In Conclusion…

The purpose of creating this blog was to collect and share information pertaining to the ghastly low national minimum wage in hopes that readers would feel compelled to stand behind the movement to raise wages. It is clear that the United States is making strides towards raising the federally mandated minimum wage. In the past two years eighteen states and Washington D.C. have increased their minimum wage, though the fight is far from over. As stated in a previous post, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt created the minimum wage law he was quoted stating, “By living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level – I mean the wages of decent living.”

Raising the minimum wage is beneficial in a multitude of different ways including; economy recovery, reduction of employment turnover, and economic security for millions of families. People may pose arguments such as inflation risk, detriments to employment, etc. Though, through extensive research, our refutation posts provide reasons why these “arguments” are false. The most common opposing reason to raising minimum wage is that the only people that would benefit are teenagers working part time jobs for extra spending money. This over used argument is quickly disproven when given the facts. The majority, 89% to be exact, of minimum wage workers are 20 years of age or older with 37% being over the age of 40. On average these workers are earning more than half of their family’s income. We cannot continue to stand by and let hard working people, most of whom are attempting to support a family, get paid less than the means for decent living. As President Barack Obama stated in his 2015 State of the Union address, “If you truly believe you could work full-time and support a family on less than $15,000 a year, go try it. If not, vote to give millions of the hardest-working people in America a raise.

To Those Worried about Small Businesses…

People continue to make arguments about how raising the minimum wage would have a negative impact on our society. One of the main arguments is that raising the wage would hurt small business owners and small businesses. Many conservatives agree with this, including New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. They claim that there would be fewer small jobs as a result and that small businesses would’t have the funds to support and pay their workers.

In reality, according to Think Progress, “The majority of low-wage workers are not employed by small businesses but rather by large corporations with over 100 employees.” This can also be proven by BusinessWeek, who has shown that “the three largest employers of minimum workers are McDonalds, Walmart, and Taco Bell.”

BusinessWeek countered the argument that raising minimum wage would hurt small businesses last February when they came forward and claimed that many small business groups are actually advocating for a higher minimum wage. Businesses such as the National Latino Farmers & Ranchers Trade Association, the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce, and the Main Street Alliance all support raising the wage. These businesses, many with over 500,000 members in which there are various small business owners, know that raising the wage should be beneficial, so we should too.

Similarly, a survey by the United States Department of Labor that was taken in July found that 3 out of 5 small business owners support a gradual increase in minimum wage to $12. The survey claims that small business owners say raising the wage would “immediately put more money in the pocket of low-wage workers who would then spend money on things like housing, food, and gas.” This stimulation of the economy would create opportunities and would be beneficial for society in general.

The point is, we should give the people what they want. The argument of raising the wage affecting small businesses can be debunked, simply because small business owners are on board with increasing minimum wage. We should also keep track of where the majority of the minimum wage workers are employed. Since most of the minimum workers aren’t working at these small businesses, raising the wage may have less of an impact on these small business corporations than we think, and may have more of a positive impact on the overall economy.

Author John Green Talks About Minimum Wage

Listen to author John Green talks about how raising the minimum wage could create new jobs and reduce poverty!

Target: increased to $10/hr

This week Target decided to pay their employees at least $10/hr. This stride was made in part of the “fight for fifteen.” Click HERE to read more

Its Not Enough

Buying Power and Minimum Wage

Raising the federal minimum wage in the United States would have national economic benefits for everyone. Increasing the minimum wage would result in workers having more buying power. Buying power is a fancy way to say spending money. Billions of new money would be flooded into the economy because of this increase.

According to RaiseTheWage.org raising the minimum wage puts more money in the pockets of low income people and families. Workers can use this money to buy different goods and services within their communities. These large or small purchases feed directly into the economy, benefiting all of those around them. In a study done by the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank, for every dollar the minimum wage is increased, about $2,800 is spent the following year. This massive increase in annual spending will increase demand and job growth. Raising the wage by only dollar leads to billions of new revenue. A study done by the Economic Policy Institute  says that for every for every $115,000 put into the economy, one new full-time job is created. After the federal wage increases, billions of dollars will be spent by new consumers. This increase in spending will create hundreds of thousands of new full-time jobs for various US citizens.

Raising the minimum wage would also vastly help the middle class. According to Professor Oren M. Levin-Waldman from the Metropolitan College of New York raising the minimum wage would “create a new floor.” Waldman means that by raising the wages of those at the very bottom, will subsequently push everyone above them up as well. He describes this process as a “ripple effect.” Data from 1962 – 2012 show that whenever the minimum wage increased, the median wage increased with it. Waldman continues on to say that the middle class has been shrinking because of the stagnant minimum wage. If the federal minimum wage were to increase, there would be massive amounts of job growth for the middle class.

As you can see, this increase in spending money for the people at the bottom would help everyone else in the meantime. Raising the minimum wage is good for everyone! #RaiseTheWage

 

 

 

 

 

A Step In The Right Direction…

California set to raise minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022. “Nation’s largest state the first to lift base earnings to that level and propelling a campaign to lift the pay floor nationally.”

USA Today article – California reaches deal on $15 minimum wage

What Quality Of Life Can Minimum Wage Workers Afford?

To Those Who Doubt…

Raising Minimum Wage Would Cost A Million People Their Jobs

This is the title of an article written by Jonathon M. Trugman for the New York Post. Claiming that a million people would lose their job is quite a loaded statement, and is the first indicator that this article is questionable at best. Trugman begins his argument by saying that he agrees that the federally mandated minimum wage is “about 25 percent to 30 percent” below what it should be. He most likely begins with this statement to appeal to those who may disagree with him in attempt to draw them in before he hits them with his true opinions. One of the first arguments made by Trugman is that if the minimum wage is raised to $15 an hour, approximately 6.6 million people with lose their job. This can be immediately disproven by a quick visit to the United States Department of Labor website. A highly qualified group of 600 economists, including Nobel Prize winners, declared in a letter to President Obama that increasing federally mandated wages would have insignificant to no negative effect on companies and job availability in the United States. They also stated than an increase would spark the economy because workers would be more inclined to spend.

Trugman also makes the bold claim that jobs that pay minimum wage are not supposed to be permanent jobs. This unfortunately is the mindset held by many Americans. The most substantial argument against this idea is that it is simply not true. The minimum wage laws were not enacted with the intent to not provide a living wage. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the force behind the minimum wage law and can be quoted saying:

The claims made in this New York Post article are simply opinions that have proven to lack in truth. While it may be easy to oppose increasing minimum wage if your comfortably sitting in your corporate office, it is time we stand together as American’s and fight for higher federally mandated wages.

Raising the Minimum Wage Would…