Currently, in the US there is talk of raising the federal minimum wage to $15. I think this is a terrible idea. With raising the minimum wage companies will have to raise their prices in order to pay their employees the new minimum wage. Which lands us back where we started. Everything will increase in price because the cost of labor has increased. A gallon of milk that may cost $1 will now cost $3 due to all the different people it takes to get that gallon of milk to the store. This is an example not what may actually happen.

It would be especially rough for the states where the minimum wage is currently less than $10. It could potentially change your way of living, things won’t cost the same. Everything we buy someone has been paid to put there or create it.

If the federal minimum wage is increased the cost of living will also be increased. It won’t solve anything.

The U.S. minimum wage currently stands at $7.25, as it has done since 2009. Due to this lack of updates, workers today get paid less in real dollars than their counterparts from 50 years ago. [1] Perhaps, as a result, there is bipartisan support from the American public to raise the minimum wage. [2] Various evidence backs such as sentiment. A higher minimum wage would reduce poverty, help vulnerable groups, and improve the economy. Therefore, the United States should raise the Federal minimum wage.

The struggling households in the U.S. need a higher minimum wage. Right now, a single adult American needs at least $31,200 every year for an adequate standard of living. That baseline applies to all of America, not just the wealthy coastal areas. The individual would have to earn at least $15 an hour to reach that threshold, twice the current baseline. Therefore, a hypothetical gradual increase of minimum wage to $15 could have a significant impact. Around 21% of the U.S workforce, a total of 32 million, would benefit from the policy. The percentage increases to 59% workers with family income below the poverty line. The extra wage would greatly benefit workers such as cashiers or healthcare aides, who currently do not earn sustainable wages. [1] The benefit could also reduce people’s dependency on welfare programs and improve their self-sufficiency. [3] Thus, a higher minimum wage in the U.S. would have an overwhelmingly positive impact on struggling families.

While an increased minimum wage generates general benefits, it would particularly help vulnerable groups. Women would constitute more than half of the potential beneficiaries of the change. Approximately 32% of African Americans and 26% of Latino Americans would see higher wages. With the intersection of the two identities, women of color will also receive significant help. [1] These groups have historically received unfairly low wages due to various discriminations. As a result, a higher minimum wage would particularly help their economic standings in American society. From this perspective, there is an equity and social justice argument behind a higher minimum wage. Thus, a higher minimum wage could help those most in need in the status quo.

A higher minimum wage will leave the national economy in no worse, if not better, shape. A common argument against a higher minimum wage is its negative effect on employment. That assertion breaks down under scrutiny. Research has discovered no meaningful impact of minimum wage hikes on employment rates. [4] On the contrary, the policy has produced several positive economic effects. A higher minimum wage could increase worker morale and decrease expensive workplace turnovers. [5] Workers with a higher income would also lead to an increase in consumption. This consumption boost becomes more important during the current pandemic recession. 6] Thus, a higher minimum wage would strengthen rather than weaken the national economy in the U.S.

For these reasons, the United States should raise the Federal minimum wage.

[1]. Economic Policy Institute. 2021. "Why The U.S. Needs A $15 Minimum Wage". Economic Policy Institute. https://www.epi.org/publication/why-america-needs-a-15-minimum-wage/.

[2]. Kinder, Molly. 2020. "Even A Divided America Agrees On Raising The Minimum Wage". The Avenue. The Brookings Institute. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2020/11/13/even-a-divided-america-agrees-on-raising-the-minimum-wage/.

[3]. Jacobs, Ken, Ian Eve Perry, and Jenifer MacGillvary. 2021. "The Public Cost Of A Low Federal Minimum Wage". UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education. https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/The-Public-Cost-of-a-Low-Federal-Minimum-Wage.pdf.

[4]. Wolfson, Paul, and Dale Belman. 2019. "15 Years Of Research On US Employment And The Minimum Wage". LABOUR 33 (4): 488-506. doi:10.1111/labr.12162.

[5]. Dube, Arindrajit, T. William Lester, and Michael Reich. 2016. "Minimum Wage Shocks, Employment Flows, And Labor Market Frictions". Journal Of Labor Economics 34 (3): 663-704. doi:10.1086/685449.

[6]. Alonso, Cristian. 2020. "Beyond Labor Market Outcomes". Journal Of Human Resources, 0518-9524R2. doi:10.3368/jhr.58.1.0518-9524r2.

The minimum wage should be raise because workers are long overdue for a raise of any kind. And at $15, that should be just the start.

The conceit of a minimum wage set by President Franklin D. Roosevelt was to "earn a decent living" with "more than a bare subsistence level". When the minimum wage was established at $0.25. Adjust that for inflation, that would be $4.20 by today's money (https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2015/08/04/the-7-most-dangerous-myths-about-a-15-minimum-wage/?sh=1e7414e15ec8). That would not be much of a living wage for most people. Today, a single adult without children needs at least $31,200 to achieve a modest but adequate standard of living (https://www.epi.org/publication/why-america-needs-a-15-minimum-wage/). Furthermore, most workers have not had a pay increase in over a decade

But one of the reasons people oppose raising the minimum wage is out of fear that it would raise the cost of living as well. According the Forbes article I cited, "A 2013 study by the Chicago Fed found that increasing the minimum wage even just to $9 would increase consumer spending by $28 billion". The article goes on to state that "When spending increases, manufacturers and other purveyors of goods and services can actually charge less or at least avoid increasing their prices, because they're increasing overall revenue". So, when the minimum wage increases so does spending, which boosts the economy. Companies are more encouraged to keep their prices low because workers will have more money to spend for their items.

There is no evidence that raising the minimum wage causes on increase in unemployment or job loss. But focusing on primarily on job loss ignores the effect of raising the hourly wage for tens of millions of workers. David Cooper et al, analyzing this claim, posits that "the more likely scenario is that what is lost are job hours, and that these lost hours are spread among the affected workers, who work a little less but earn more per year."

CITATIONS:

Cooper, David, et al. “Bold Increases in the Minimum Wage Should Be Evaluated for the Benefits of Raising Low-Wage Workers’ Total Earnings: Critics Who Cite Claims of Job Loss Are Using a Distorted Frame.” Economic Policy Institute, 18 Apr. 2018, www.epi.org/publication/bold-increases-in-the-minimum-wage-should-be-evaluated-for-the-benefits-of-raising-low-wage-workers-total-earnings-critics-who-cite-claims-of-job-loss-are-using-a-distorted-frame.

Worstall, Tim. “The 7 Most Dangerous Myths About A $15 Minimum Wage.” Forbes, 4 Aug. 2015, www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2015/08/04/the-7-most-dangerous-myths-about-a-15-minimum-wage/?sh=1e7414e15ec8.