What is the purpose of raising minimum wage ?

Question

When they raise minimum wage it just creates a rise in the cost of living , therefore not making a difference in wages and changes poverty lines. Then people wonder why everyone turns to immigrated labor that is cheap.....

When they raise minimum wage it just creates a rise in the cost of living , therefore not making a difference in wages and changes poverty lines. Then people wonder why everyone turns to immigrated labor that is cheap.....

Remember even though you have more money, more taxes are taken out and the cost of living rises so you pay more to live. its a useless cycle it seems

Answer 1

You are absolutely right. Raising the minimum wage does little more than cause businesses to raise their own prices for whatever item or service they sell so as to cover that wage hike. They're not about to take a hit in their own profits just to pay you a little extra!

Answer 2

This time, the purpose of raising the minimum wage is so the Republicans can take a campaign issue away from the Democrats. It's a purely political move that the Republicans are pushing through congress.

The sad part is that people who make minimum wage will still not be able to live on the new minimum wage and some of the people who make minimum wage will loose their jobs because their employer cannot afford to pay them more or, worse yet, their employer will go out of business.

Answer 3

If you look back at every time the minimum wage has been raised, the economy has went up. That's because minimum wage earners had more money to spend on goods. Eleven states have minimum wages that are higher then the federal one. Oregon is $7.50 an hour with a yearly cost of living increase. It hasn't hurt the economy here. But what is needed is a living wage. President Teddy Roosevelt proposed one back when he was President. And he was a Republican.
As for the Republicans wanting to raise the minimum wage, in the bill is a item that abolishes overtime pay. That's what the Democratic legislators are angry about.

Answer 4

Increases in the minimum wage are often proposed by labor unions. They're not doing it out of some altruistic love for the common man, though.

Suppose the minimum wage is $5, just for the sake of round numbers. A factory worker can either hire widget makers (a made-up job) off the street at $5 per hour, or union widget makers for $15 per hour. The union workers would probably do a much better job, but the shop owner can get three unskilled widgeters for the same price. Suppose, then, that the minimum wage is raised to $7.50. Suddenly, $15 buys either one union worker or *two* unskilled workers. Union labor suddenly looks more attractive.

Your assessment is more or less correct, in that labor-intensive products and services will cost more because of higher wages. Even for tems that aren't so labor-intensive, like rent, higher wages mean the prices will just get bid up. So the greeter at Big*Mart isn't really any better off because of his raise, but the union workers are.

The minimum wage doesn't even get people above the poverty line, and it's not really intended to. I personally would like to see more programs, governmental or for-profit, to ensure that people can build job skills to eventually move up from minimum-wage labor, to a job that can actually support a family.

Answer 5

Actually, raising the minimum wage has little affect on the cost of living and the major portion of the illegal immigrants are actually making more than the minimum wage.

Raising the minimum wage reduces the number of starting positions available for unskilled labor and will cause more small businesses to fail.

Contrary to what you see in the news media, most of the minimum wage jobs go to people who are under the age of 19.

Answer 6

That's a good question. The purpose of raising the minimum wage isn't to create a sustainable income for those who work in entry-level jobs. Minimum Wage is just that, the bare minimum. As such the purpose of a minimum wage isn't to allow someone to have an income that will pay their rent, mortgage, feed their kids, buy a car, etc. It's just to have "some" type of residual income.

Before illegal immigration became such a problem in the United States, it used to be that high school students out for the summer could get summer jobs ranging from mowing a neighbor's lawn to being a cashier at a local fast food establishment or retail store. Those students who worked such jobs knew that they weren't going to get rich, but they were being more productive than staying at home doing nothing. Sometimes their parents just wanted their kids to just learn the value of the dollar in order to become productive and financially smart adults.

In today's age of cheap labor that is certainly not the case any more. However unfortunately their are people who do not and/or are not able to educate themselves and leave entry-level jobs to provide a better life for themselves.

So to answer your question, when the US Congress approves a change to the Federal Minimum Wage or if your state government approves an increase, note that the purpose of the increase is simply to have the minimum wage "attempt" to catch up with inflation. Since inflation is a constant in economics, the less minimum wage jobs pay at a static amount, the lower the value of their income is over time. Thus if the minimum wage was never raised, no one would legally want to work entry-level jobs and this would contribute to even more poverty than exists today.

Someone mentioned earlier that the minimum wage was so that employees at Wal-Mart could get by. Well did you know that when you are hired at Wal-Mart, that each employee is given information about how to apply for HUD Housing, obtain welfare benefits, and food stamps? Someone working at Wal-Mart as a cashier or regular sales person can not possibly live on their own without assistance from others because they do not simply make enough of an income from Wal-Mart alone to sustain themselves. However, according to Wal-Mart it’s better to live in poverty than to be homeless. Wal-Mart’s attitude is also if their employees get sick, all they have to do is go to a county clinic, why give them health insurance and a better wage if the state, county, local, and federal governments will take care of their employees for them? Certainly tax payers want to help Wal-Mart employess with their own dollars! ;)

Let's all thank globalization for Wal-Mart and their win-win attitude for society!

The minimum wage is half a joke. Meaning its half useless and half useful, but if we didn't have it we'd turn into a early 1900's market in which businesses would only pay an even more useless wage which would be equivalent to nothing at all.

Answer 7

The purpose of raising the minimum wage is supposedly so that minimum wage earners can support their families. This argument, however, has no basis in actual fact. The minimum wage was never designed to be a rate at which one could support a family, and very few people make anywhere near the minimum wage anyway.

The actual effect of raising the minimum wage is to cause a spike in inflation, which raises the cost of everything. The spike in inflation has the effect of nullifying any possible good a raise in the minimum wage would make.

Answer 8

The intent is to give more money to the lowest paid people in the work force. The effect is to make it unlawful for you to work if your services are worth less than the minimum wage. Apparently the legislators think that such people are better off at home watching Oprah re-runs than doing something useful for which they could earn a bit of money.

Answer 9

Minimum wage should always address to provide the minimum basic need of atleast shelter, food, clothing and education. The cost of raising the minimum wage does not affect your economy to an extent than the money spent on defence, neuclear weapons and wars and their subsequent rehabilitation.
VR

Answer 10

anybody seems to think of that elevating the minimum salary is a foul ingredient. i think of that retaining it the place that's is misguided to do to American human beings. the quantity you earn vs. the fee of residing is the worst it has ever been for minimum salary workers in history. And that's the wealthiest united states interior the international? would not sound like it.... And definite, elevating minimum salary will certainly purchase the votes of any minimum salary worker. yet here is why you may no longer do it: you are going to rigidity all the minimum salary jobs distant places.