Raising Minimum Wage

While at first instinct it is easy to think: People who are in poverty work at a minimum wage. Raising the minimum wage will help those in poverty because each minimum wage worker will get a pay increase and be able to rise above the poverty line. However, there are many unintended consequences of raising the minimum wage and facts clearly show that it is ineffective at helping the impoverished. The generic case against the minimum wage being raised is simple. A higher wage makes it more expensive to hire workers; therefore they hire fewer people leaving the poor with fewer jobs. While that will be the main point of my argument, there are a few more elements involved such as: raising minimum wage doesn't affect some who are in poverty and much more effective methods of helping the impoverished. There is plenty of debate on how much of an effect raising the minimum wage actually has on the market, but no one argues that increasing the minimum wage increases the number of unemployed workers who find jobs. In the end, the trade-off is clear. People who keep their jobs get more money; those who lose their jobs, or fail to get new ones, suffer. According to recent research by Richard V. Burkhauser and Joseph J. Sabia if federal minimum wage were increased from $7.25 an hour to $9.50 an hour, only 11.3% of workers who would gain from the increase belong to poor households. [1] Many who live in poverty do not work or are the secondary providers for their households. Also, young people who live with they're parents make up a large portion of those making minimum wage. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that while workers under age 25 make up only about 20% of those who earn hourly wages, they constitute about half of all workers earning the minimum wage or less. Raising the minimum wage is therefore an ineffective anti-poverty proposal. One of the more effective methods to helping those in poverty is a tax credit for those in poverty. A tax credit is less politically palatable because it takes money directly out of federal coffers, while the minimum wage can be raised without it showing up directly on the government's books.[2] A great example of what would happen if the minimum wage was raised is my very own workplace. I work at a golf course with about 10 other people. I make minimum wage along with 8 of the others. My manager makes $23.60 an hour and my assistant manager makes $17.35. I know this because last week I saw each of their checks. If all of a sudden they had to pay the eight of us 15 dollars an hour (which is what they are asking for minimum wage to be raised to here in Seattle) my boss would not be able to afford to pay himself anything or have money for renovations. At least four of us would have to be fired and our entire business would probably go under because there would not be enough people working to keep the business afloat. That would result in 10 lost jobs and 8 of us who are already making minimum wage now making nothing and would push us farther into poverty not help us at all. Plenty of small businesses across the country would go under. The only businesses in which this standard of would work is in your stereotypical big business which suppresses its workers while the boss sits on a golden throne making 1000 times what his/her employers make which happens quite a lot less than you might think. [1] http://epionline.org... [2] http://www.irs.gov...