made by Minimum Wage Workers: Evidence from the Current Population Survey. ILR Review, 72(2), 346–378. https://doi.org/10.1177/0019793918789835

Contrasting Early Childhood Programs and Employment Benefits

Headstart is a free federally funded program for kids from three to five years old; they are not a daycare; they teach preschool. Headstart can offer free medical and dental services for the kids. Head Start is required to serve all kids, no matter race, disability, or wealth. Daycare is not free, and it is a privately run business that takes babies from six weeks to twelve years old and watches them when their parents work. Daycares don’t have to do preschool, and it is an option.

A daycare has to be state-licensed if they have more than six kids. Daycares do not have to serve all kids, and they can choose what kids they want to take or don’t want to take. The benefits of a high-quality daycare, according to CCA or Child Care Advantage, are a “regular schedule and activities, academic advancement, time with peers, interaction with other adults, and a smoother transition to kindergarten.” The benefits of sending your kid to Headstart, according to Benefits Of Headstart, are it “provides children with activities that help them grow mentally, socially, emotionally and physically.

They learn to solve problems. The children also improve their listening and speaking skills. The children spend time in settings where they form good habits and enjoy playing with toys and working on tasks with classmates.” The Head Start’s lead teacher needs at least a bachelor’s degree and, in some states, a master’s degree, and a daycare worker, need a high school diploma or equivalent to a high school diploma. Daycare workers make nine dollars and forty cents per hour. Head Start teachers make ten to eighteen dollars per hour.

The benefits of working at Macy’s, according to Macy’s Job online website, are “flexible work schedules to fit your life, advanced work schedules, employee discounts, receive on-job training, grow and advance as part of the Macy’s team, being in the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Parade, get health and retirement benefits.” You can make up to eleven dollars-fifty two cents an hour to nineteen dollars-forty seven cents an hour. Macy’s has a dress code. You have to wear black pants and a black or red jacket.

Perks and Progression

You get a twenty percent employee discount, and Macy’s gives bonuses. You get vacation time, and time pays off. According to Indeed.com,” Macy’s has more than ten billion dollars in revenue, and they have more than ten thousand employees.” According to job aplications.com, “Macy’s sales associates primarily assist customers. Key responsibilities include greeting patrons, providing product knowledge, directing customers to fitting rooms, and completing transactions on the cash register.

Primary job duties on the cash register include processing payments, applying coupons and promotional codes, issuing receipts, and bagging items upon the conclusion of transactions, stocking racks and shelves, and maintaining a presentable sales environment.” You do not need a high school diploma, and they have on-the-job training. If you are a barista working at Starbucks, you usually make ten to fifteen dollars an hour.

The benefits of working at Starbucks, according to the Starbucks website, are “reward achievement of specific business goals for eligible positions, includes health coverage, income protection, time off, tuition reimbursement, employee assistance programs and more. Future Roast, our 401(k) savings plan, includes Starbucks matching contributions to help you save for the future.” The Starbucks dress code, according to the Starbucks website, is “a range of shirt colors beyond solid black and white are welcome, including gray, navy, dark denim and brown, including patterns.

Behind the Counter and Beyond

Shorts, skirts, dresses, and pants, including dark-wash jeans, are all part of the Starbucks wardrobe, and partners are invited to make a statement with hair color, so long as coloring is permanent or semi-permanent, in keeping with food-safety standards.” Job expectations, according to the job applications website, are “Starbucks baristas perform several job duties and provide customer service. Baristas at Starbucks take orders and make coffee, tea, and other drinks to customer specifications.

Starbucks baristas may also operate cash registers and credit card machines. Baristas may field customer complaints or questions, as well. Baristas at Starbucks also must often clean coffee machines, restaurant areas, restrooms, and preparation areas during a normal shift.” Baristas work to maintain good customer relations and speedy delivery of all beverages as well as complete assigned tasks from management every day. Starbucks employees are not allowed to use their phones during their shifts, and if their supervisor sees them using their phones, they can take them away.

The equipment most baristas use, according to www.crema coffee garage.com, is a “coffee tamp, tap mat, barista cloths, milk Jugs, knock Bin/Waste Tube, thermometer, espresso machine cleaner, group head brush, dosing scales, and espresso shot glass.” According to www.bizfluent.com, “There are no specific educational qualifications to become a barista for most employers, though a high school diploma is often preferred or required.

Baristas looking to improve their skills can obtain professional training through school training programs and online barista certification courses.” The job description of a telemarketer, according to the Career Planner website, is “deliver prepared sales talks, reading from scripts that describe products or services, in order to persuade potential customers to purchase a product or service or to make a donation. Contact businesses or private individuals by telephone in order to solicit sales for goods or services or to request donations for charitable causes. Explain products or services and prices, and answer questions from customers.”

Empowering Inclusion

Telemarketers make eight dollars-sixty eight cents per hour. You need a high school diploma or equivalent to a high school diploma. Telemarketing jobs have on-the-job training. According to USA Today, “343,483 more people with disabilities joined the workforce in 2016.” One in five Americans have a disability. According to New York Times, “Hiring people with disabilities is good for business. A recent study has shown, for the first time, that companies that championed people with disabilities actually outperformed others driving profitability and shareholder returns. Revenues were 28 percent higher, net income 200 percent higher, and profit margins 30 percent higher. Companies that improved internal practices for disability inclusion were also four times more likely to see higher total shareholder returns.”

According to www.nationalconferenceofstatelegislatures.com, “At nearly 20 percent of the population, people with disabilities are one of the nation’s largest minority groups. Yet the most recent U.S. disability employment statistics show that only 20 percent of people with disabilities are participating in the workforce, compared to 69.1 percent of people without disabilities.”

According to www.FastComapny.com, “People with disabilities are still hired at less than half the rate of those without them and are paid less. People with disabilities make up about 13% of the U.S. population. people with disabilities are paid about $5,000 less per year than people without disabilities, making the poverty rate of those with disabilities more than twice that of people without them.” According to www.thebalancecareers.com, the pros of raising the minimum wage are “raised living standards for impoverished workers, cause workers income to be above the poverty level, and reduces gender and race-based income inequality.”

According to www.WhenIWork.com the cons of raising the minimum wage are “layoffs, price increase, fewer hirings, competition will intensify.” According to www.Investopedia.com “The minimum wage in the United States is no longer a living wage. At $7.25, the federal minimum hasn’t kept up with the cost of living since the late 1960s, and there’s a growing movement among workers, policy analysts, state and city governments, and even some employers, to raise it. “According to www.Investopedia.com, “The minimum wage is meant to be a living wage.

Exploring Diverse Pathways

In 1933, five years before the first minimum wage became law, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said: “By living wages, I mean more than a bare subsistence level. I mean the wages of decent living.” According to www.vocationalrehabiltiation.com, “Vocational Rehabilitation (V.R.) is a state-federal program whose goal is to assist people with disabilities prepare for, secure, retain or regain employment. Pre-employment transition services provide opportunities for students with disabilities to learn through work and education.

Pre-employment Transition Services include job exploration, work-based learning opportunities, workplace readiness training, and instruction in self-advocacy.” According to www.Experis.com, these job interview tips will help you when you go for a job interview, “research the industry and company, clarify your selling points and the reasons you want the job, anticipate the interviewer’s concerns and reservations, prepare for common interview questions, line up your questions for the interviewer, and practice.” According to www. Jobcorps.com, “Job Corps is the largest free residential education and job training program for young adults ages sixteen to twenty-four.

At Job Corps, students have access to room and board while they learn skills in specific training areas for up to three years. Job Corps also provides transitional support services, such as help finding employment, housing, child care, and transportation. “College is not for everyone, and that is ok; there are alternatives to college, so don’t feel pressured to go to college. According to www.nerdwallet.com, “the alternatives to college is a community college, apprenticeship, trade school, and coding boot camps.” You can always join the workforce until you know what you want to do or until you save enough money to go to college.

According to www.jobapplications.com the job duties of an Apple Bee’s Host are “meeting, greeting, and seating guests, taking and making reservations, and answering questions about menu items and other general inquiries. Other specific hosting job duties may include assisting management with administrative tasks and setting tables for guests.” The abilities and personalities you need to be an Applebee’s Host, according to www.jobapplications.com “excellent communication skills and the ability to work in a fast-paced setting. Personable personalities and friendly attitudes also prove beneficial. Applebee’s hosts must dress professionally, smile often, and look presentable.” According to www.jobapplications.com, “Apple Bee’s Host start out at an hourly wage of $2.00 with experience; some Applebee’s hosts may make up to $12.00 an hour, depending on location.

Navigating Challenges and Advocating for Change

The average pay rate is $6.71 per hour, along with tips.” According to www.indeed.com, “Apple Bee’s Hostess are only allowed to wear black clothes and no facial piercings.” According to the Apple Bee’s Handbook, “employees may not use or carry a cell phone while on the clock.” You need a high school diploma or equivalent to a high school diploma for education. Apple Bee has on-the-job training. According to www.NBCNews.com, “Hosts and hostesses are the fourth lowest paid job in America.”

According to www.gobankingrates.com, you can live on a minimum wage if you follow these steps” create a budget that prioritizes needs, avoid debt, build an emergency fund, eat at home, cut the cost of groceries, keep down the cost of utilities, sell what you don’t need, and buy used rather than new.” According to www.bussinessnewsdaily.com it is illegal to ask a candidate for a job interview questions about “age, race, ethnicity, color, gender, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, country of origin, birthplace, religion, disability, marital status, family status, health problems, and pregnancy.” According to www.moneycrashers.com “in 2014 several prominent politicians made an unusual choice, for one week they all voluntarily try to live on just seven dollars and twenty-five cents an hour, the federal minimum wage. They were taking the Live the Wage Challenge.

This challenge was part of a campaign to raise the federal minimum wage, which hasn’t increased since 2009.” The goal was to show people firsthand how difficult it is to live on seven dollars and twenty-five cents an hour and encourage them to support the wage hike. Most politicians who took the Live the Wage Challenge couldn’t manage to make it through the whole week. My conclusion from all the research I have done is that the minimum wage is not a livable wage, and we need to make it a livable wage so that people can survive and not work themselves to death just so that they can get by.

We also need to hire more people with disabilities because they are human and just as valuable and able to work too, We also need to give them equal pay. People with disabilities need to advocate for themselves and not just in the workforce but in other areas of life as well. If we hire more people with disabilities, then we will make our economy better. I think more wealthy, powerful people need to take the Live the Wage challenge so that they can see firsthand how many people struggle to just get by.

References:

1. Benefits Of Headstart. “Benefits Of Headstart.” Head Start – Benefits Of Headstart. https://benefitof.net/benefits-of-headstart/.
2. Child Care Advantage (CCA). “Child Care Advantage (CCA).” Child Care Advantage, www.childcareadvantage.com/benefit.php.
3. Indeed.com. “Macy’s Salaries in the United States.” Indeed.com. https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Macy’s/salaries.
4. Job Applications. “Macy’s Sales Associate Job Description, Duties, Salary & More.” Job Applications, www.job-applications.com/mmacys-sales-associate/.
5. Starbucks. “Starbucks Benefits.” Starbucks. https://www.starbucks.com/careers/working-at-starbucks/benefits.
6. Crema Coffee Garage. “List of Barista Equipment You Need to Make a Perfect Coffee.” Crema Coffee Garage, 2 Nov. 2021, www.cremacoffeegarage.com.au/blog/barista-equipment-list/.
7. Bizfluent. “How Much Does a Barista Get Paid?” Bizfluent, 26 Sep. 2017, bizfluent.com/about-7511817-much-barista-paid.html.
8. USA Today. “343,483 More People with Disabilities Joined the Workforce in 2016.” USA Today, 6 Sep. 2017, www.usatoday.com/story/money/nation-now/2017/09/06/343-483-more-people-disabilities-joined-workforce-2016/630194001/.
9. The New York Times. “The Business Case for Hiring Workers with Disabilities.” The New York Times, 4 Sep. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/09/04/business/hiring-disabilities.html.
10. National Conference of State Legislatures. “People with Disabilities in the Labor Market.” National Conference of State Legislatures, 28 Oct. 2020, www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/people-with-disabilities-in-the-labor-market.aspx.

Federal vs. State Oversight

We have seen more lately in the news that the federal minimum wage needs to be at least $15.00/hr to support a living. The cost of living is different depending on where a person lives. Do we really need a minimum wage set by the Federal Government or can the state oversee a program that would insure a fairness to all? When the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt it only affected twenty percent of the labor force according to U.S. Department of Labor at that time. This act was to help people get out of the Great Depression and to prevent works from being taken advantage of. During this time, men, women and children were being asked to work for pennies a day for long hours in factories. When looking at the jobs that pay minimum wage today we think of fast food restaurants, retail shops, and gas stations.

Consumer Impact and Job Market Dynamics

Minimum wage jobs should be here to help you get the experanse need to advance into a career, pay for college or trade school. In today`s world, you see all age groups working in minimum wage jobs, not just the young kid behind the counter saving up for their first car or college. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that only 2.3 percent as of the end of 2017 work in jobs that pay at or less than minimum wage which is down from 2016`s 2.7 percent. When looking at the data from 2017, The Bureau of Labor Statistics found most people that are making minimum wage are non- married African American or black women under 25 without a high school diploma. Most of the time they work part-time in jobs that they could earn tips to compensate for the low minimum wage earnings.

If minimum wage is raised to $15.00/hr will that affect the consumer and could it also affect the job market in the area? Look at California on their way of raising the minimum wage to $15.00/hr. According to Michael Saltsman at Forbes Magazine, by 2022, 400,000 jobs will no long exist. Harvard Business School and Mathematica Policy Research found that at least some of business closings and the lay off of staff in the Bay Area was due to an increase of minimum wage and some companies even left the area. Research was also done by Berkeley in the Fresno County data was taken from the Census Bureau`s American Community Survey and from other Census and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics datasets along with economists (Reich). Fresno County was chosen because of its high poverty level.

Consumer Costs, Employment Trends, and Regional Disparities

From this study Berkeley did they found that California’s economy has recovered back to the pre-recession (2007) levels. The effects of raising the minimum wage had on the workforce was it increase pay for undereducated and some people that had some college background. Most of the jobs that people are that pay minimum wage are part time. They still will not be receiving full time benefits like health care, 401Ks and any other benefits that a full time job would allow for. When it comes to business and the consumer Berkeley looked at three types of industries retail, restaurants, and healthcare this three make up around 40% of the private sector. The increase cost in pay will be even out with the decrease in employees leaving for better paying jobs. The increase cost will roll over to the consumer at a 0.6% rate over the next five years. The research also shows their will only be a 0.1 increase in employment by 2023.

In conclusion, minimum wage needs to be handled at the state level where the local representative can determine what is justified as a living wage. According to bestplaces.net, if a person in Dallas, Texas made $65,000 a year it would be equivalent to $117,748 in Los Angeles, California.The cost of living differs from state to state so in a state where the cost of living is lower a person can live comfortable on $15.00/hr, but in a state where the cost of living is much higher a person may just be getting by. The cost of living in Texas is much cheaper than some other states like California. Texas has minimum wage that is the same as the National level at $7.25/hr, $290.00/week, $15,080.00/year and has not changed since 2008 (Texas). A family (two parent home with two children) can not live on this pay alone most of the time it takes two parents working fulltime to make it work.

References:

1. Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers, 2017 : BLS Reports. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1 Mar. 2018, www.bls.gov/opub/reports/minimum-wage/2017/home.htm.
2. Cost of Living Comparison: Compare Dallas, Texas to Los Angeles, California, www.bestplaces.net/cost-of-living/dallas-tx/los-angeles-ca/65000.
3. Ramage, John D., et al. Writing Arguments: a Rhetoric with Readings. Pearson, 2016.
4. Reich, Michael. Effects of a $15 Minimum Wage in California and Fresno. Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, 11 Jan. 2017, irle.berkeley.edu/effects-of-a-15-minimum-wage-in-california-and-fresno/.
5. Saltsman, Michael. Why The $15 Minimum Wage Will Cost California 400,000 Jobs. Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 15 Dec. 2017, www.forbes.com/sites/michaelsaltsman/2017/12/15/why-the-15-minimum-wage-will-cost-california-400000-jobs/#70204dd143b9.
6. Texas Minimum Wage for 2017, 2018. Federal and State Minimum Wage Rates for 2018, www.minimum-wage.org/texas.
7. U.S. Department of Labor. Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938: Maximum Struggle for a Minimum Wage, www.dol.gov/general/aboutdol/history/flsa1938.

Minimum Wage Debate

In society, money is very important. In order to obtain money, an individual can either provide goods and services to the rest of society, or they could offer services to a business for payment. When working for a business, there must be a set compensation that is valued by the various job positions and the duties they must provide. Unfortunately, as the prices of goods and services inflate, the minimum wage is just barely keeping up in some states, and in others, it is just not enough for someone to make a living.

The argument of whether the minimum wage should be increased has been going on for a very long time, with opposing sides throwing statistics and hypothetical situations in order to counter the other. Regardless of which side is right or wrong, the rate of minimum wage is a very important issue in political discussions.

The Dilemma of Minimum Wage Increase

On one side, the argument for having an increase is that the current rate of $7.25 an hour is not enough for an individual to have a proper income that is above the poverty line, especially for single parents and single people in general. A full-time, full-year worker making $15 per hour would be a set example of a single adult without children scraping by in cities with low living costs. However, single parents with children would still not be earning enough to live above the poverty line even with the help of government programs like food stamps (Reich and Rothstein).

Unfortunately, there are negative side effects to raising the minimum wage. As with any positive change, there must be a consequence to balance it out. When the payroll is increased, the prices of goods and services will also increase. Because of this, sales will then decrease because of the high prices, which in turn causes the downsizing of employees. When the cost of hiring new workers becomes too high, unemployment.

The Dichotomy of Wealth and Happiness

“Money doesn’t buy happiness” is a well-known and commonly used saying. According to the article on Financial Samurai, it is often used when either someone has too much money to go around or they do not have any money to their own name. While on the one hand, it is true that excess spending on frivolous things is not as fulfilling as the experiences of human life and overcoming the obstacles along the way, money still provides a sense of security just in case something catastrophic happens. So yes, money does not truly buy happiness, but neither does living below the poverty line.

References:

1. Reich, M., & Rothstein, J. (n.d.). “The Insufficiency of the Minimum Wage.”
2. Financial Samurai. (n.d.). “Does Money Buy Happiness? A Philosophical Debate.”

Have you ever wondered why our business world has made such a limited progress since independence? Have you ever thought why our nation still is in the list of N11 from last 17 years and still could not be a progressively developing nation? It is because of the limits we set in every sphere of our life. It is because of the fact that we have stopped thinking big. It is because we find our satisfaction in making both ends meet. Getting more specific, it is because we have set a limit of earning in our market, no matter if it’s a minimum or a maximum limit, which by the way is PRs. 17,500. Moreover, it clearly is not a suitable law for a developing country such as Pakistan as, because of this people make limited effort in their work and get lazy and careless, although there is no doubt about the fact that a higher minimum wage would lower the government spending on welfare still Increasing the minimum wage would force businesses to reduce their employees and unemployment would rise.

If we have a minimum wage in Pakistan, then a bunch of our workers would stop striving hard and become a dawdler. If someone is guaranteed a minimum income then he/she would lose motivation in their work. Imagine if you pay a worker as much as he works, without any limit. It would definitely motivate the worker to work more and more. This will definitely polish his/her capabilities and hence our nation would start getting skilled. Moreover, if workers have a minimum wage, they would only do what is necessary to maintain their jobs and that too half-heartedly. This will end up killing their creativity and making them a dawdler. This is due to a natural human psyche that when a worker knows that what so ever innovative he/she does they will still get the same salary at the end of the month, they will actually do nothing more than they actually have to for maintaining their jobs. This will also lower the work efficiency. Lastly when some innovative and motivated worker gets a minimum wage due to lack of experience, they at times get into crisis and their attention gets diverted from work. Eventually they also end up getting lazy towards their work. This is because crisis at times can kill creativity and motivation too.

Still a higher minimum wage can lower the government spending on welfare. When we have a healthy minimum wage, people would get less depressed due to economic crisis. It will be easy for people to manage their basic health expense. Also, that motivation and innovation of the work force will not fall prey to crisis. This will reduce the government spending on the welfare of the state such as making health cards and giving education scholarships to such a wide range of public. They would just then offer it to the few who left in the dusk.

However, in Pakistan increasing the minimum wage would force businesses to reduce their employees and unemployment would rise. Pakistan Institute of Labor Education and Research (PILER) Executive Director Karamat Ali says in an interview that “The increase in the minimum wage is insufficient…especially after the recent massive rupee depreciation and acceleration in inflation”. Furthermore, when a low skilled worker cannot make his both ends meet with this minimum wage, he simply thinks of getting migrated to some other country with a higher minimum wage to support his family. This is also reducing our work force. Even a small family of five members cannot conveniently run its kitchen and bear day-to-day expenditure with the revised minimum wage of Rs 17,500. Moreover, if there is a high minimum wage then many companies would prefer free lancers rather than permanent employees. This will again increase the unemployment will a larger rate. Especially our low skilled workers would suffer a lot to make their both ends meet. If the minimum wage is increased, companies may use more robots and automated processes to replace service employees. According to a psyche of a common businessman reduction of cost and increased revenue is the utmost ambition, no one cares if the rate of unemployment or inflation increases or decreases. This is why this doctrine of setting a minimum wage is completely destructive and against the flow.

Finally, to sum up, we as a developing nation need to re think on our practices. We need a motivation to work and an innovative work environment. This is impossible with setting a minimum wage as then no one will give their best. This will end up killing their creativity and making them a dawdler in their life. Still a higher minimum wage can lower the government spending on welfare. It will be easy for people to manage their basic health expense. Also, that motivation and innovation of the work force will not fall prey to crisis. However, increasing the minimum wage would force businesses to reduce their employees and unemployment would rise. Especially our low skilled workers would suffer a lot to make their both ends meet. If the minimum wage is increased, companies may use more robots and automated processes to replace service employees. Due to all these major reasons, we should take the risk of going against all the odds and get better day by day.

The minimum wage is a topic widely debated by both sides of the political spectrum in the United States. But first, what exactly is the minimum wage? Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 enacted by President Franklin Roosevelt established the minimum wage. The original minimum wage was 25 cents per hour. This amount equates to approximately $4.04 spending ability (Wilson, 2012). Minimum wage is a timely issue, so as an economics student, I would like to discuss my position on minimum wage. The minimum wage should not be increased because there are many negative effects correlated with it including an increase in automation, a rise in prices of goods, an increase in unemployment.

An increase in the minimum wage will result in an increase in automation. The author of ‘The Unintended Consequences of Raising Minimum Wage to $15’ expresses that “Large corporations with big budgets will weigh the increased labor costs and elect to invest in technology to displace workers. This trend will soon become prevalent in the foodservice industry, hospitality, retail, construction and manufacturing” (Kelly, 2019). To further explain this, I will use an example from changes I saw in businesses to support Jack Kelly’s argument. Employers like Walmart are already using technology to reduce the number of employees in their organization. Many Walmart has renovated its stores and initiated self-out registers. Each one of those registers in use was once someone’s job. Seeing that Walmart has currently used this practice which already lowered the number of workers it hires, then automation will be used even more widely when the minimum wage rises. Raising the minimum wage means that firms like Walmart will be switching to cheaper alternatives that can accomplish the same task as an employee to minimize its cost; in this case, they will be more inclined to acquire more self-checkout to put to use. According to the author of ‘Minimum Wage Fallacy’, “With the advances in technology, a lot of these tasks which were earlier performed exclusively by humans are now being performed by machines. Hence, human laborers are not only facing competition from humans, but they are also facing competition from machines” (Juneja). Let’s say that there is a higher fix cost of obtaining the machine at first, but in the long run, it will be cheaper and more efficient. The reason for that is because technology does not require sick leave, take no vacation, does not require maternal or paternal leave nor any fringe benefits, it only requires regular maintenance. Human are not machines, we cannot do manual labor without resting like machines, therefore, it is more likely that employers will favor automation. Employers who switch to automation will not have to spend extra money than they have to. The goal of any business is to maximize profit. So, if options are available, businesses will always decide to go with the most cost-effective choice. Of course, machines cannot replace all human labor, but manual labor done by human can easily be replaced at lower costs.

Moreover, there will be an increase in the prices of consumer goods with a raise in the minimum wage. When a business must pay a higher wage for its employees, they will have to find resources to pay their employees which equates to pricing goods at higher prices. On the other hand, Bobby Scott, U.S. Representative argues that “Raising the federal minimum wage will also stimulate consumer spending” (Scott). This politician is saying that when people have more money, they will spend more which boosts the economy. However, according to Mark Wilson, former deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor and current heads Applied Economic Strategies, LLC, “If a minimum wage is partly or fully passed through to consumers in the form of higher prices, it will hurt the poor because they disproportionately suffer from price inflation” (Wilson, 2012). Assuming that consumers gain more money from the minimum wage raise, but then the product costs more.

As an illustration, imagine a raise in the minimum wage from $7.25 to $15. This is a 106.90% increase in the federal minimum wage. The government’s Federal Reserve printing out more money will be disastrous. Just imagine the hyperinflation of Germany post World War II, there was too much money flowing around causing German’s purchasing power to drop. There is no way that our government will just print money to subside employers to pay for employees. Now that the thought of business receiving subsidies is out of the way, the cost will fall on consumers. Wilson also revealed that “A 2011 study of quick-service restaurants found that two-thirds of the minimum wage cost increases were offset by higher menu prices and that higher prices rather than cuts in employment and hours were the most important channel of adjustment” (Wilson, 2012). Employers must raise prices to cover their expenses, this will lead to consumers paying higher prices to each product it purchases. For instance, McDonald workers earn an average of $9.93 an hour. When the wage of its employees increases to $15 (same as 51.06%), then it is likely that your $3.99 Big Mac will not have the same price anymore. Hypothetically, if this happens, then a 51.06% increase of the employees’ wages might cause maybe a 25% increase in the price of food (assume that McDonald did not reduce the cost of production by using inferior products, and customers receive the same product quality). A 25% increase in price is the equivalent of a 0.80 cent increase in the price of the Big Mac. Consumers will be paying roughly $4.79 for something that once cost $3.99. Hence, it is not better for consumers when they have lower purchasing power.

Furthermore, the increase in minimum wage leads will also increase unemployment due to less demand for workers. From Econ 380 lectures, “the total number of workers hired by all firm equals the equilibrium employment level”. Consequently, an increase in the minimum wage will encourage more people to enter the labor force; this will expand the labor supply. Because there will be more people in the labor market, competition for the same job will be more rigorous because the supply is higher than demand (unbalance supply and demand), resulting in a higher unemployment rate. Wilson shares that “85% of the most credible studies point to negative employment effects, and the studies that focused on the least-skilled groups most likely to be adversely affected by minimum wages, the evidence for unemployment effects were especially strong” (Wilson, 2012). This point shows that there will be more competition among people, and the lower-skilled workers might be hurt because higher-skilled people have more to offer to employers.

Developing does not have strict minimum wage law as in developed countries. Therefore, it is cheaper for companies to move production overseas (Juneja). If businesses move factories outside of the U.S., then it will be even worse for employees because not only lack of job availability, they also lose jobs to foreigners. This means that there will be an increase in the unemployment rate as the employers would rather hire cheaper workers from other nations, potentially causing more human exploitation for non-U.S. workers. Besides, this scenario portrays, that businesses will always prefer to minimize the cost of production by picking the cheaper route. If the minimum wage raise is implemented, laws that limit business moving overseas are needed, because if not, considering the limited job openings, the ones that lose their jobs are U.S. minimum wage workers.

Conclusively, many factors should be considered when it comes to deciding whether to raise the minimum wage or not. Take into account the idea that technology is more available than ever causing employers to favor using automation than human, increase in the price of consumer goods lowering spending power, as well rise in unemployment, it is reasonable to believe that minimum wage should be unchanged.

The minimum wage is a fundamental labor policy that sets a legal floor for hourly wages, ensuring workers receive fair compensation for their efforts. This essay explores the impact of minimum wage on various aspects of the economy and society. By examining both the advantages and disadvantages of minimum wage laws, we can gain a comprehensive understanding of their effects on workers, businesses, and the overall economy. Ultimately, the goal is to assess how minimum wage policies promote fairness and contribute to economic stability.

Enhancing Worker Well-being

The implementation of minimum wage laws has a profound impact on enhancing worker well-being. One of the primary advantages of minimum wage policies is their role in poverty reduction. By establishing a baseline income level, minimum wage lifts workers and their families out of dire economic conditions. It provides them with the means to afford basic necessities such as food, housing, and healthcare, improving their overall quality of life.

Moreover, minimum wage laws address income inequality by narrowing the gap between low-wage and high-wage workers. This promotes a more equitable distribution of income, fostering a sense of fairness and social cohesion within society. When workers are paid a fair wage, it reduces the disparities in wealth and ensures that the benefits of economic growth are shared more equally.

Additionally, increased earnings from minimum wage laws provide workers with greater financial stability and personal and professional growth opportunities. With higher wages, workers can invest in their education, acquire new skills, and improve their employability. This leads to upward mobility and a pathway out of low-wage jobs, allowing individuals to pursue fulfilling careers and achieve their aspirations.

Furthermore, minimum wage policies improve workers’ overall well-being by reducing stress and financial insecurity. Workers who are paid a fair wage experience less financial strain, leading to improved mental health and overall well-being. This, in turn, has a positive ripple effect on families and communities, as workers can better provide for their dependents and contribute to the local economy.

By ensuring that workers receive fair compensation for their labor, minimum wage laws contribute to creating a more just and prosperous society.

Stimulating Consumer Spending and Economic Growth

Minimum wage laws play a vital role in stimulating consumer spending and driving economic growth. By setting a higher wage floor, workers experience increased disposable income. This additional income allows them to have more purchasing power and spend on goods and services, thereby bolstering overall consumer demand. Moreover, higher minimum wages create an expanding market potential. Low-income workers, with increased wages, contribute to a larger consumer base. This encourages businesses to cater to this market segment, fostering business growth and diversification. Contrary to popular belief, studies indicate that modest increases in the minimum wage do not significantly impede job creation. In fact, in some cases, they can even lead to increased employment opportunities, further stimulating economic growth.

Balancing the Cost-Benefit Equation for Businesses

Minimum wage policies also contribute to balancing the cost-benefit equation for businesses. While there may be concerns regarding the potential impact of increased labor costs on businesses, minimum wage laws actually promote a competitive and sustainable business environment.

Firstly, minimum wage laws establish a level playing field for businesses by ensuring fair wages across industries. This prevents the exploitation of workers and promotes healthy competition based on productivity rather than the ability to pay lower wages. By setting a minimum standard, businesses are encouraged to focus on efficiency and innovation to maintain profitability rather than relying solely on cheap labor.

Additionally, offering a reasonable wage to employees through minimum wage policies improves job satisfaction and reduces turnover rates. When workers are paid a fair wage, they are more likely to be motivated and committed to their jobs, resulting in higher productivity and overall business performance. Moreover, businesses can benefit from lower recruitment, hiring, and training costs as employees are more likely to stay in their positions for longer periods.

Furthermore, minimum wage policies incentivize businesses to invest in their workforce, leading to increased productivity and innovation. When compensated adequately, employees are more likely to feel valued and motivated to contribute their best efforts. This fosters a positive work environment where employees are encouraged to think creatively, propose new ideas, and drive business growth.

Potential Challenges and Mitigation Strategies

While minimum wage increases are crucial for workers, they may present challenges for small businesses. These businesses may face difficulties in adapting to higher labor costs. However, policy measures such as tax incentives and support programs can help alleviate this burden and assist small businesses in adjusting to the new wage standards. Critics argue that higher minimum wages may trigger inflationary pressures. However, research suggests that the impact on overall inflation is modest, as increased consumer spending counteracts potential price increases. Considering varying living costs across different regions, minimum wage policies should be flexible and adjusted to reflect local economic conditions. This ensures a fair balance between worker compensation and regional affordability, mitigating regional disparities.

Conclusion

The minimum wage plays a vital role in promoting fairness, reducing poverty, and fostering economic stability. While it presents business challenges, the benefits outweigh the costs, leading to improved worker well-being, increased consumer spending, and a more equitable society. By carefully considering the potential challenges and implementing appropriate mitigation strategies, minimum wage policies can continue to uplift workers and contribute to a robust economy. As we strive for a society that values fairness and economic stability, minimum wage laws remain a crucial tool in achieving these goals.

Imagine if you were living off $15,000 per year. You would have a hard time to support your family and have little extra money to spend on enjoyments. You would most likely not be able to go to the grocery store and buy snacks simply because you like them. You would also not be able to go to a movie or go bowling with your friends for fun. These are just a couple of the enjoyments of living off more than just minimum wage. That is why the minimum wage in the United States should increase in the coming years. There are many reasons why, but the main reasons are to keep up with inflation, raise consumer spending, and to cut government programs.

One of the reasons to raise the minimum wage is to keep families inclined with inflation rates. The United States as a country has not kept up to date with the current inflation rate. The last time the federal government increased the minimum wage was in 2009. The rate was set at $7.25 per hour. This causes a monumental gap in the amount of income and the amount of outcome a family encounters. This decade span from 2009-2019 has had a lot of inflation, but we have not raised the minimum wage with the inflation rates since 2009. The minimum wage has only increased 22 times since it was first introduced (Doyle). Many of the States in the United States have their own minimum wage with most of them being above the federal minimum wage already, but if the states’ minimum wages can increase, so can the federal minimum wage. Once the federal minimum wage is increased, the states will most likely also raise theirs.

Another reason to raise the minimum wage is to maximize consumer spending. Right now, if you are a full-time worker who earns minimum wage, you will only receive $15,000 per year. If minimum wage would increase with inflation, the current rate would be $10.15 per hour. Full time workers earning a wage of $10.15 per hour would earn roughly $21,000 per year. This would be better than earning minimum wage but still not enough to spend money on needed items (‘Raise the U.S. Minimum Wage’). The U.S. economy does not allow a person who earns minimum wage to be able to spend as much money as they want on a product opposed to someone who earns more than minimum wage.

Another reason to raise minimum wage is it will cut government programs. When government programs are cut, it causes the government to use less taxpayer dollars. Workers who earn the minimum wage lean on government programs for financial assistance to survive. If the United States would increase minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $15 per hour, it would increase over 40 million workers’ wages in the U.S. (Babic). Although the current minimum wage of $7.25 per hour is below the poverty line for a single parent with one child, earning $10 per hour is above the poverty line (‘Raise the U.S. Minimum Wage’). If the U.S. was to raise the minimum wage, it would narrow the gap between the rich and the poor. There would most likely not be a middle class anymore (Smith). According to the CBO (Congressional Budget Office), if we raised the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour, it would bring 900,000 people out of poverty. The poor would benefit magnificently from this (‘Pros and Cons of Raising Minimum Wage’).

Another pro of raising the minimum wage is that it will keep workers employed with the same company instead of looking for companies that pay better. This will reduce business turnover rates and it will cost less for hiring and training processes. The workers will most likely be happy with the company they are with because of the pay (‘Pros and Cons of Raising Minimum Wage’).

In every situation there is always tradeoffs. So, what are the tradeoffs of raising minimum wage? Well, the answer is simple. It could cause currency deficit in some major companies. Those companies are paying more for their workers, so they have less money to spend on technological advances. An estimated 1.3 million workers could lose their jobs. This layoff could affect areas already struggling with high poverty (‘Raise the U.S. Minimum Wage’). There are also tradeoffs on what would be hurt if the minimum wage were to be increased. The increase would hurt small businesses that have small profit margins. This increase would cause employee downsizing and increase cost of goods (Smith). People also speculate that by raising the minimum wage it will cause companies to pass that raise on customers by raising prices. Business may also stop hiring new workers and limit opportunities to new workers out of college. The same businesses might outsource to countries with lower minimum wage standards to produce more jobs. The Government would also have to update the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The EITC is a tax credit for low-income workers. If the minimum wage is increased before the EITC, it would not help all poor families (‘Pros and Cons of Raising Minimum Wage’).

Therefore, the minimum wage in the United States should increase in years to come. There are many reasons as to why the minimum wage should increase but the main reasons are to keep up with inflation, to maximize consumer spending, and to limit the use of government programs. Right now, the inflation rates are higher than the minimum wage. This is causing a domino effect in minimum wage workers. When minimum wage is increased, it will cause workers to buy more consumer products leading to companies’ revenues to increase. This mass spending will bring in revenue across the country. Also, with a minimum wage increase, it will decrease the amount of government programs needed which will decrease tax revenue needed. To all situations there are also tradeoffs. Increasing the minimum wage would give Americans the tradeoff of losing some of their jobs. So, next time you are in a grocery store, imagine how bad it would be living off only $15,000 per year.

Works Cited

1. Babic, Mary, et al. “6 Simple Reasons We Should Raise the Minimum Wage Right Now”. The Politics of Poverty, 15 Feb. 2019, politicsofpoverty.oxfamamerica.org/2019/02/6-simple-reasons-we-should-raise-the-minimum-wage/.
2. Doyle, Alison. “Should the Minimum Wage Be Raised?” The Balance Careers, The Balance Careers, 15 July 2019, www.thebalancecareers.com/pros-and-cons-of-raising-the-minimum-wage-2062521.
3. “Pros and Cons of Raising Minimum Wage”. Toggl, toggl.com/pros-and-cons-of-raising-minimum-wage/.
4. “Raise the U.S. Minimum Wage”. Los Angeles Times, 18 July 2019. Sirsissuesresearcher, explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2285121088?accountid=44669. Accessed 4 Nov. 2019.
5. Smith, Lisa. “The Minimum Wage: Does It Matter?” Investopedia, Investopedia, 12 Aug. 2019, www.investopedia.com/articles/07/minimum_wage.asp.