Minimum Wage Debate Essay Example

Poverty a problem the world has been faced with since things had value. People who live in poverty have families to feed and they have to work to feed them. As of October 2012 the minimum wage is 7.25$ an hour. That amount may have worked 3 ½ years ago when we implemented the new minimum wage but it doesn’t cut it anymore for the following 2 points. 1. Prices have been continuously getting higher. 2. Money is becoming worth less. Moving on to my first point prices are continuously getting higher. The average gas price for unleaded fuel in Virginia on July 7 2009 was 2.61$, a pound of bacon in July 2009 cost between 2/3$ and since then it has doubled in prices and now costs 5/6$. A kilowatt hour on average cost now cost 1.67 in July 2009 they cost almost .40$ less a 1.23$. These are only a few examples of the huge increase of prices on everything. People who were making the same amount of money 3 ½ years ago are making that same amount of money and can only afford around half of what they used to. A report from www.cnn.inflation.com shows that the huge increase in prices has led to a huge increase of people who are now classified as living in poverty. We need to increase the amount we pay these workers so that not only can we help balance the economy, but so we can help people get back on their feet. Moving on to my second point. Money is continuously becoming worth less. As of July 7, 2009 when he most recent minimum wage law was passed money has become worthless. According to www.minimumwage.gov money in the last 3 ½ years as become worth 5% less than its original value; meaning that when they made minimum wage 7.25$ now it is really only worth 2009’s equivalent of 6.88$. Though .37$ doesn’t seem like a lot once you add it up it can make all the difference, and for families who live paycheck to paycheck this can become a huge devastation. People always deserve to pay for what there government does. Though they are the ones that vote the