Minimum Wage Increases: Good or Bad?

In this article titled Minimum Wage: Reframing the debate, they state, “Although governments have implemented minimum wage policies in hopes of reducing poverty and improving the well being of low-income workers, the overall effectiveness of these policies is debatable.” The authors are trying to get us to understand that although minimum wage increases may seem like a good thing, they really do more harm than good. A few main sources of evidence the author will state include; the effect on poverty, employment, wage distribution, on prices, and also other economic effects.

The 3 authors of this article have experience in small and medium sized business. Marilyn Braun-Pollon is the vice-president of the agri-business department of the CFIB. Amelia Demarco is a senior policy analyst at the CFIB. And Queenie Wong is senior marketing analyst at the Nielsen Company. Each of these authors careers all indicate that they know the industry very well. All evidence gathered by the authors was from Statistics Canada, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and other reputable book sources. The numbers they gave were very interesting and not at all what I expected them to be. Although the numbers are convincing, I’m not totally sure they are 100% accurate.

As for minimum wage possibly increasing the rate of poverty in Canada the authors views and interpretations are really make for a good argument. Minimum wage earners are “Usually” between fifteen and twenty-four, live with parents, leave the job after only a year, and are not primary income earners. (Braun-pollon, 2010) With that said it is clear the author wants us to understand that most minimum wage earners don’t fall under the poverty class. Therefore job losses and reduced work hours are a side effect of increased minimum wage. Also wage distribution can be a problem since people who already make over minimum wage will see less of a gain in income as minimum wage increases. Doing this could also result in...