The US Minimum wage ought to be raised substantially.

PROS CASE8 million workers live in poverty because the minimum wage is too low. (2) Only 62% of minimum wage workers are under 25, and only 25 of these workers are enrolled in school. (3)(A) The current minimum wage does not account for inflationThe average annual inflation rate is 3%. (1) This means that, every year, money loses about 3% of its value. This means, adjusted for inflation, the minimum wage lowers by about 3 cents every year. Every year, minimum wage workers can afford less and less for their money that they are working so hard for. Because the minimum wage is not adjusted for inflation, those workers who are minimum wage earners are having to work more jobs in order to make ends meet. If the minimum wage is not adjusted for infaltion, then those working for minimum wage will move closer and closer to poverty. Raising the minimum wage, however, will help raise the overall standard of living for the US, thus helping the country. (B) The minimum wage is (historically) quite low. Past minimum wages (adjusted for inflation) have been lower than today, but these wages were made during a time of particularly low workers rights. Here is a graph illustrating historical minimum wages. As you can see, the minimum wage is relatively low, when compared to times of economic prosperity, such as the 70's (when the minimum wage was highest) in which the only economic hardship was a very brief and relatively mild recession. you can see, the minimum wage is low in both areas of the graph that constitute the great depression and great recession. 19 states already have raised their minimum wages above the federal minimum, as they can see that the current minimum is too low. Of these states, only one is a member of the top ten poorest American states (New Mexico), and that state still has a minimum close to the federal minimum. (4) Meanwhile, Alaska, California, New jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts are all in the top ten. (C) Raising the minimum wage improves the lower class and the economy. One major benefit of raising the minimum wage is the effect that it has on the lower class and the economy. A minimum wage earner likely spends 100% of their income. This is because the money they are is just enough to make ends meet, and they therefore have none left over to save. This means that every cent that you raise the minimum wage by is returned into the economy, as minimum wage workers would still be likely to spend 100% of their income in order to make ends meet. increased consumer spending results in more money flowing in the economy, which results in the thriving of the economy. The middle class also stands to gain significant benefits from raising the minimum wage, which is illustrated in the following "If no minimum wage workers are laid off or have their hours reduced, the minimum wage increase is simulated to yield $4.0 billion in monthly benefits. " (3)Counter-ArgumentsYou may be already thinking to yourself about the potential negatives of minimum wages being raised. The two most common arguments are that the cost of basic necessities will go up and that unemployment will become rampant. Well neither of theses ideas are legitimate concerns. (D) Higher minimum wages likely do not affect employment. When many economists were asked if they thought raising the minimum wage would negatively impact employment, this is how they responded. As you can see, the experts are torn, many saying that it will, and many saying that it won't. Some economists even believe that raising the minimum wage would increase employment, due to increased spending. Here is a graph from Doucoullagos and Stanley (2009). Each dot represents an estimate of the effect of raising the minimum wage on labor demand. Notice that the most statistically precise results, which are positioned higher up, cluster near zero. (E) Raising the minimum wage would not likely increase the costs of food. Many people are afraid that raising the minimum wage would likely cause the cost of living to go up. This is probably not the case. "Sara Lemos reviewed the literature and found that most studies reviewed above found that a 10 percent US minimum wage increase raises food prices by no more than 4 percent and overall prices by no more than 0.4 percent. " This means that the US government could safely raise the minimum wage without drastically increasing the cost of living. SummaryRaising the minimum wage would be greatly beneficial for the economy of the US and for those living in poverty, and wouldn't be likely to have a large negative impact on employment, or cost of living. VOTE PRO! Sources1. . http://inflationdata.com...;2. . http://articles.latimes.com...3. . http://www.theatlantic.com...;4. . http://en.wikipedia.org...;