Minimum Wage in America

Casandra Alvarado

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Minimum Wage

Many workers in America have worked for minimum wage when they were teenagers as temporary employment. Americans would use minimum wage work as a stepping stone to help get through school and to move on to better-paying jobs with greater rewards. In 2011, many adults were now working these minimum wage jobs, instead of teenagers, which has brought up the debate whether or not to increase minimum wage to a more living wage but also increasing the cost to the employers. I do not believe minimum wage should increase to $10 per hour for many reasons such as the increases in the minimum wage over the years have produced higher unemployment rates and higher poverty levels. As the minimum wage increases, employers are forced to eliminate employees who are not working up to the current minimum wage level and hire better-skilled people who are worth the wages they are paid. Eliminating the minimum-wage law is not the solution to the problem, but if the minimum wage remains at its current level for a few more years, it might motivate minimum wage earners to do more to protect their financial future.

Increasing the minimum wage has an effect on unemployment. There have been studies which have shown when the minimum wage has increased then unemployment also increases. It also showed that minimum wage increases had the most adverse effects for African-Americans, females, teenagers and workers living in rural areas. The reason for this negative impact is when the minimum wage increases, employers expect productivity levels to rise also. It is not profitable for an employer to pay employees who are not worth their pay.

Another reason I do not agree to raise minimum wage is because it has produced a sense of entitlement for people in low-paying jobs. People working minimum wage have found that the minimum wage is not enough to cover their financial obligations; they believe that the government should raise the minimum wage to make life easier for them. An example of this is when a person states that the minimum wage should be raised to $10 an hour because she has two minimum-wage jobs and is struggling to care for her children. If this line of reasoning were valid, then I could buy a house and tell my employer that they have to raise my salary because I now have a mortgage. The government has no obligation to raise the minimum wage because people have financial difficulties. I feel people need to be more responsible and think about how they will support their families before they have children. Even so, people who find themselves in difficult financial situations have an alternative to minimum-wage jobs.

The minimum wage was never meant to be a way for people to support their families. The law was put in place so that employees would be protected from dishonest employers who wanted to pay them less than they were worth. The bottom line is that an employer will never pay an employee more than what they are worth to the company. Even if the minimum wage does increase, it will never fully cover the cost of living. People who want to better themselves financially should get a better education to prove themselves worth more than minimum wage. Without a trade certification or college degree, it will be tough for anyone to handle their increasing financial obligations.