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Jessica: Class 14
March 16, 2015 | Leave a Comment
I am a strong supporter of the livable wage. For instance, as a college student, internships are a goal many wish to achieve whether they be paid or unpaid, however I would choose to pursue those with a salary. There are those few exceptions where I will work for a company unpaid, but only if I am professionally developing at a pace that a paid internship will not offer me along with hard technical skills I can transfer to another workplace. While my expectations are arrogant, which I fully am aware of, I do believe the minimum wage should be raised so others can acquire a livable wage above the poverty line.
Even though I support a higher minimum I never thought about who actually was earning the minimum wage as one of the article suggests. Most people working these jobs are not people with bills to pay, rather they use this money so they can do things without asking for money from their parents and explaining its use. I understand the argument the author is making and completely agree but I wish he also gave a suggestion. He claims he is a labor economics policy analyst, yet offers no policy solutions to resolve the conflict. This makes me question his expertise and although he does make strong points about who is earning the minimum wage and this benefiting most are not the target population, he offers no solutions as to what some possible directions Congress could take. I know in some Scandinavian countries their welfare is so strong absolutely no one is poor. As lovely as that thought is, that kind of system could never work in America because people do not support each other and government aid.
Contrastingly, raising the minimum wage could benefit everyone macro economically and due to the spending habits of the lower income families. This article was very wishy-washy and I was starting to get confused as the author stated minimum wage would benefit because of certain reasons but then detriment the economy because the rewards would not outweigh the negatives. However, I do believe in the conclusion of the article stating raising the minimum wage is worth a try considering people do need a higher wage to compensate their living expenses.
A huge support for raising the minimum to a livable wage is for the service industry employees. As well as the singles and couples above the poverty line. Although the minimum wage is not benefitting families as much, families are expensive with all the needs of each person to be financially responsible for and multiple bills to pay for. A lot of the talks of raising the minimum wage revolve around particular groups and the benefits each group will encounter. Obviously, the plan will benefit certain people more than others and some extraneous irrelevant groups as well, but if it is all for the greater good, I believe the livable wages will help the economy more prosperous.
Generally, I support the concept of a higher minimum wage. I understand the effort is fruitless if prices raise to compensate for it and less employees are hired, however I think a livable wage is important to encourage the working class economy to continue.
