The Minimum Wage Is Too Much Essay

If one were to look back at the past decade, one could clearly see that the chances of slipping into poverty or never leaving poverty have greatly increased. With cost of living becoming more difficult for the average man to acquire, those that were once a decent distance away from the poverty line or even at that the level of middle class are drawing closer to the line.One of the answers that was proposed to help improve poverty is increasing minimum wage. Although increasing minimum wage is appealing idea, there could potentially be negative effects due to this decision.The article “The Minimum Wage: How Much Is Too Much?” by Alan B. Krueger covers the possible threat that increasing minimum wages may hold. Krueger agrees with increasing wages but to a certain degree, making the wages too high would lead to employment issues. The federal regulated minimum wage is approximately seven dollars per hour, a person living off of that amount of money has been proven to be difficult considering the fact that person would be waving around the poverty line. Which according to the website Obama Care Facts, it is approximately eleven thousand year for a single person and fifteen thousands a year for a family of two. This type of salary would be the bare minimum for survival, to cushion this issue many states and their representatives are pushing the idea of moving the wage to ten dollars and ten cents per hour. As time goes by the idea of raising it to twelve dollars and even fifteen dollars came about. Krueger states that twelve wouldn’t be an issue, but raising the wage to fifteen could be harmful and not worth the risk. Apparently if the wages get too high unemployment would increase because companies would not be able to afford it. Krueger believes that fifteen dollars per hour could possibly work in some cities but not the entire United States. The rise of minimum wage looked desirable at first glance but after seeing the cons of the idea, it lead to some re-thinking. There would be no point in raising minimum wage if it will lead to job loss, especially since poverty and the number of people without homes is already growing. If minimum wage …show more content…
However if Krueger’s hypothesis on twelve dollars per hour is correct, then having it at the wage would be beneficial to both the workers and employers. Employers would fill up working space and lower turnover rates, leaving a window for more employment opportunities. The article stating certain states would be to afford the risk of fifteen dollars per hour is agreeable. A state like New York City shouldn’t receive suffer from that wage unlike a state with less job opportunities. It truly depends on the reaction of the employers and how they choose to attack the topic. Another issue that comes to mind would be how long will it take for the wage to reach the value of twelve. The article claimed that the year of 2020 is a projected date, but decisions can change and more importantly how would inflation affect the wages it that amount of time? Will housing prices and the costs of living increase along with the wages? Increasing minimum wage isn’t enough to lower poverty, one would need to work on the top to help the