Cratch 1 Danielle Cratch Ms.

Melissa Mohlere English 112-42 01 Nov 2013 Minimum Wage: What should it actually be? In the United States, minimum wage is a huge issue. The effect of minimum wage on many US workers is dreadful because so many workers make $7.25 an hour. Workers are complaining big time and are living paycheck to paycheck. Minimum wage is an issue that needs to be solved right now. In my opinion, I think minimum wage should be increased. There are about 4.4 million workers earning the minimum wage or less, according to government statistics (A Minimum Wage Increase). Those statistics are high, and are going to be even higher if we do not push the government to increase the wages. I myself do not have a lot to pay for, but I will in the future, and making more money would help me save up for future college costs. I used to make minimum wage, and making $7.75 an hour still feels like minimum wage to me. In some places of work, there are wage increases every six months of at least $0.25. In my place of work, that is not the case. We have to ask for a raise in order to get one, since our employers are too busy, apparently. I believe that a good employer should observe his or her employees and decide whether or not that person actually does deserve a raise. I think it is good that in some places, employees will receive a raise every few months. That way, it kind of ensures the employers that their employees will stay because they are making good money. The

Cratch 2 employer should give a higher raise depending on how good of a job his employees are doing. If an employee is doing most of the cleaning, stocking, working hard, etc, that employee should deserve more than a $0.25 raise. In this case, the employee who receives this big raise will be determined to keep up the good work, and possibly receive future raises and become promoted to a higher position. Since the minimum wage is low, employees are angry about the unfairness of this situation. One reason for the lack of emphasis on US long term unemployment is that is has been viewed as a relatively small problem (Partridge 714). Unemployment as a result of minimum wage is obviously not a small problem. As the bills stack up higher and higher and a very limited budget for food appears, anxiety and depression come into play as a result of unemployment. Longer durations of unemployment likely reinforced the seemingly high levels of job anxiety felt by workers during the 1990s, says Partridge. These high unemployment rates could possibly be reversed if the government and/or President Obama would increase the minimum wage to at least $1 more per hour, thus making it easier for Americans to live with their budgets. During recent times, I have heard that North Carolina is the number one unemployed state in the country. Many minimum wage employees are lucky to get about 15 hours or a little more each week, which resorts them to using food stamps just to provide a meal for their family (Federal Minimum Wage Must Rise to Help Working People Survive). These minimum wage earners are almost at the point of poverty, and the NC public should talk some sense into the government. President Obama says the minimum should be $9, and it probably ought to be $10 (Federal Minimum Wage Must Rise to Help Working People Survive). If Obama raised the

Cratch 3 minimum wage everywhere in the United States accordingly, employees would stay with their employers longer and would be happier with their paychecks. Karen E. Klein and Nick Leiber says, Now, with public anger over income inequality deepening and economic research challenging the notion that higher wages suppress employment, a growing number of small business advocates support a hike" (Clark). A minimum wage hike would be great, since employees only making $7.25 an hour can barely support their families. Harkin's press secretary, Allison Preiss, says, "Raising the minimum wage would also help small businesses compete with big-box stores and chains that pay the minimum wage-which often forces those workers to turn to taxpayer-subsidized public assistance to make ends meet" (Clark). If small business owners would raise the minimum wage, their employees would be glad to work there longer, seeing as they would get more money for their hard work. As the nation grapples with a jobs crisis and unemployment hovers near 9 percent, it is easy for policy makers to forget the plight of those who work but earn very little (A Minimum Wage Increase). There are lazy people in the US, but the government shouldnt have to penalize the people who are actually working hard only to see under $500 on their biweekly paychecks. I make less than $200 on my weekly paycheck, and it isnt fair, seeing as lazy employees at my job make more than me. Though it rose to $7.25 an hour in 2009, up $2.10 since 2006, the minimum wage is still lower than it was 30 years ago, after accounting for inflation (A Minimum Wage Increase). To me, $7.25 is still a small amount, especially if most minimum wage receivers only have 20 hours a week. The minimum wage should be increased for the more skilled workers, and the lower-skilled workers are able to work their way up to a higher wage.

Cratch 4 Minimum wage is a burden not only to teenagers, but to the elderly in the work force. The situation has worsened in recent years because older workers who had pretty good jobs and lost them in the Great Recession have, after seeking jobs comparable to the ones they had, been forced into lower-paying jobs, and, yes, sometimes minimum-wage jobs (Federal Minimum Wage Must Rise to Help Working People Survive). This is a horrible ailment for teenagers and young adults, because now there are slim chances of anyone even getting to take part in holiday or part-time work just because the older generation took these minimum wage jobs. Yet sometimes it is harder for elders to find jobs, because the employers want to have younger, faster people working for them. Either way, it is a lose-lose state of affairs. On the other side of this argument, however, increasing minimum wage will reduce employment. Critics of the minimum wage commonly maintain that, when it is effective, it raises the cost of labor and lowers employment (Miller 36). I, on the other hand, believe that raising the minimum wage will create more opportunities for job seekers. The cost of high unemployment rates in Europe goes to the interference of the government in labor markets, like increasing minimum wage to protect jobs, and overall, making hiring more expensive to the employers. A lower wage for the low-skilled workers means there are less employment opportunities (Miller 36). For example, if there is a business that pays low-skilled workers low wages, and someone comes along needing a job there but wants more pay than they offer, they most likely wont get the job because the company cant afford to pay the employment seeker and also because they have the maximum amount of people working for them. Minimum wage is a huge issue right now. Workers can barely afford the necessities of their life because of their low hourly wages. It is our time to step up for minimum wagers around the US so they can finally afford their life. Increasing the minimum wage would keep employees

Cratch 5 at the same job for years to come. This issue needs to be solved right away, or who knows what will happen with the economy and unemployment rates.

Cratch 6 Works Cited "A Minimum Wage Increase." Editorial. The New York Times. N.p., 26 Mar. 2011. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/27/opinion/27sun2.html?_r=1&>. Clark, Patrick. "Lawmakers Enlist Small Business to Back a Minimum Wage Increase." NCLive.org. Business Source Complete, 6 Mar. 2013. Web. 01 Nov. 2013. "Federal Minimum Wage Must Rise to Help Working People Survive." NewsObserver.com. N.p., 30 Aug. 2013. Web. 01 Nov. 2013. <http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/08/30/3151276/laboring-days.html>. Miller, Preston. "A Higher Minimum Wage- A Mistake Waiting to Happen." Editorial. The Region Sept. 1999: 27-36. Web. 30 Oct. 2013. Partridge, Mark D., and James S. Partridge. "Do Minimum Wage Hikes Raise US Long Term Unemployment? Evidence Using State Minimum Wage Rates." Regional Studies33.8 (1999): 713. Business Source Complete. Web. 31 Oct. 2013.