Preview

Against Raising Minimum Wage Essay

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1491 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Against Raising Minimum Wage Essay
Against Raising Minimum Wage
People everywhere are voicing out that we need to increase minimum wage, again. They say that an increase will have a minor impact on jobs but there are no facts to back them up. The impact of raising minimum wage has been studied since the beginning, and has been concluded that raising minimum wage hurts the poor, and helps the rich. Raising minimum wage takes away jobs; especially the low-skilled and young worker, keeps people on welfare, and also encourages high school students to drop out. When you look at the facts, is it really worth raising minimum wage? All credible research has come to the same conclusions, and these I will discuss with you.
Poverty will rise
When minimum wage is raised, businesses have to raise the price on whatever products or services they offer, to offset the loss of profits from having to pay the employees more money. With products more expensive, consumers will not be able to afford to buy as much as they normally would, and businesses will start to go under; causing a huge loss of jobs. Small businesses will start going out of business first, and will eventually lead to bigger businesses. Take Visteon for example, in Connersville, Indiana. Visteon was one of the biggest employers around this area. 900 plus jobs were lost when Visteon went out of business. I’m sure several of you in here know someone that has been lost their job from Visteon. Luckily, they were able to draw unemployment, but that is only a portion of what they normally got paid. I personally know quite a few people who decided to go to college after being laid off of Visteon, in hopes of having a better future. Even the pensions that Visteon is paying out, is very poor compared to what the employees should have gotten. Most of you can understand just how badly Visteon going out of business affected us in Eastern Indiana. Everywhere you go these days, you see for sale signs and out of business signs on business and houses, and very



Cited: Wikipedia. “Minimum Wage” Web. 12 July, 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_wage United States House of Representatives. “JEC report” Web. 30 June, 2010. http://www.house.gov/jec/cost-gov/regs/minimum/case.htm MSN. “The recovery seems to be losing its pop” Web. 12, July 2010. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38034014/ns/business-stocks_and_economy/ Yahoo Finance. “ 10 brands that may disappear in 2011” Web. 12, July 2010 http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/110018/10-brands-that-may-disappear-in-2011 Reuters. “Thousands lose jobs due to higher federal minimum wage” Web. 12, July 2010 http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2009/05/14/thousands-lose-jobs-due-to-higher-federal-minimum-wage/

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Many business owners have argued that raising the minimum wage would cause hardship and cause businesses to raise their prices, but many workers argue that raising the minimum wage is necessary to help low-income workers to get out of poverty. Two main issues that workers face are insufficient wages to support their families which causes them to depend on government funding. Secondly, workers are faced with decreased job satisfaction due to making low wages. In my opinion, minimum wages should be increased because it will allow workers to feel that they have job security. Additionally, increased pay will allow people to further support themselves and avoid taking benefits from the government and can use…

    • 340 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    This source has given me more insight to the controversial debate of minimum wage. It made me realized that by increasing minimum wage we would require the middle class to pay less for the lower class standard of living, which would be aiding society. A Con would be how it might cause an unpredictable inflation within the nation, and a repeat of the great depression might occur. Overall, this article haven’t changed my view of minimum wage; it only strengthens my already adamant opinion that minimum wage should increase in the United…

    • 1685 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As the minimum wage increases, so does inflation. If an employer has to pay higher wages, then the price of the product or service being produced will have to cost more in order to pay the employee. In return the prices of all goods and services will rise, and the person earning higher wages, makes no gain. In some instances, a pay hike would not make a livable wage, but in fact could make it worse. People who normally get tax breaks for having a low income, would now end up paying more in taxes and may actually end up making less money overall. Higher minimum wages force employers to cut back on training, which deprive low wage workers of any chance of long-term advancement, in return for a small increase in current income. Having higher wages for low-paid positions might also discourage workers from gaining new skills. In most circumstances, minimum wage workers may start off at minimum wage and then as time goes on and their skills are refined, they end up getting paid more. So while many people may start off at minimum wage, many of these people don't necessarily stay fixed at minimum wage. There are many minimum wage jobs that offer advancement…

    • 2607 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    All these articles mentioned above in my research focuses on both the benefit and drawback of minimum wage hike. We saw many voters want the minimum wage to go up, so that they can live a better life. Many other articles also show that in the long term its effect would be devastating. Minimum wage has both good and bad effects. We have to take into account the worker that works for minimum wage. They barely have anything left after all the tax money is deducted. It’s hard to maintain a family when someone works for that little money. We have also seen some solutions to minimum wage problems. For example: People are struggling to survive with the minimum wage we have now in many states. Minimum wage hike is necessary for those cities that have…

    • 355 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The reason for this result is that raising the minimum wage induces some people to enter the labor market who would not apply if not for the higher level. With a larger labor market, employers choose higher-skilled applicants. Thus, raising the minimum wage hurts low-skilled workers in two ways. First, there are fewer jobs available. Second, with a larger pool of applicants, competition is stiffer. Low-skilled workers have a more difficult time getting those job skills that are crucial to economic well-being.…

    • 549 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although raising the minimum wage may cause inflation, “According to Dr. Pacitti, inflation would likely less than 1 percentage point per year in the wake of a $15 minimum wage. ‘Firms could accept lower profits to offset any inflationary impact.’” (“Real Talk: The Potential Impact of a $15 Minimum Wage") This was also supported by John Wihbey, “Overall, price increases are modest: For example, a 10% increase in the minimum wage would increase food prices by no more than 4% and overall prices by no more than 0.4%, significantly less than the minimum-wage increase.” Many people fear raising the minimum wage would hurt the economy by causing inflation however, statistics show that raising the minimum wage has little effect on inflation rates and that its profits significantly outweigh the costs. Also, even though many businesses would have to reduce the number of workers, the number of people benefited greatly exceeds the number harmed. “Under the $10.10 scenario, there would likely be a reduction of about 500,000 workers across the labor market, as businesses shed jobs, but about 16.5 million low-wage workers would see substantial gains in their earnings in an average week.” (Wihbey "Effects of Raising the Minimum Wage) Overall, as research and calculations have shown, raising the minimum wage benefits the economy and workforce more than it does harm, and immediate actions should be implemented to help the economy grow and ensure equality in the…

    • 915 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Think back to the time when you were a young child. You remember that at a certain age Mom and Dad thought it was important for you to understand the value of a dollar. In order to teach you this they gave you an allowance every week with the understanding that you would earn it by completing a weekly chore. As you got older you desired more money to purchase the things you wanted. The agreement for more money came along with more responsibility and chores. The same perspective can easily be translated into the purpose for a minimum wage standard. An individual’s wage should be merited for their performance, knowledge, and skill level. Otherwise the individual worker will expect continued monetary increases for the same level or amount of work produced. By tying in labor, skill, and education increases with financial increases, workers would be more driven to progress in their preferred field. Therefore, when making attempts to increase an even higher minimum wage, we need to stop and realize wages should be based on an individual’s knowledge and skill level and not focus on natural human empathy. After all, you worked to get where you’re at, shouldn’t everyone?…

    • 1306 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    minimum wage essay

    • 512 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Minimum wage has been a very controversial topic. Nowadays people just can’t survive on minimum wage. Prices are rising but yet the pay is still the same. How do they expect us to survive on eight dollars and twenty five cents?…

    • 512 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Should minimum wage be raised to a higher pay to help families support each other and have more money to be able to get the necessities you need or should the minimum stay the same to keep prices of items the same? Also, continue how we are with different places having different wages and finding the place that best fits you? Currently many states have minimum wages under $10 an hour, in Indiana its $7.25. The wages are being challenged because many are saying it should be raised to help families and people that don't get much. Other people around the world are saying it's best to keep it the same or else prices will be higher and harder for more people than it was before.The debate over whether the minimum wage should be raised or not has many people divided around the world. Proponents argue that it should be raised because it's hard to pay for necessities and…

    • 1227 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    One of the most controversial topics is raising minimum wage; in fact, people feel ambivalent about it. Over the years minimum wage has not been mercurial; indeed, it has always been low, making people under the poverty line struggle by not being able to provide the essential necessities for themselves. Raising minimum wage would help quell people living at the poverty level. I believe raising minimum wage would help people at the poverty level become more resilient at the fact that their pay would increase. Hopefully raising minimum wage would make human population more benevolent and maybe they will even give kudos to the government for this action. It is very unequivocal to me that if the minimum wage was raised then the poor, lugubrious…

    • 129 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Increasing minimum wage would force companies to lay off employees, raise prices on products, and eventually force companies to close.…

    • 603 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1938, Franklin D. Roosevelt introduced the Minimum Wage bill in America during the Great Depression. The minimum wage started at twenty-five cents an hour in 1938, and is now $7.25 an hour. Today Americans favor raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.00 per hour. Raising the federal minimum wage would prove to be more of a negative change than a positive move because it would force small companies to close their doors. It would also increase the price of consumer goods, and make it more difficult for teenagers and young adults to find work.…

    • 889 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Opponents of this minimum wage raise believe it will lead to layoffs for employees in low-skilled jobs; however, the research indicates businesses will be stable enough to handle paying reasonably more to their minimum wage employees. Additionally, raising the federal minimum wage will allow millions of workers to be financially independent which will save the taxpayers millions of dollars otherwise going toward welfare for the minimum wage workers. Another benefit of raising the minimum wage is better quality lives for hard working Americans making the minimum wage; people working full time should not be in poverty and raising the minimum wage can ensure full time workers are compensated fairly. Undeniably, there is a problem in the American economy if a full time employee relies on welfare and does not have a home to go to after working hours on…

    • 1215 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Neumark, David. "Who Really Gets the Minimum Wage." The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 6 July 2014. Web. 05 Aug. 2014.…

    • 1643 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Minimum Wage

    • 1207 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The rise of minimum wage will only force companies to be stricter when it comes to allocating hours to distribute. With time this will only lead to less jobs becoming available because jobs solely cannot afford to hire new people…

    • 1207 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays

Related Topics