Should the Minimum Wage be Raised?

All over America, one of the biggest arguments is weather the minimum wage should be raised. Some people say that our current wage is not enough to live on and it needs to be raised so that people can maintain a healthy life. On the other side, people that are against raising the minimum wage argue that a higher minimum wage would be too heavy a burden on employers. That means that those employers would not be able to hire as many people. Therefore, there would be no point to raising the wage at all. There are always two sides to every story. Should the minimum wage be raised or should it remain the same? 

The first side that we will discuss is raising minimum wage. As of now, most people that are earning minimum wage are below the federal poverty level of $15,130. By working forty hours a week at $7.25, they are only earning $15,080 per year. However, about 70% of these minimum wage employees do not even work forty hours a week. On average they work less then thirty-five hours a week, therefore earning much less then the federal poverty level.  Some would even argue that an increase in the minimum wage would stimulate the economy. If low-income households are earning more money per year, they would be more likely to spend that money. This would put that money back into the economy and everyone would benefit. The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago conducted an experiment where they found out that if the minimum wage were increased, the average spending per household would increase by $2,800 per year. "By increasing workers' take-home pay, families gain both financial security and an increased ability to purchase goods and services, thus creating jobs for other Americans" (Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago). Overall, supporters of increasing the minimum wage would support that a higher minimum wage would kick start the economy and benefit these hard working individuals who can barely support their families.

On the opposing side, there are many people who are against raising the minimum wage. They argue that that the employment rates would go down due to employers not being able to pay enough employees such a high wage. This would be especially bad for the small business owners who would barely be able to support any employees at all. Jeff Jacoby, a supporter of keeping the minimum wage where it is, argues, "When legislators raise the price of low- and unskilled labor, it’s usually low- and unskilled laborers who end up paying the price". They also argue that by increasing the minimum wage, it does not mean that it will lower the poverty rate. According to the Employment Policies Institute, "Multiple studies have demonstrated little to no relationship between a higher minimum wage and reductions in poverty". A lot of people who are against the increase also agree that workers should be able to accept less then minimum wage. If a worker is getting the job just for experience and it is not very time or labor consuming they should be able to earn less then $7.25. 

These two arguments are targeting specifically the people right around the poverty line that are working minimum wage jobs. One side argues that they are not making enough to support their lives, while the other side argues that they do not need to make any more for labor that does not require much skill. Both side look at each other in a dismissive way, they both think that the other side is very wrong and do not really agree on any points. Overall, people are all going to have their own opinions. Will the minimum wage be raised, or will it stay right where it is? Change is hard in a world where people struggle to see opposing sides. In my opinion, no change will happen to the minimum wage until people start to see the other side of the argument. 

Sources: 
http://www.forbes.com/sites/johntharvey/2015/07/31/real-argument-for-raising-minimum-wage/
http://www.salary.com/increasing-the-minimum-wage-pros-cons/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-quigley/top-ten-arguments-for-rai_b_6879220.html