Why The Minimum Wage Should Not Be Raised

One of the biggest debates right now is to raise the minimum wage or not. Raising the minimum wage can be seen as a good thing by some people because it could reduce poverty; but if we focus on the overall outcome of raising the minimum wage, there really is no point in raising it. There are so many more options to improve the economy. Minimum wage should not be raised because the costs of goods and taxes would increase, it would slow the economy, put people out of business, and reduce employment. As the years increased so did the minimum wage. From the 1930s till about the 2000s the minimum wage was increasing, but in today's money it seems like nothing. The purpose of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 was to set nationwide standards for companies. It established the minimum wage, guaranteed overtime, and prohibits the employment of some minors. It also allowed employees to engage in interstate commerce operations and some minors under the age of 18 could not perform certain considerably dangerous jobs (History of Minimum Wage video).
But is this worth all of the economic problems it could cause? First, saying that raising the minimum wage could reduce poverty is just wrong. In some states the standard of living is high than the minimum wage but that does not mean those people are living in poverty. Generally, the people in poverty, do not work. If the people in poverty are not working then the minimum wage is not affecting them. The people earning the minimum wage are usually teens, elderly who is retired or a parent with a part time job. These people are not in poverty and are not being affected