Pros And Cons Of A Fair Mcliving Wage

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What is a Fair McLiving Wage? During the past several months, the topic of raising the Federal minimum wage has been widely disputed. In recent months, McDonalds and Walmart employees have become the poster-children of this debate as their fight for a fifteen dollar per hour wage has gained wide-spread publicity. Minimum wage has only been federally-mandated since 1938; since then, it has been a constant source of controversy. Today, there is continuing debate over whether the Federal Minimum Wage is truly a fair "living wage.” Minimum wage reformers call on Congress to raise the minimum wage, while their opponents point out the negative effects this could have on the economy. The discussion of minimum wage revolves around several key issues…show more content…
The FLSA ushered in a new era of labor laws that helped protect American workers from unfair working environments and wages. The first nationally mandated minimum wage was part of this legislation – a whopping-twenty-five cents per hour ($4.13 in 2013 dollars). According to the FLSA, the purpose of instituting a minimum wage was to maintain a "minimum standard of living necessary for health, efficiency and general well-being, without substantially curtailing employment.” This new legislation was received joyously by the work-force of America; especially by those who were previously forced to work for a fraction of this hourly wage. So what are the issues surrounding the Minimum wage debate today? This essay will analyze three pros and three cons that would result if the minimum wage were increased today. First, for the purposes of this research paper, I must define the parameters of a higher minimum wage. The current federally mandated minimum wage is $7.25 dollars per hour. The positions presented in this paper revolve around two widely advocated minimum-wage-increase proposals. In his 2014 State of the Union Address, President Obama proposed that the national minimum wage should be raised to $10.10 per hour. Obama said that this increased minimum wage could, “grow the economy for…show more content…
Research by economists David Neumark of the University of California, Irvine, William Wascher of the Federal Reserve Board, and Mark Schweitzer of the Cleveland Fed shows that that minimum wages increase poverty; therefore poverty reduction certainly shouldn’t be expected as a benefit of raising the minimum wage (qtd. in the National Review). One of the economists mentioned above, David Neumark states, “The principal sources of an individual’s higher earnings are more schooling and the accumulation of experience and skills in the labor market,” both of which are discouraged by increases in the minimum wage. Neumark, further simplifies this thought in the

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