Essay The Importance of Increasing the Minimum Wage

An adult supporting themselves on minimum wage is hard enough, but to support a family as well can send a person plummeting below the poverty line. The set minimum wage of $7.25 is not the minimum wage we think it is. Minimum wage workers are not just teenagers taking your orders at a fast food restaurant, they are people of any and all ages trying to earn enough money to put bread on the table. The causes of the inflation of minimum wage are a conglomerate of selfish political leaders, lack of legal binding, and the recent recession. The solution to the increasing percentage of Americans living below the poverty line due to the low value minimum is raising the minimum wage back to its 1968 counterpart. It’s fairly common to meet a†¦show more content†¦On top of cheating wages, congress chooses to only address inflation when it comes to their own salary. Congress increases their salaries annually along with inflation but leave minimum wage the same(Nader 1). Isnâ₠¬â„¢t this just saying that the hard work people put in last year is worth less this year? Over 75 years ago when the minimum wage was first commissioned by FDR he spoke to scared workers, â€Å"Do not let any calamity howling executive with an income of 1,000 dollars a day,... tell you†¦ that a wage of 11 dollars a week is going to have a disastrous effect on all American Industry† (qtd. in Nader 1). Even back in 1938 people understood the necessity of having the ability to live somewhat comfortably for all. Increasing the minimum wage is not an option, it is a necessity. Creating an equal opportunity for all workers is needed to truly have a fair economy. When Congress only addresses inflation for themselves and not for the people that put them in those seats is ludicrous. With a minimum wage of $10.74 hundreds of thousands of people will come up above the poverty line and be able to live much more comfortably than before. Works Cited Glasmeier, Amy K., Dr. Living Wage Calculation for Williamson County, Texas. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. N.p., n.d. Web. livingwage.mit.edu/counties/48491. Lowrey, Annie. Living On Minimum Wage. New York Times. N.p., 15 July 2013. Web. 22 Jan. 2014.Show MoreRelatedShould Minimum Wage Be Increased?1691 Words   |  7 PagesShould Minimum Wage be Increased? Introduction The term, â€Å"minimum wage† refers to a lowest payment that an employer is bound to pay to its workers. Today minimum wage is made compulsory in more than ninety percent of nations including Canada where workers are demanding to increase minimum wages for a long time. Minimum wages are revised by governments in order to met growing needs of workers. There is a difference of opinion on the issue of increasing minimum wages among people of Canada. 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