Should Minimum Wage Be Increased

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Minimum wage has become a large topic of discussion among workers these days. While some want to raise it up to $15 an hour, many don’t agree. Millions of Americans struggle in poverty with how much they receive at the moment, despite having a full-time job. Federal minimum wage should have increased since 1968 to be at least $17 per hour today. Many workers in fast food positions are there to gain experience that can make them more productive and get better jobs but it will be harder to advance when they don’t have enough stability in their lives. It seems in the best interest of workers who receive minimum wage to increase how much they receive. If fast-food restaurants were to pay its workers $15 an hour, they would have to raise productivity…show more content…
They use SNAP and other public assistance to help sustain themselves and their families. An act called The Fair Minimum Wage Act could be a very significant step to lift people out of poverty (Vanessa Cardenas). A total of 6 million workers could be taken out of poverty if the minimum age rose to $10.10 (Vanessa Cardenas). 60 percent of these people would be of color, such as Blacks, Asians, and Hispanics (Vanessa Cardenas). Their total wages could rise by $5.2 billion, $2.4 billion, and $8.5 billion (Vanessa Cardenas). In the fast food operation, wages and purchases are the largest expenses and wages rest at $217,484 and if it were to increase, it could help the workers rise out of poverty…show more content…
Today, there is no increase and it stays at $7.25 an hour. If the minimum wage had increased, it would be at $17 per hour today but it remains at $7.25 (Mark Weisbrot). This has union activists trying to raise the minimum wage to at least $15 an hour (James Sherk). The Service Employees International Union launched an expensive PR campaign that called for wages to be at least $15 an hour in the fast food industry (James Sherk). Hundreds of union activists staged walkouts and protests across the country, demanding their higher pay rate (James Sherk). President Obama supports a higher minimum-wage but has not delivered on his campaign promise to push for the Employee Free Choice Act and that would have gone a long way to restore workers’ rights to ask for higher pay and form unions (Mark
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