Minwage

Why Raising the Minimum Wage is Not the Answer

Andy T. Schmitz

ENG/102: Research Writing

February 15, 2015

Instructor: Christopher Beyers

In the year 2015 can people earn a decent living while making minimum wage? If not, will raising the minimum wage help to eliminate poverty amongst the working class in America? There is a theory among some people that is fact. Others will argue that raising the minimum will not end poverty. Many economists will argue that raising the minimum wage would have a more negative effect on the economy than a positive effect on the people it is meant to help.

To understand the debate, first it is important to understand who is currently working at or below minimum wage. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, many employees earning minimum wage are younger people. In fact, twenty percent of hourly paid workers are under the age of twenty-five. Of that twenty percent, more than half are earning at or below minimum wage. Statistics also show that the majority of people working full-time hours are not making minimum wage. Of those employees working less than thirty-five hours per week, only ten percent earn minimum wage. Even more interesting is the fact that of those employees who are considered full-time employees, working over forty hours per week, only two percent earn minimum wage. With such a small amount of the workforce earning minimum wage, will an increase really be the end to poverty? Three researchers from the University of California-Irvine, the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, and the Federal Research Board reached the following conclusion, “The answer we obtain to the question of whether minimum wage increases reduce the proportion of poor and low-income families is a resounding no. The evidence on both family income distributions and changes in incomes experienced by families indicates the minimum wage raise the incomes of some poor families, but that their net...