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

 

 

 

 

 

Is $12/hr enough? -affirmative.

Senator Patty Murray and Representative Robert “Bobby” C. Scott’s Raise the Wage Act intends to set minimum wage to $12/hr by 2020; but how? and why? Obviously a significant change to a company’s payroll can not be made over night. The Raise the Wage Act plans on increasing the minimum wage by .75 cents up to $8/hr for the first year (now), and increasing by one dollar for the next four years. Since the plan was to have the nation’s wage at $8/hr by now (and it’s still $7.25) it may take an extra year or so. Rest assured, the 35 million workers that this will benefit can tell you that this minor delay will not stop them from getting the fair pay they deserve.

It’s nice to picture your boss giving you a guaranteed raise for the next five years simplify because his/her boss (Uncle Sam) told ’em to; but why $12??? If the US raised the minimum wage to $12/hr, there would be 35,000,000 employees in the US that would receive a raise. I repeat:more than 25% of the country’s workforce will earn the raise that they’ve deserve. In an era of stagnant wages, this would be a huge victory. Not only does this put a smile on their face and a dollar in their pocket, but it also works to stimulate our economy as well. With all of these low wage workers having an extra chunk of change in their pocket, surely the consumer spending in local economies will rise too. $12/hr is the magic number that will restore minimum wage to the relative actual value of an average employees pay back in 1968. Why 1968 you ask? that is when our minimum wage was at its strongest and the unemployment rate was below 4%! If we can rally together to support this proposal, hundreds of millions of Americans would benefit, not just the ones who receive a raise.

As a server, I certainly feel the wrath of minimum wage on slow nights where I find myself with 0 tables and earning less than half of the minimum wage for non-tip jobs. States that do not have a subminimum wage tip-earning jobs have a much lower poverty rates (43% to be exact). So the fact that raising tip-earning jobs to minimum wage from subminimum wage means that a decreasing poverty rate will also be included in the list of benefits from this proposal. Please click here and leave your info to support our cause and earn me more $$$$ -Thanks, -Ryan

An Affirmative View: Bringing People Out of Poverty

There are a variety of reasons that raising minimum wage would be beneficial to our country. One of the most basic reasons; however, is that it would bring people out of poverty. Suddenly, people would be able to put food on the table and feed their families and they would be able to increase their standard of living. In President Obama’s references to The Raise-The-Wage Act, he has noted that one who works full-time year round earning minimum wage still doesn’t earn an income above the poverty line.

This is extremely unfair, as those who are working long hours are still often unable to support just themselves. I have a close family friend who works a low-income job year-round. She never takes any days off, and earns minimum wage. However, she is still unable to heat her family’s home in the winter. This baffles me, as she is hard worker and willing to do anything to support her family but is still stuck in poverty.

We need these hard working individuals to receive the money they deserve so that they can contribute more to our economy. If these people who are living in poverty are able to have more money in their pockets, they will most likely spend it in their local communities, stimulating economic growth.

A 2011 study by the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank finds that minimum wage increases raise incomes and increase consumer spending. After the researchers studied 23 years of household spending data, they found that for every dollar increase for a minimum wage worker results in $2,800 in new consumer spending by his or her household over the following year. This makes sense, because I know that if there were a raise in minimum wage, my close friend who lives in poverty would immediately purchase a car, thus helping the economy.

It is hopeful to know that people haven’t always been struggling to get out poverty as much as they are today. Up until the early 1980’s, the minimum wage was enough to keep a family of two above the poverty line. People were able to support the cost of living and feed their families as a result of long hours at work.

If we work together to raise awareness and make a change, we can #RaisetheWage so that hard working citizens will be able to make the money they deserve and support their families. Help support this important cause by using the hashtag above and checking out our Twitter account @minimum_wage16.

Raise-the-Wage: An Affirmative View

Millions of Americans have rallied together to support the Raise-the-Wage movement. One quote that can sum up the ideology of this campaign reads:

“Of course, nothing helps families make ends meet like higher wages…and to everyone in this Congress who still refuses to raise the minimum wage, I say this: 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.” –President Obama, State of the Union address, Jan. 20, 2015.

This quote displays our President’s support for the Raise-the-Wage Act set in place to increase our minimum wage to $12.00 per hour by the year 2020. Although Obama’s ability to make this change is limited by a congressional vote, he was still able to raise the minimum wage for federal jobs to $10.10 per hour. President Obama is only one of the millions fighting to increase our country’s minimum wages.

Since 2013, 18 states and Washington D.C. along with 40 different cities have passed laws to increase their minimum wage. There are also businesses of all sizes that have opted to raise their wages on their own. These raises help citizens to receive fair pay for a given job; which in turn ends up stimulating local economies where employees spend their money. The average minimum wage employee today earns less than $15,000 per year. About 30 years ago, the average actual value  of a minimum wage employee was equivalent of over $20,000 per year. This proves that something needs to be done to solve this issue, and fast. If we rally together as a country to support #RaisetheWage we will continue to fill this gap that has been robbing millions of hard working Americans from the money they deserve. Share your thoughts on the issue and help spread awareness by tweeting your opinion with the hashtag above!