Jared Bosse

AP Seminar

February 6 2017

Minimum Wage

The definition of minimum wage is the lowest wage an employee can receive from their

employer. Since 1938, a federal minimum wage has been effective in the United States. It has

been raised and lowered several times to determine what is best for the economy and more

importantly, what is best for the people. Many people argue to raise the minimum wage and

many people argue to lower it. I say we meet in the middle. Since the beginning of minimum

wage, it has been the same for all ages. We need to split the minimum wage by age, and here is

why.

First off, increasing the minimum wage may push teens out of the workforce. (Cooper), a

fellow at the Manhattan Institute who studies economics of higher education, writes “One recent

analysis by economists Jonathan Meer and Jeremy West of Texas A&M University found that a

higher minimum wage lowers youth employment 11 times as much as it lowers the employment

of middle-aged adults.” This study proves that if the minimum wage were increased, then a lot

more young employees would be laid off, instead of older ones. This would happen because

teens are less skilled and less experienced.

Secondly, increasing the minimum wage would also increase the price of consumer

goods. (procon.org admin), a very reliable source that provides pros and cons over a controversy,

states “A 2015 Purdue University study found that raising the wage of fast food restaurant

employees to $15 or $22 per hour would result in a price increase of 4.3% and 25% respectively,

or a reduction in product size between 12% and 70%: ‘a hamburger would be much smaller,’ the
researchers stated.” Thus proves that when you increase the minimum wage, it causes a ripple

effect that would force employers to pay their employees more, which causes businesses to raise

prices so they can keep a steady income. Yes, higher prices and higher minimum wages would

cause the “trickle down effect”, but the prices may increase too drastically for the minimum

wage workers to afford.

However, what if a business can’t afford to raise prices? In this case, raising the

minimum wage would cause businesses to spend more money on their employees, which leads to

bankruptcy. (procon.org admin) writes “60% of small-business owners say that raising the

minimum wage will ‘hurt most small-business owners,’ according to a 2013 Gallup poll.” As

you can see, over half of small business owners say that a higher minimum wage would hurt

their business, and as far as I can tell, our country needs small businesses.

Now, most people against raising the minimum wage would claim that the current

minimum wage isn’t enough for someone to pay for housing and essentials like food, and they

are correct. (procon.org admin) writes “According to a 2015 report from the National Low

Income Housing Coalition, a worker must earn at least $15.50 an hour (over twice the federal

minimum wage) to be able to afford to rent a ‘modest’ one-bedroom apartment, and $19.35 for a

two-bedroom unit (more than 2.5 times the minimum wage).” This is why we should not lower

the minimum wage for people that have to pay for food and housing, i.e. people over the age of

18.

Also, increasing the minimum wage would raise the income for people who live off a

wage slightly above the minimum wage. (procon.org admin) states “Melissa S. Kearney, PhD,

and Benjamin Harris, PhD, of the Brookings Institution found that increasing the minimum wage

would result in higher wages not only for the 3.7 million people earning minimum wage, but also
for up to 35 million workers who make up to 150% of the federal minimum wage.” Yes,

increasing the minimum wage would cause this, but what if decreasing the wage for another age

group could cause the same increase in income for higher aged workers? This is another big

reason to split the minimum wage.

These are all reasons for why we should split the minimum wages by age. Splitting the

minimum wages by age would make it easier for teens to get jobs and it would allow adults to be

paid a salary they can live off of. (Cooper) states “As the minimum wage has risen, this is

precisely what has happened. Teenage labor force participation, which was 52 percent in 1996,

has fallen to just 35 percent today.” Over time, (Scholastic Choices) a very good, reliable and

sourced magazine, “The federal minimum wage has been raised 22 times since it was first set at

25 cents an hour in 1938. It’s now $7.25”. These statistics really match up. As the minimum

wage goes up, teen’s participation in the workforce goes down. However, you can’t just simply

lower the minimum wage for all workers. (procon.org admin) states “According to a 2013 poll

by Oxfam America, 66% of US workers earning less than $10 an hour report that they ‘just

meet’ or ‘don't even have enough to meet’ their basic living expenses, and 50% say that they are

frequently worried about affording basic necessities such as food.” Thus proves that people that

have mortgages and food to pay for can’t afford a drop in the minimum wage, which brings us

back to my main point about splitting the minimum wage.

In conclusion, raising the minimum wage would push teens out of the workforce,

increase the price of consumer goods, and would cause small businesses to go under. However,

lowering the minimum wage would increase the chances of employees over 18 to be paid a wage

that they cannot live off of. All things considered, I strongly believe we should split the

minimum wage by age. Employees under 18 should have little to no minimum wage, and people
18 or above should have either the same wage or a wage a little higher than the current one. This

way, teens can still have a job and gain experience, prices will lower because employers won’t

have to pay teens as much, small businesses would survive, and older adults will receive a

respectable, livable wage. I think this may be the only way to solve the minimum wage issue,

while keeping everyone happy.

Word Count: 1254

Bibliography

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The Very First Minimum Wage. N.p., 18 Sept. 2016. Web. 02 Feb. 2017.

Cooper, Preston. "DC Minimum Wage Goes Up, Jobs Vanish." FEE Freeman Article.

Foundation for Economic Education, 28 Jan. 2016. Web. 27 Jan. 2017.

Cooper, Preston. "Help Young Workers With a Youth Minimum Wage." Economics21. 08

Aug. 2016. Web. 27 Jan. 2017.

DeSilver, Drew. "5 Facts about the Minimum Wage." Pew Research Center. 04 Jan. 2017.

Web. 12 Jan. 2017.

"Let the Data Speak: The Truth Behind Minimum Wage Laws." Cato Institute. 24 Mar.

2014. Web. 12 Jan. 2017.

"Minimum Wage - ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. Web. 12 Jan. 2017.

"Should Teens Earn Less Than Adults? Some Lawmakers Believe That Lowering The

Minimum Wage For Young People Will Encourage More Businesses To Hire Them.

Would You Say This Is A Smart Move To Help Teens Get Jobs--Or Is It Fundamentally

Unfair?." Scholastic Choices 32.5 (2017): 2. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 27 Jan. 2017.

"To Put Teens to Work, Lower the Minimum Wage." Employment Policies Institute. Web.
12 Jan. 2017.

"Wage and Hour Division (WHD)." Minimum Wage Laws in the States - Wage and Hour

Division (WHD) - U.S. Department of Labor. Web. 12 Jan. 2017.