Why The Minimum Wage Should Be Raised

No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt worked hard to improve wages for workers. The first act requiring employers to pay a minimum wage was the Fair Labor Act Standards Act of 1938 was during President Roosevelt's administration. It passed important laws concerning child labor and maximum hours per week as well as wages to workers of certain industries. Workers today are still fighting to make a living wage. Anyone in a country as wealthy as ours should not work full time and yet be unable to make a living. The minimum wage should be raised and applied to all workers, regardless of industry, size of employer, or other
factors.

The federal minimum wage leaves out many unfortunate workers, even though workers of all types need to make a living.
It does not apply employees of companies not involved in interstate commerce and that make less than five hundred thousand dollars annually, employees of some recreation businesses, employees of small farms, students, disabled workers, and paid companions of elderly people. These workers should be paid minimum wage as well, since they need to make enough to live on just as other workers. A good example of this unfairness is the pay for disabled workers. Disabled workers are paid based on their employer's assessment of their productivity as compared to non disabled workers. This allows employers to take advantage of disabled workers by paying them less than what deserve. Small businesses should have to pay minimum wage as a basic aspect of operating, and should not be allowed to underpay their employees to cut costs. Students can also be paid less than minimum wage, which can be very difficult if they need to pay for both living expenses and tuition. These exceptions are solely for the benefit of the business at the expense of their employees' livelihood, because there is no good reason that these workers deserve less than a fair
living.

Supporting the ability for all workers to make a fair living is the most important reason the minimum wage should be raised.
A study by the Economic Policy Institute found that not only can a family of four not make a living on minimum wage, but even a single person needs more than minimum wage to cover basic living expenses. It takes a typical family of four sixty-four thousand dollars a year for living expenses in an average area. This is far from being covered by a minimum wage job. This information is similar to that obtained by other organizations and makes a good case for raising the minimum wage. Another possible benefit is that it could help some low income workers making above minimum wage that still do not make enough to cover basic expenses. In the past when the minimum wage has been increased wages of other low wage workers have increased as well. This was shown in a study by: David Autor, an economist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Alan Manning, an economist from the London School of Economics; and Christopher Smith of the Federal Reserve Board. Their study found that from 1979 through 2012 when the minimum wage wage increased the wages of of workers up to the twenty-fifth percentile of wage earners by a statistically relevant amount. The length of this study supports the idea that raising minimum wage would extend beyond minimum wage earning. Federal minimum wage should be increased swiftly because every year the minimum wage remains the same
living expenses increase due to inflation. Helping low wage earners to make a fair living for themselves and their families would be a great boon for our country.

Not everyone agrees the minimum wage should be raised or extended and there are many arguments for why. One of these arguments is that it will result in job losses. Several studies have proven this idea false such as a study by the Institute for Research on Labor and employment at University of California, Berkeley. This study was held between 1996 and 2006 to determine if a higher minimum wage caused higher unemployment rate and they found the rate did not increase. Another argument against raising the minimum wage is that the U.S. economy is a free market that can handle the situation on its own. However, the market has never ensured a living wage for all workers on its own and it then becomes the responsibility of the government to assist those who cannot make a living. The United States is not a true free market, since the government routinely provides subsidies to businesses. Some reasons given for excusing certain workers from minimum wage law are the inability of small businesses to afford paying the minimum wage or the idea that employers should be allowed to pay students less during a training period. Nonetheless, these workers need to be able to pay basic expenses, and as long as they are working, they should be paid at least minimum wage. All these arguments are refuted by both economic facts and the need for all people to make living off of their work.

There will continue to be arguments about the federal minimum wage, even though in a wealthy country like the United States, there is no reason any worker should have to settle for less. These earnings would allow workers to pay for themselves and their families. It would reward these people for their work and give them a sense of dignity. Some states have already raised the minimum wage and several others are planning to do so; the federal government should raise their minimum wage as well. Workers should continue to fight for a minimum wage that is a true living wage.