We should increase
minimum wage and base its increase on inflation in the United States of
America. Currently it is not increased with inflation meaning people are still
making the same amount with a higher cost-of-living. Minimum wage is defined by
Merriam Webster as “an amount of money that is the least amount of money per
hour that workers must be paid according to the law.” Only 5% of laws
introduced into Congress actually pass and become a law. If the minimum wage
were increased it would increase education, job security, employment and quality
of life. People have been and still come to America for the “American Dream,” which
is a belief that every citizen should have the chance to be successful and
happy. I believe this is a philosophical dream for any human being and can only
be achieved by changing our minimum wage.
There are many articles stating
most minimum-wage workers are teens or under 25 and live with their parents or
in a $50,000 or more household. These articles state an opinion that this group
of people does not need to be paid more than minimum wage. Other sources also
argue that only a small percentage of people over 25 are in minimum wage jobs,
and that this small margin of people would not affect the economy. According to
the US Department of Labor, “89 percent of those who would benefit from a federal
minimum wage increase to $12 per hour are age 20 or older, and 56 percent are
women.” According to the Washington Post, “ only 27% of college graduates have
a job related to their major.” I personally know plenty of students that are
graduates under 25 working for minimum wage and living with their parents. These
educated adults definitely deserve to get paid enough to move out and pay back
their student loans. Also, some argue about people getting paid for the skills
that they have, but I believe paying more would increase savings. This would
lead to continuing education and allow people to get out of a paycheck-to-paycheck
cycle.
According to the National Employment Law Project increasing minimum wage in states has had some very
positive feedback. According to this article the few states that increased
their minimum wage also increased economic growth without decreasing employment.
They also show how increasing it slowly does not affect businesses. This is an
example of how increasing with inflation would be an asset instead of by law.
Americans need to be able to have savings and this is how we accomplish a
sustainable goal.
Some possible options
instead of increasing minimum wage could be to decreasing education cost. This
way American’s could increase education and their ability to learn skills.
Another option would be to decreasing the margin between rich and poor so that
there is an equal opportunity to succeed. Lastly, even decreasing welfare for
increased available funds to increase minimum wage. These ideas are the other paths
I imagine would help all citizens to achieve the “American Dream.”
6 comments:
I totally agree with the M. Kristina's point over increasing USA minimum wage in the blog Increase USA Minimum Wage. As the federal minimum wage was introduced in 1938 during the Great Depression under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It was initially set as $0.25 per hour and has been increased by Congress 22 times, recently in 2009 when it went from $6.55 to $7.25 an hour. Proponents of a higher minimum wage state that the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour is too low for anyone to live on; that a higher minimum wage will help create jobs and grow the economy; that the declining value of the minimum wage is one of the primary causes of wage inequality between low and middle-income workers; and that a majority of Americans, include a slim of majority of self-described conservatives, support increasing the minimum wage. I agree with the Kristina saying in the blog that every human's philosophical dream of having happy and successful life in U.S. can be achieved by changing our minimum wage.
By increasing the minimum wage, there will be many benefits to the country and the people living in it. The first would be that millions of Americans would see a pay raise that could go toward meeting their basic needs and living expenses. A recent analysis by CNN was even more aggressive, implying that 5 million Americans would be lifted out of poverty at $10.10 per hour. More workers being able to pay for their basic expenses is a good thing, as it may lead to less reliance on government and state-sponsored financial aid programs. The other benefit would be extra pay in the pockets of some 16.5 million workers could trickle down to retailers and provide a boost to the economy. Since the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 raised the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour starting in 2009, there have been numerous unsuccessful attempts by Congress to raise the wage further. The two main efforts are the Harkin-Miller proposal to raise the wage to $10.10 nd the Living Wage Movement to raise the wage to $15. Even though some of the movement failed but, the fact is increasing U.S. minimum wage concept is thought by everyone.
Thus, increasing the minimum wage of U.S. would help all citizens to achieve the "America Dream" and actually I agree with Kristina's commentary on Increase Minimum Wage Blog.
(sorry for consistent deleting comments! I corrected some errors)
In this article, the author argues that increasing minimum wage is necessity for achieving “American dream.” In other words, giving more money to Americans can make them happy and successful in their lives. As the author said, the minimum wage should increase according to inflation. However, it is doubtful that increasing minimum wage can really help Americans to lead them successful lives.
Of course, increasing wages should be good for individual person because individual income increases; there is no one who hates increased income. On the other hand, it can be a bad news for employers because they are the people who must give money to employees. Now, even the global economy is going through hard time and inflation is getting worse; then how the limited amount of money can be allocated to so many employers equally. Although large companies also hate the news, they can afford the increased wages. The growing companies that succeed economically is also able to do it. However, there are still many companies of which sales are not enough to give their employers the increased wage so that giving wages become a big burden of the companies’ employers. As a result, they might cut the jobs. Even though they try to give the increased wages to their employees, the companies can be in danger of becoming bankrupt. As a result, it would affect to the unemployment problem. If so, can we say that increasing minimum wage can make Americans happy?
Although the author gave an example that few states are successful in improving economy by increasing minimum wage, it is unsure that the case of the states can be applied to another sates’ economical situation. Besides, the indicator of economic growth seems focus on the growth of industry as a whole rather than individual person. Therefore, it should be considered again that the states’ entire economical growth helped the individual’s economical growth too. Also, as the author said that most of the people who can get benefit from increased minimum wages are the young people under 25 years old, it seems to need more evidence that increasing minimum wage can really help whole American nations to succeed economically.
What is the real meaning of the successful life? Is it making a lot of money? In light of self-realization, successful life means enjoying life with their dream job. Making more money is not primary goal of the people who come to America in order to get jobs. One of the big reasons why they come to America is that there are more open and equal opportunity in getting jobs. Then increasing minimum wage can be a good news for them, but cannot be a crucial factor for achieving American dream. Furthermore, not many people lives as they pursue their personal goal. Even the people who earn a lot of money work without happiness. Thus, increased wages can fulfill individual’s personal desire through leisure activities, but it does not mean that they are living successful lives.
In short, it is not bad to increase minimum wage, but it seems still doubtful that the wage can really become a practical key for realizing American dream. Before concluding simply that solving a visible problem can bring good result, we should consider whether the solution can cause another side effects.
(This is a corrected last two paragraph in the above comment that I mentioned)
What is the real meaning of the successful life? Is it making a lot of money? In light of self-realization, successful life means enjoying life with their dream job. Also, making more money is not a primary goal of the people who come to America in order to get jobs. One of the big reasons why they come to America is that there are more open and equal opportunity in getting jobs. Then increasing minimum wage can be a good news for them, but cannot be a crucial factor for achieving American dream. Furthermore, not many people in America lives as pursuing their personal goal. Even the people who earn a lot of money work without happiness. Thus, increased wages can fulfill individual’s personal desire through leisure activities, but it does not mean that they are living successful lives.
In short, it is not bad to increase minimum wage, but it seems still doubtful that the wage can really become a practical key for realizing American dream. Before concluding simply that solving a visible problem can bring a good result, we should consider whether the solution can cause another side effects.
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