Not Raising the Minimum Wage: More Food Stamps and Welfare
While trying to fight off a bout with the flu, Bob Smith worked his busy sixty hour week at the local hardware store. One day, while riding home on the bus after just receiving his measly paycheck, he wondered how he was going to put food on the table for his four young children and buy new shoes for two of them, who are growing like weeds. He also feels a strong obligation to help his ailing mom pay her medical bills. He could barely meet his monthly obligations to pay their utility bills, let alone have enough for everything else. Mr. Smith and many others like him ask themselves this question every day. Why should they? If only the minimum wage was raised, Mr. Smith and others would not have to worry nearly as much.
I believe that there would not be a lot of people affected by raising the minimum wage. In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “2.1% of the hourly workforce earned the minimum wage in 2012.” That means that 97.9% of 73.2 million workers in the hourly workforce earn more than the current U.S. minimum wage. Of the 2.1% of minimum wage workers, or the 1.57 million people, 45% are 25 years or older and are working to support a family. Raising the minimum wage would help put food on their tables and help to clothe their children.
Those who are against raising the minimum wage say, “Why raise it? The country is already in debt.” I believe that they are wrong! If the minimum wage is raised, the additional money that workers bring home will most likely go back into the economy. This also brings up the question of inflation. Will the price of my hamburger increase? A case review study by Sara Lemos discovered that if the minimum wage were to be raised by 10%, food prices would not likely raise more than 4% and overall prices by no more than 0.04%.
My final, and by far, most important reasons