The debate about minimum wage has dominated various platforms across the United States of America whereby different factions made up of proponents of minimum wage increase and its critics have emerged. Since its establishment in 1938, the federal minimum wage has experienced a series of increases with the latest one being affected in 2009. To be specific, it has been increased 22 times whereby the 2009 rate of federal minimum wage is at $7.25 per hour. As people strive to live the American dream, the desire to secure better compensations at workplaces has engineered the entire debate about raising the minimum wage.
I support the proposition to raise the minimum wage because an in-depth research about the efficiency and relevance of the current federal minimum wage confirms that there is a need to raise it due to the ever increasing cost of living in the contemporary American society. By increasing the minimum wage, the society will be able to close the available income inequality gap while at the same time creating a favorable environment for every American worker to thrive in (Neumark, 2018). The ripple effects of raising the minimum wage include; increasing job creation opportunities, reducing the overreliance on welfare initiatives funded by the government as well as creating an enabling environment for the economy to grow.
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It is imperative to acknowledge that the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 is too low for any individual in the modern society to live on. Following the dictates of the Fair Labor Standards Act 1938 (FLSA) which is also known as “The wages and Hours Act” it is compulsory for the society to be guided by a relevant and effective minimum wage as well as a well stipulated working hours schedule in a plan that seeks to compensate employees for their overtime hours (Reich, 2015). According to Joseph (2015), to fully actualize the requirements of the FLSA in the today’s society, the minimum wage ought to be raised. Although employers are posed to be affected negatively by raising the minimum wage in the short-run due to the costs of maintaining their workforce, it is projected that a more satisfied workforce will result to increased productivity in the long-run. Conclusively, raising the federal minimum wage will be beneficial to employers, employees and the society in general.
References
Joseph, J. M. (2015). Strategic Compensation: A human resource management approach. Pearson.
Neumark, D. (2018). Employment effects of minimum wages. IZA World of Labor.
Reich, M. (2015). The ups and downs of minimum wage policy: The fair labor standards act in historical perspective. Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society , 54(4), 538-546.
