The federal minimum wage originated in the Fair Labor Standards Act, signed by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1983. The law established a minimum wage of 25 cents per hour for all employees who produced products shipped in interstate. They were not to exceed forty-four hours of work each week. One full week’s pay would equal up to eleven dollars (Grossman)
Why should minimum wage be increased?
“The poverty rate is a key economic indicator often used by policy makers to evaluate current economic conditions within communities and to make comparison between sectors of the population. It measures the percentage of people whose income fell below the poverty threshold ($15,130 per year). Federal and state governments use …show more content…
population made wages below the poverty threshold. “This was the second consecutive year without a statistically significant change in the poverty rate. From 2009-2012, the poverty rate increased each year (Fontenot, 2014).” “In 2013, the percentage of people in the United States with income below 125 percent of their poverty threshold was 20.6 percent. The proportion of people with an –income-to-poverty ratio less than 50 percent was 7.0 percent (Fontenot, 2014).”
As the United States begins to recover from some traumatic economical events, President Obama presents Americans and policy makers with a proposal to increase the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, to $10.10 per hour to help Americas less fortunate. Despite good intentions, this could only go one of two ways. It could possibly place an additional burden on small business owners, pose a threat on less-experienced, and the cost of living would …show more content…
“Janet Yellen, head of the U.S. Federal Reserve, said that “almost all economists” agree that increasing the minimum wage would hurt employment. A recent report from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office’s says it would cost the economy up to 1-million jobs.” When the government mandates that the business has to pay their employees more, businesses have to find ways to offset the additional cost. Sometimes that means letting employees go, or offering fewer hours on the job. Employers will be forced to make tough business decisions to make up for loss of profit. This often has a negative effect on the already tough job market. People with little to no education, or job experience will have a tough time finding a good steady job. Employers will be looking for employees who are going to be an asset for their company, not someone they would have to cut losses on. This will negatively affect the people it is intended to help. Obama increased the minimum wage for all federal contractors to $10.10 per hour, and called on congress to increase the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour for all people who are