minimum wage

The new federal minimum wage is in effect for 2009. Minimum wage workers can now expect $7.25 an hour, as opposed to $6.55 an hour prior to 2009. While it's great that Congress finally passed a law to raise the minimum wage, empirical data has shown that anyone living on a minimum wage salary makes less than $15,000 a year, below the poverty line ($23,500). Based on this data, and recent inflation rates, it's easy to see that a minimum wage salary, common among the unskilled/uneducated poor population of this country, is not enough to be pulled out of poverty.

The other side of the argument is that raising the minimum wage would actually be a detriment to the country. As employers are forced to pay employees more money, many legislators and interest groups believe that employers will want to hire more skilled workers, leaving out anyone from inexperienced high-schoolers to the unemployed poor. In addition, they say raising the minimum wage would cause high-schoolers to drop out (supposedly, a minimum wage salary is enticing enough for some to quit school and not go to college), reduce other job benefits (though healthcare reform might debunk that claim), reduce competition, and cause suffering in Third World countries that are home to multinational corporations.

While I'm no economist nor political scientist, I did my research! While raising the minimum wage to mirror the cost of living wouldn't bring everyone out of poverty, it would definitely reduce the number of people living below the poverty line. Many studies have shown that unemployment rates would stay the same with an increase in the minimum wage. If unemployment did increase, the change wouldn't be a major economical one. Based on my research on welfare reform (I did my essay on it!), a raise in the minimum wage would decrease the number of people in government assistance programs. The average minimum wage worker is an adult, contrary to popular belief that minimum wage workers are teenagers living with parents. The bottom line  is, the current minimum wage, though better than it was last year or two years ago, is not fair. When kids and families are affected, the issue becomes a moral one.


Still interested? Watch "30 Days: Minimum wage". It's a enjoyable way to approach the issue. The link is posted below.

http://www.fancast.com/tv/30-Days/62565/562085655/Minimum-Wage/videos