Benefits Of Raising Minimum Wage

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Zoe Rathgeber ECON 102 Position Paper April 17, 2012 There are many working Americans who earn the minimum wage. Countries throughout the world uphold minimum wage laws, which shows that the minimum wage is important to policy makers. Finding the connection between minimum wage and job loss is one of the most pressing matters for economists. Raising the minimum wage would be detrimental to the economy and has become one of the most significant problems economists and blue-collar Americans have faced during the recession today. A higher minimum wage is detrimental to local economies as well as many workers through increased unemployment, lack of skills and an inability to further careers. Because the American market is free labor, the…show more content…
Even though most poor workers do work at the minimum wage level, many others do not work at all. “[As Census data reveal], over three-fifths of individuals living below the poverty line [in 2005] did not work, and only 11 percent worked full-time year-round” (Sherk). Therefore, families and workers are not poor because of the fact that they are earning low wages, but rather the fact that they do not have full-time jobs. Once again, raising the minimum wage would not address this problem and cause businesses to hire fewer workers; therefore, it would actually make it more difficult for poor workers to find full-time jobs and gain the experience necessary to earn higher…show more content…
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