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Jasmine McLamb

Professor Schafer

English 112

October 29, 2017

Why a Minimum Wage Increase Would Be Great for the US

How does minimum wage affect my life? This is a question that every minimum wage

earner answers or addresses at some point in their life. The amount of money you make,

determines how you live and make day to day decisions, for yourself, and or your family. The

fact that most United States citizens work off of minimum wage and struggle to survive is a huge

issue. Discussions and debates have been in place about minimum wage increases for hundreds

of years, because as the cost of living rises, the cost of payment for workers should also. Seeing

people struggle to make ends meet, is something that I have encountered numerous times. I’m

just a regular teenager working because I choose to, and making $9 an hour, versus a 33 year old

mother of 2 primarily working off of tips at a restaurant. Even though I’m not too far above the

minimum wage, it hurts to see someone else stressed out. A minimum wage increase would be

beneficial by providing a more comfortable lifestyle for the working class, allowing business to

continue to thrive, and by helping to close the gender pay gap.

Living a comfortable lifestyle is very important. However, most Americans don’t get to

experience a comfortable lifestyle because they earn minimum wage or a close compensation to

minimum wage. With a wage growth, people can afford to buy a lot more than they can

currently. For example, a full time minimum wage employee doesn’t even make enough for a

family of two annually (Hellwig, 2015). Just think about how a family of four or more is
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struggling for survival. If an increase in minimum wage doesn’t occur, more crime in these

families are going to occur. This is because they would result to stealing and fighting for

something to eat or warm clothes on their back. This is not the lifestyle that someone and their

family wants to live, keeping in mind that most of these minimum wage workers aren’t just

teenagers working to earn some extra cash.

("Income Inequality in the USA", 2014)

Like shown in the infographic above, it’s harder for minimum wage workers buy something as

simple as milk compared to higher paid workers. It’s absolutely ridiculous that someone needs to

work half an hour just to buy a gallon of milk. Just imagine how hard it is to buy meat,

vegetables, clothes, shoes, and gas. These are just some out of plenty things people have to worry

about. Bills come into play, as well as school, and medical cost. With the current minimum wage

rate, it feels as though minimum wage workers are set up for failure. This matter could be

improved by the increase in minimum wage and cooperation from businesses.

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Businesses won’t be affected as much as people think by minimum wage. In fact a lot of

businesses are encouraging an increase in minimum age. This is because it allows for more

consumer costs and therefore lead to a healthy economy considering minimum wage was last

increase in 2009, and prices continue to rise. Plenty of businesses have actually signed the

“Business for a Fair Minimum Wage statement,” in hopes to raise the minimum wage to $12 by

2020. (Brown, 2015). This shows that business people actually want and are trying to help its

workers.

A minimum wage increase would also be great for gender equality in the work place. Women

have always received a lower consumption then men, which is not fair. Men have always

dominated in the CEO and managerial world for centuries, even with plenty of women defying

the odds more. Women also outnumber men a lot, which means most of the population isnt

earning a just income. According to the American Association of University Women (AAUW),

“increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour and indexing it to inflation could close about 5

percent of the gender wage gap ("Raise the Minimum Wage, Shrink the Pay Gap", 2014).” This

would be great for women all across America. They could live a better and less stressful life,

while slowly but surely catching up to males. Of course there would still be a pay gap, but

actions are definitely being taken to decrease it, as long as a minimum wage increase occurs.

Some people don’t agree that a minimum wage increase would be beneficial. They argue that

a minimum wage increase would cause more unemployment within business or a decrease in the

amount of hours workers are provided. Studies have shown that this doesn’t have to be the case.

According to Minimum Wage Has Minimum Impact Raise Reality: Minimum Wage, Minimum

Impact, “Conservatives rely on classical economic theory. Raise the cost of paying unskilled

workers, they argue, and employers will hire fewer” (KNIGHT-RIDDER, 1996). As mentioned
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above, businesses do support a minimum wage increase, and they aren’t planning to eliminate

any of their workers. Lots of people are really willing to have a wage increase, it’s just all about

the government coming to an agreement.

A minimum wage increase is absolutely needed. People can afford living, plus, businesses

and the gender pay gap would benefit greatly. Doing work for a low price, while market prices

are constantly rising isn’t what people need to deal with. It’s sad that it’s so hard for people to

agree on a wage increase that can better the economy. It’s time to take action and fight for what

the majority wants, which is a pay increase. Cities and states have already started to raise the

minimum wage, but it’s time for the federal government to make a change.
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APA Works Cited

Brown, S. M. (2015, Sep). Businesses push for minimum wage hike. Washington Informer

Retrieved from

http://ezproxy.cpcc.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1715676536?acc

ountid=10008

Hellwig, B. (2015, March 19). Can A Family Survive On The U.S. Minimum Wage? (WMT,

COST). Retrieved November 05, 2017, from

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/022615/can-family-survive-us-

minimum-wage.asp

Income Inequality in the USA. (2014, March 24). Retrieved November 05, 2017, from

http://demographicpartitions.org/income-inequality-usa/

KNIGHT-RIDDER, N. S. (1996, Apr 26). Minimum wage has minimum impact raise reality:

Minimum wage, minimum impact. The Salt Lake Tribune Retrieved from

http://ezproxy.cpcc.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/288697581?acco

untid=10008

Raise the Minimum Wage, Shrink the Pay Gap. (2014, August 7). Retrieved November 05, 2017,

from https://www.aauw.org/2014/08/07/raise-the-wage/v