Raising the minimum wage will reduce the help of government for social programs because higher wages cut the need for assistance for services like food stamps. Millions of Americans rely on the government for basic needs. These needs include child care, health care, food services, etc. Most of the people who rely on the government already work full jobs and still struggle to get by. The government has to spend money to help these people when they could be spending their money on education or on poverty. Food stamps cost the government about $78 billion in 20011. Raising the minimum wage would reduce federal food stamp spending by $4.6 billion a year. “Raising the federal minimum wage to $12 per hour by 2020 would reduce means-tested public assistance spending by $17 billion annually.”(epi.org). These savings could go towards anti poverty tools, funding for new education initiatives. The Minimum wage also reduces tax burden. A person making less than minimum wage would require food stamps, welfare and rent in many states. If the minimum wage was raised then the help from the public would be lowered which would reduce the tax burden on the state. Raising the minimum wage will improve the living standards for people of color. 3.5 million people of color would be lifted out of poverty if minimum wage was raised. Restaurants are the largest low paying employers of people of color. If they were to increase their salary, more than half of the restaurant workers would have a way to support their families without having to worry about how they 're going to pay next month 's rent or how they 're going to pay for their heating. Raising the minimum wage in restaurants may cost the customers to “ pay 30 cents more for a hamburger, but the restaurant worker will get paid a whole lot more,”(Reich). Minnesota is a perfect example of a state that benefited from raising the minimum wage. The living standards of the people in Minnesota were better than ever before. Hard working Minnesotans were able to reach economic security. A single parent previously working for $6.15 an hour would not be able to support a single child. Instead they would require additional assistance from the government. Raising the minimum wage would allow these single parents to raise their children with the appropriate resources that their children need to succeed.Infact, a study found that “about 137,000 Minnesota children would benefit from their parents’ increased wages.” (mnbudgetproject.org). According to the department of health and human services, income inequality adversely affects life expectancy. “in the 1980s, wealthy Americans lived 2.8 years longer than the poor, but by the 1990s, when the income gap had widened, the rich were living 4.5 years longer than the poor. “(kqed.org). Low pay has caused the poor to live under awful conditions and the rich to live longer then them by almost 5 years. Raising the minimum wage would allow The living standards of people to be significantly better because people would be able to afford health care and …show more content…
Millions of Americans rely on the government for basic needs. These needs include child care, health care, food services, etc. Most of the people who rely on the government already work full jobs and still struggle to get by. The government has to spend money to help these people when they could be spending their money on education or on poverty. Food stamps cost the government about $78 billion in 20011. Raising the minimum wage would reduce federal food stamp spending by $4.6 billion a year. “Raising the federal minimum wage to $12 per hour by 2020 would reduce means-tested public assistance spending by $17 billion annually.”(epi.org). These savings could go towards anti poverty tools, funding for new education initiatives. The Minimum wage also reduces tax burden. A person making less than minimum wage would require food stamps, welfare and rent in many states. If the minimum wage was raised then the help from the public would be lowered which would reduce the tax burden on the