President Obama conveyed in his State of the Union, “No one who works full time should have to live in poverty” (Holzer). Most Democrats will support the president’s message; however, most Republicans will strongly oppose it because it will lead to an increase of the unemployment rate. Politically speaking, we shouldn’t rely on politicians to tell us what is true or what is false about our own country’s economy. We should rely on our economists instead for factual information and statistics. My opponent believes in raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10, with which I strongly disagree. I propose that the federal minimum wage should be raised to $10.10 at all. Raising the minimum wage could result in reduction of employment, slow job growth, and rise of general prices. Who are minimum wage workers? They are from all ages and races such as a young white female working in a low-paying hospital to a high school student working in a fast-food restaurant. “About 64 percent of minimum wage workers are part-timers and about 3.3 million Americans are entry wage workers and make up 60% of the workforce” (Pathe). Also, did you know family households are the largest workforce and economy contributor in the United States? We need wage workers and the middle-class Americans to support the bases of our economy. So, ages 16 and up can start supporting their low-income family. So, they can survive above the poverty line. Generally, when people think of raising the wage or earning more money, they think “Why not?” After all, who doesn’t want more money? Sadly, there are more disadvantages than advantages when it comes to this argument. Raising $7.25 to $10.10 is a $2.85 difference, doesn’t sound too bad, right? The $2.85 will magically disappear, wrong. This will lead to an ongoing cycle of disaster. Picture a successful, local restaurant owner who finds out they will either risk raising their menu prices or layoffing the “weakest link.” The restaurant owner has to value and make the right choice to balance the extra, high cost (employee’s wage) and hope his regular customers still demand his eatery. Another cause of raising the menu prices are the resources (ingredients, equipment, machineries) went up because of inflation caused by the rise of the minimum wage. Inflation is the general increase of prices on goods and services.
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Therefore, the rate of unemployment could potentially rise. When people think of raising minimum wage they think “more money to spend on goods and services” which is a positive effect for business profit and the country’s GDP, additionally boosts young workers’ morale and their living standards. But, adding more dollars to low-wage workers’ pockets can substantially hurt small business owners who are also barely “getting by”, firms, and the middle-class Americans (Williams).
Is the positive effect enough to setback and balance the whole workforce? No. While, gaining “more money” can temporarily boosts one’s self esteem and it can either reduce their desire for a higher career advancement or lose interest in seeking a college education. In the long term effect, it could lead to a high population of unskilled workers with a low population of skilled labor workers and college graduates. Another negative option a business can reduce worker benefits such as “paid vacations, reimbursed parking, or even gym memberships”
Therefore, the rate of unemployment could potentially rise. When people think of raising minimum wage they think “more money to spend on goods and services” which is a positive effect for business profit and the country’s GDP, additionally boosts young workers’ morale and their living standards. But, adding more dollars to low-wage workers’ pockets can substantially hurt small business owners who are also barely “getting by”, firms, and the middle-class Americans (Williams).
Is the positive effect enough to setback and balance the whole workforce? No. While, gaining “more money” can temporarily boosts one’s self esteem and it can either reduce their desire for a higher career advancement or lose interest in seeking a college education. In the long term effect, it could lead to a high population of unskilled workers with a low population of skilled labor workers and college graduates. Another negative option a business can reduce worker benefits such as “paid vacations, reimbursed parking, or even gym memberships”