thesis statement for increasing minimum wage

109 Minimum Wage Essay Titles & Examples

🤫 secrets of a powerful minimum wage essay & thesis, 🏆 best minimum wage essay topics & examples, 📌 most interesting minimum wage topics to write about, 👍 good minimum wage research topics, ❓ research questions about minimum wage.

Your argument is the most crucial aspect of your minimum wage essay, whether you are taking a stance for or against raising it. Thus, you will have to cover the unemployment and poverty causes and effects, which create the borderline for people’s bare existence.

However, explaining the mechanism behind the issue is only one of the facets. You will need to pay attention to creating a remarkable minimum wage thesis statement, outline, and more. Here are all the things you need for successful essay writing:

• Structure. Ideally, you should write your outline before you begin writing instead of during the process. It should reflect your argument and allow for the creation of a smooth transition between subtopics. Being coherent and easy to read ensures your readers interest in any topics you may mention.
• Ideas. These may come from your previous research, thoughts, or brainstorming. The more thought you put into your argument, the more minimum wage essay ideas you may gather and present to your readers. Doing so helps you create an excellent essay that is ready to counter-argue any problem.
• Thesis statement. One concise and on-point sentence should embody your whole paper, giving your readers a glimpse of what to expect from your work and what conclusions you hope to draw. If you are not sure of the quality of your thesis statement, then you can read sample sentences online. Continuously ask yourself whether the examples that you have found help the essay writer condense their argument.
• Title. Grabbing your readers’ attention is possible when you have understood how to create well-written minimum wage essay titles. Without them, your essay may be overlooked and forgotten, so do not be afraid to experiment with differently worded titles so you can judge, which may have the best effect on a potential audience.
• Conclusion . Finalizing your work and drawing coherent resolutions from it is the goal of all minimum wage essay questions. Do not reference any of the research you called upon in this paragraph, but instead make obvious the links between your used sources and final verdict. Your conclusion should be most representative of your work and leave a good impression on your audience.

Apart from these structural elements, you should also pay attention to the research aspect of your paper, integrating different credible titles into your bibliography.

This action demonstrates a comprehensive knowledge of minimum wage essay topics, as well as highlights the congruency of your thoughts with the academic community.

You may use different sources, from books and journals, from contemporary poverty speech performances to deportation laws.

You should not confine yourself to your outlined timeline and can mention modern-day implication of minimum wage, especially if it adds to your argument and does not forget your central issue.

Sticking to your argument is an essential aspect of essay writing. Asses each sentence you write and remove it if it does not suit your thesis statement. Your readers will notice all loose-ended and pointless arguments, which are irrelevant to your central theme.

Removing them will only increase the quality of your essay, allowing you to get better marks by being both coherent and comprehensive.

If doing so has dropped your work below your aspired word count, then you should review your outline and look for ways to develop your argument differently.

Do you want to write an essay that is better than merely “excellent”? Check IvyPanda’s essay samples to find out how!

• Effects of Minimum Wage Increase The proposed increase will indeed benefit workers by raising their overall living standards by granting minimum wage employees a more appropriate pay level to contend with cost-of-living increases and the supply side of the labor […]
• Raising Minimum Wage in the US The current economic recession that continues to impact the U.S.economy The main problem with the proposal of President Obama lies in what the article states as the possibility of companies leaving the U.S.due to the […]
• The effects of the introduction of the National Minimum Wage on employment This paper evaluates the theoretical assumptions regarding the effects of the introduction of the National Minimum Wage within the British home care sector.
• The Raising the Minimum Wage Article by Scott Raising the minimum wage: Good for workers, businesses, and the economy. The issue of the federal minimum wage has been long debated as it affects the economic status of the U.S.
• Effects of an Increasing Minimum Wage A minimum wage increase is beneficial to the company in the long term but expensive in the short term. The rising minimum wage would lead to reduced research and development in purchasing machinery and software, […]
• Definition of the Minimum Wage and Its Aspects An increase in minimum wages will lead to substitution in the market. An increase in wages will be directly proportional to the prices of commodities in the market.
• Researching of Minimum Wage and Living Wage Like any other commodity, labor is determined by supply and demand in the market, and any artificial intervention disrupts the market balance, leading to shortages and gray employment.
• Raising the Minimum Wage and Its Disadvantages The average leftists will try to achieve an increase in the level of salaries with the help of the minimum wage.
• Minimum Wage: Overview and Analysis The pandemic has led to a huge deterioration of the economy, and raising the minimum wage is not something that businesses can handle.
• Minimum Wage Legislation in Texas The key objectives for a lobbyist for the organization would be to emphasize the numerous benefits to the working class while presenting arguments that changes will not be disruptive to the economy or businesses.
• Increasing Minimum Wage in Los Angeles As already mentioned, it may be critical to evaluate the basic needs of the population precisely and provide sufficient minimum wage. Hence it may be needed to increase the minimum wage in the state of […]
• National Minimum Wage Analysis The minimum wage is the legally established wage for the rate fulfilled by the employee. The higher the minimum wage, the higher the taxes.
• Minimum Wage and Government Interventions Coming to the issue of minimum wage, it is the “floor price” of labor that is determined by the federal government to guarantee fair wages to the workers.
• Raising the Minimum Wage: Positive and Negative Aspects Increasing the minimum wage will increase the social efficiency of society, which is determined by the degree of satisfaction of its needs.
• Minimum Wage According to Marxism Analyzing the issue from the Marxist viewpoint, it can be concluded that increases in the minimum wage are beneficial to the working class but not to capitalists.
• Minneapolis Government Trends in Minimum Wage Increases According to the report of Associated Press, the City Council of Minneapolis has passed the ordinance to increase the minimum wages in the city to 15 dollars per hour.
• Addison Ventures Company’s Minimum Wage vs. Ethics The main problem at Addison Ventures arises from the fact that the company is finding t quite challenging to balance between the cost of labor in terms of the minimum wage for its employees and […]
• Minimum Wage Policy in Canada In response, according to Tipton et al, the minimum wage policy was put in place to counter the rising poverty level by ensuring that employees in Canada experienced the basic standards of compensation and employment […]
• Increasing Minimum Wage in the US Restaurant Industry With the growing economy and the overall rise in the cost of life, it becomes evident that the minimum wage is insufficient for people to satisfy their basic needs and ensure an appropriate standard of […]
• Minimum Wage in California and Other States This paper aims to explore the minimum wage in the state of California as well as the significance of independent minimum wages for separate states and the conditions of workers in outsourced companies.
• Should the US Raise the Minimum Wage to $15 an Hour? While increasing the minimum wage is costly for businesses, not increasing the minimum wage is costly for the United States government.
• The Minimum Wage in China: Lee Wang Case The point in this case is that the main purpose of labour inspection is to correct the violation of labour ethics by employers, such as a company underpaying its employees, and to defend the employees’ […]
• Social Policy: Living on a Minimum Wage One of the primary findings is that the minimum wage is not a living wage. Another matter of concern is the fact that minimum living affects children and their prospects in life.
• The Concept of Minimum Wage Moreover, the rise of the minimum wage boosts the economy of the whole country and increases the quality of life. So, if the minimum wage is 10% higher, and that causes the reduction of poverty […]
• Minimum Acceptable Remuneration Regulation A comparison of the minimum wages in Australia and the US shows that adopting policies on minimum wages to reflect levels of training and incorporate economic indicators has positive effects on employment.
• Fixing an Initial Minimum Wage The paper will also determine the reasons why the minimum wage is important to a nation and the reasons why minimum wage rate should not be constituted in a country.
• Long Term Investment Decisions Another policy, which the government may have in the regulation of a market economy is the regulation of the amount of tax levied on products and services.
• Minimum Wage in Saudi Arabia and Other Countries In this respect, the fair wage expands the concepts of the living wage and minimum wage to include the conditions of work.
• Minimum Wage: Pros and Cons, Effects of Increase Labor union laws and minimum wage laws have contributed a lot to the current trend of structural unemployment in the United States of America.
• Minimum Wages in Different American States These criticizers continue to epic that the minimum wage tends to reduce the demand expected of workers where they argue that this is greatly caused by the reduction in the number of the jobs and […]
• Minimum Wage Effectiveness However, the minimum wage can be a good stimulus for young people to continue their study instead of joining the “labor market”, and this is very good for the development of society since it leads […]
• Minimum Wage Issue: Political Regulation Governments usually impose minimum wage to reduce poverty; indeed, increase in the minimum wage is also said to increase motivation of the workers and hence lead to more productivity. Increase in the minimum wage does […]
• The Minimum Wage in the US: Situation Overview Other people argue that increasing the minimum wage would lead to increase in commodity prices by the employers to cover for the increased costs thereby beating the reason for the increase.
• Issues that affect low wage earners Low earner hardly afford good housing; they live in houses that do not meet the standards of an adequate housing systems, the reason why they opt for such houses is because they have limited funds […]
• The Pros of Raising the Canadian Minimum Wage In turn, the increase in the prices of goods and services will result to the decrease in the company’s profits. The rise in the minimum wage will cause the retrenched employees to join the ranks […]
• The Positive Effects of Minimum Wage on the Economy
• The Political Economy of the National Minimum Wage Institution
• Why the Minimum Wage Matters in the U.S. Industry Economy
• Why The Age Requirement Can Start Working For Minimum Wage Jobs
• When Is A Good Time To Raise The Minimum Wage
• Union Power, Minimum Wage Legislation, Endogenous Labor Supplies and Production
• Work-Related Training and the New National Minimum Wage in Britain
• Welfare Effects of Minimum Wage and Other Government Policies
• What Is Minimum Wage Is Not Ideal And Struggles
• Why the Minimum Wage Orthodoxy Reigns Supreme
• Wage Distribution And Earnings Inequality Impacts Of The Minimum Wage
• The Positive And Negative Effects Of Raising Minimum Wage
• The Social Issue of the Minimum Wage and the Need to Raise the Current Minimum Wage in America
• Using the EITC to Help Poor Families: New Evidence and a Comparison with the Minimum Wage
• United Kingdom: Developing a Progressive Minimum Wage in a Liberal Market Economy
• Unemployment Benefit, Minimum Wage And Average Salary Earnings In Romania
• Why The Minimum Wage Shouldn’t Be Raised
• The Short-Run Effects of the Minimum Wage on Employment and Labor Market Participation: Evidence from an Individual-Level Panel
• The National Minimum Wage and Hours of Work: Implications for Low Paid Women
• The Negative Impact of Raising the Minimum Wage
• The Positive Impacts of Raising the Minimum Wage on the Economy, the Health of the Citizens, and Their Quality of Life
• The Optimum Minimum Wage When Labor Services are Taxed
• Wage Inequality And Raise The Minimum Wage
• Thinking about Minimum Wage Increases in Alberta: Theoretically, Empirically, and Regionally
• Welfare Benefits, Minimum Wage Rate and the Duration of Welfare Spells: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Canada
• The Productivity‐Enhancing Impacts of the Minimum Wage: Lessons from Denmark and New Zealand
• Why Has the British National Minimum Wage Had Little or No Impact on Employment
• Why Minimum Wage Jobs Pay Their Employees Unfairly
• Wage Rigidity, Collective Bargaining and the Minimum Wage: Evidence from French Agreement Data
• The Rate Of Substitution Between Low Pay Workers and The National Minimum Wage
• The Pros and Cons of Raising the Minimum Wage of Workers
• The Struggle to Fight the Minimum Wage in America in Nickel and Dimed, a Book by Barbara Ehrenreich
• Wage Dispersion and the Minimum Wage Spike in a Search Economy With Wage-Posting
• The Role of Risk Preference in Immigration and Minimum Wage Policies
• Which Age Should Be The Minimum Wage For Drinking
• The Truth Behind the Minimum Wage in America in Nickel and Dimed, a Novel by Barbara Ehrenreich
• Using Local Labor Market Data to Re-Examine the Employment Effects of the Minimum Wage
• The Wage and Employment Dynamics of Minimum Wage Workers
• What Should Be Done About The Minimum Wage
• Understanding Wage Theft: Evasion and Avoidance Responses to Minimum Wage Increases
• The Negative Effects of Raising the Minimum Wage
• The Potential Impact of the Minimum Wage in Rural Areas
• Working Conditions At Minimum Wage Jobs
• The Unexpected Long-Run Impact of the Minimum Wage: An Educational Cascade
• Did the German Minimum Wage Reform Influence Employment Growth in 2015?
• Are Wage and Employment Effects Robust to Alternative Minimum Wage Variables?
• Does the Minimum Wage Bite Into Fast-Food Prices?
• Does the Minimum Wage Cause Inefficient Rationing?
• Are There Long-Run Effects of the Minimum Wage?
• Does Raising the Minimum Wage Help the Poor?
• How Much Would Increasing the Minimum Wage Affect Food Prices?
• Does the German Minimum Wage Help Low Income Households?
• How Raising Minimum Wage Will Hurt the Economy?
• What Are Three Effects of Raising the Federal Minimum Wage?
• Did the National Minimum Wage Affect UK Prices?
• Why Does the Minimum Wage Exist?
• Does the Minimum Wage Affect Employment?
• Should the Minimum Wage Be Abolished?
• How Does the Minimum Wage Affect Employment via On-The-Job Search Intensity?
• Does Increasing Minimum Wage Decrease Poverty?
• How Has Minimum Wage Influenced the United States?
• Can the Minimum Wage Force the Hand of Small Businesses?
• How Does the Minimum Wage Affect Firm Investments in Fixed and Human Capital?
• Can the Minimum Wage Reduce Poverty?
• Does Minimum Wage Affect Workplace Safety?
• Has the National Minimum Wage Reduced UK Wage Inequality?
• Did the Minimum Wage Affect the Incidence of Second Job Holding in Britain?
• Did Minimum Wage Increases Reduce Employment?
• How Is the Minimum Wage Debate Viewed Through a Marxist?
• How Does the Minimum Wage Affect the Employment Statuses of Youths?
• Does the Minimum Wage Affect Welfare Caseloads?
• Should Raising Minimum Wage Have Stronger Job Growth?
• How Many Americans Are Working for Minimum Wage and Living in Poverty?
• Does Increasing the Minimum Wage Reduce Poverty in Developing Countries?
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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Research: When a Higher Minimum Wage Leads to Lower Compensation

• Qiuping Yu,
• Shawn Mankad,
• Masha Shunko

A recent study found that one retailer slashed hours, scrambled schedules, and cut benefits after a minimum wage hike.

While proponents of increasing the minimum wage have grown increasingly vocal in the U.S., new research suggests that raising the minimum wage can actually have a significant negative impact on the total compensation of hourly workers. Researchers analyzed a detailed dataset of wage and scheduling data for more than 5,000 employees at a single national retailer, and compared outcomes for workers in California (which had several minimum wage increases during the study period) and Texas (which had zero increases). They found that in the stores that experienced a minimum wage hike, workers on average worked fewer hours per week, were less likely to qualify for benefits, and had less-consistent schedules. These factors corresponded to an average 11.6% decrease in total compensation for every $1 increase in the minimum wage. Based on these findings, the authors argue that policymakers should consider minimum wage hikes with caution, and should be sure to complement them with policies designed to ensure consistent schedules and adequate hours for workers — or risk harming the very people they’re aiming to support.

In the U.S., we’re seeing an increasing number of calls to increase the national minimum wage to $15/hour . Many states and municipalities have already passed minimum wage hikes in the last several years, and a variety of proposals are under consideration at the federal level .

• QY Qiuping Yu is an assistant professor of Operations Management and Business Analytics at the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business. Her research focuses on digital service design, workforce analytics, and socially sustainable operations. She uses and develops a broad range of methods in causal inference and machine learning. See her faculty bio  here . Follow her on Twitter: @QiupingYu.
• SM Shawn Mankad is an assistant professor of Operations, Technology, and Information Management at Cornell’s SC Johnson College of Business. His research focus is on developing and applying statistical methods for addressing business, economic, and policy issues. See his faculty bio here .
• MS Masha Shunko is an expert in supply chain management, service operations and behavioral aspects of operational efficiency. A native of Estonia, Professor Shunko received her PhD in Operations Management from Carnegie Mellon University, and before joining the Foster School in 2015, she taught at Purdue University. She has also consulted for Microsoft, Caterpillar, JD Power, and several medical organizations, including Mayo Clinic. See her faculty bio here .

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April 23, 2024

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No More Lies: The Truth About Raising the Minimum Wage

“I budget and budget, and I still can’t really buy no food,” explained Carolyn Allen, a 58-year-old minimum wage worker at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. She dreams of paying her medical bill and still being able to afford Pine-Sol or bleach to clean her house. Other minimum wage workers, like Laugudria Screven Jr. , resort to earning income other ways — in Screven’s case, by selling his blood plasma twice a week. The strategy leaves him feeling drowsy and weak, but allows him to afford rent and approximately one meal a day.  

The United States has a long, contentious history surrounding the minimum wage. Opponents of raising the minimum wage argue that most minimum wage workers are teens working their first jobs, that raising the minimum wage will kill businesses or jobs or that raising the minimum wage will have no effect at all on purchasing power because of the resulting increase in inflation. However, the arguments against raising the minimum wage range from disingenuous to objectively false. It’s time to raise the minimum wage.  

The “Minimum Wage” is More Minimal Today than Ever

The United States minimum wage originated with the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA), which also set overtime pay and child labor restrictions. The contemporary opposition to the FLSA foreshadowed the current arguments against raising the minimum wage. The FLSA’s opponents claimed that the president was creating a “tyrannical industrial dictatorship” and that businesses would not be able to provide any jobs if they had to cope with “everlastingly multiplying governmental mandates” and “multiplying and hampering Federal bureaucracy.” 

These doomsday predictions proved untrue: the minimum wage did indeed impact the nature and distribution of employment, but industries did not buckle. At the time, two of the most low-paying industries in the South were the textile industry and the lumber industry. Southern textile mills did see a slight decrease in employment, but northern textile mills — which had paid slightly more than the southern textile mills prior to the institution of the FLSA — saw an employment increase of approximately equal magnitude . The lumber industry in the South and throughout the U.S. saw an increase in employment after the passage of the FLSA. Notably, other independent variables shifted in both industries: the textile industry had been trending to more automation prior to the bill, while the lumber industry was trending to a more labor-heavy resource base. Overall, the minimum wage leveled no industries and granted many workers a higher wage. 

Over time, the minimum wage has slowly crept higher with increased inflation and productivity.  However, this growth has not kept pace with other market factors, eroding the real value of the minimum wage.  

Today, the real value of the minimum wage is 31 percent   less than the real (adjusted for inflation) minimum wage in 1968, and 17 percent less than the real minimum wage in 2009. If minimum wage growth had tracked the growth in workers’ productivity since 1968, the minimum wage would be $18.42 , more than double the federally mandated minimum wage. For comparison, productivity since 1973 has increased 74.4 percent , while average hourly compensation has increased just 9.2 percent . As of 2020, the federally mandated minimum wage of $7.25 for non-exempt workers is not enough to lift a family of two above the poverty line.  

The slow growth of wages in comparison to productivity is not universal: the top 1% of workers saw their wages grow 138% since 1979, while the bottom 90% saw their wages grow 15% in the same time period. In 1965, the typical CEO earned 20 times what the typical worker did, while in 2013, the typical CEO earned 296 times the typical worker’s salary.  

Increasing the Minimum Wage Would Promote Health and Well-Being

Raising the minimum wage pays social dividends that stretch beyond any debate about the discrepancies between workers’ wages and CEO’s wages.  

First, workers who are affected by a minimum wage increase see immediate and significant health benefits for themselves and for society. A study conducted in 2011 found that blue-collar workers in states with higher minimum wage rates are much less likely to have untreated medical needs, as they are better able to afford care. Particularly in a country prone to global pandemics, an individual’s health can quickly become a community’s health: workers who leave illnesses untreated put everyone around them at risk. Additionally, an increased minimum wage corresponds to a lower smoking rate . Low-income workers currently make up 75 percent of smokers, but reducing the stress of poverty allows them to quit. Other studies have found that a higher minimum wage correlates with fewer teen pregnancies and less teenage alcohol consumption .  

Second, children disproportionately benefit from increasing the minimum wage. Across the United States, 28.2% of children have a parent affected by increasing the federal minimum wage to $9.80, and even more have a parent who would be affected by a higher minimum wage hike. In 2017, a study conducted by the School of Public Policy at Georgia Institute of Technology found that a minimum wage increase of just $1 would reduce reports of child neglect by 9.6%. “Money matters,” said Lindsey Rose Bullinger , co-author of the study, “when caregivers have a more disposable income, they’re better able to provide a child’s basic needs such as clothing, food, medical care, and a safe home. Policies that increase the income of the working poor can improve children’s welfare, especially younger children, quite substantially.” Bullinger’s study did not have enough data to determine if an even higher minimum wage would result in even fewer cases of child neglect, but Bullinger noted , “our findings point in that direction.” Infants also benefit from increasing the minimum wage: the American Journal of Public Health  estimated that between 2,800 and 5,500 premature deaths in New York City alone could have been prevented if the minimum wage was $15 an hour rather than $7 an hour. That figure constitutes approximately 8.33% of all of the premature deaths in New York City.  

Opponents of raising the minimum wage frequently argue that minimum wage jobs are intended for teenagers working entry-level jobs, and that a minimum wage raise would needlessly benefit teens living at home and working for pocket money. However, this argument defies reality.  

In California, 96 percent of workers who would benefit from the proposed minimum wage increase to $15 are over the age of 20, and 58 percent are over the age of 30. These numbers hold nationwide: the average age of an impacted worker would be 35 , and 51 percent of those affected would be 30 years of age or older. Only 13 percent of those impacted would be 20 or younger. On average, these affected workers earn half of their family’s income, and the majority of them work full time .  

Historically marginalized communities are the most likely to benefit from a minimum wage hike: in California, workers earning less than $15 per hour are 55 percent Latino or Latina , while the general population of workers is only 38 percent Latino or Latina . Nationally, about 40 percent of all black workers’ wages would increase, and more than half of workers who would be affected by a minimum wage increase are women. While 19 percent of families nationwide have incomes that are less than twice the national poverty line, 50 percent of workers who would benefit from a minimum wage increase come from these families. 

Increasing the Minimum Wage Won’t Decrease Employment

Carry on a conversation about minimum wage for more than twenty minutes, and inevitably, an opponent of raising the minimum wage will inform you, often with a condescending tone, that any Econ 101 student knows that raising the minimum wage will cost jobs. Many introductory economics courses do, in fact, teach a simple theory that raising the minimum wage will reduce employment. According to this theory, as the minimum wage rises, employers will be willing to employ fewer workers, since their salaries will be more expensive.  

The argument is far too simplistic to drive real-world policy for the world’s largest economy.  The argument incorrectly assumes a fantasy textbook-“perfect” market.  A “perfect” market has many buyers and sellers, no market power, no differences between the goods sold by each firm, and perfectly even information for buyers and sellers. (In a labor market, the “buyers” are employers, and the “sellers” are employees who are selling their time and effort.) Unsurprisingly, the US labor market is not a “perfect” market, so the opponents of increasing the minimum wage unwittingly make two huge, unjustified assumptions: first, that the demand for labor is not fixed, and second, that the wage employers pay without government intervention is the equilibrium wage.  

The first assumption — that demand for labor is not fixed — describes a phenomenon known as elasticity. When a demand curve is very elastic, the buyers respond to a slight increase in the price of the good —in this case, the wage —by dramatically reducing how much of the good they consume. However, if a demand curve is very inelastic , the buyers will buy the same amount of the good with little regard to how much it costs. The demand for labor in the United States tends to be elastic if and only if: (1) the product being produced has a high price elasticity of demand, meaning that people will buy a lot less of it if it costs slightly more; (2) other factors of production can replace the labor; (3) the supply of other factors of production can be purchased or used at higher levels without their prices rising; (4) if the labor costs are a large percentage of the costs of production. While some industries fall under these categories, many do not and would therefore not be likely to see a large shift in the amount of labor demanded. 

The second assumption — that wage employers pay the equilibrium wage — ignores the existence of “labor monopsonies.” A “monopsony” is a market with only one buyer — in terms of employers, it is a market with only one (or very few) employers. In the United States, economics experts have become increasingly worried that the US market has become filled with monopsonies . Rural U.S. localities in particular often have only one or two main, large employers. These employers are free to create a “race to the bottom” on wages — since there are far more workers than jobs, the dominant employer can start a reverse bidding war among job seekers, where desperate people compete with each other for work, and accept lower and lower wages. To keep wages low and desperation for employment high, these companies can limit the number of jobs to perpetuate the competition, ensuring high profit margins for themselves. However, a fixed reasonable minimum wage prevents companies from creating this desperate downward spiral and encourages them to employ a greater number of employees. In other words, monopsonies tend to employ fewer workers and pay them less when left to their own devices than they would if they were required to pay a minimum wage. In monopsony labor markets, a minimum wage would increase employment.

Of course, our Nation is made up of diverse regions, with widely varying local economies.  Viewing the U.S. as a whole, would a minimum wage increase result in less employment, more employment or the same amount of employment? Setting aside politically-motivated soundbites and editorials, the economic consensus suggests that a modest increase in the minimum wage likely won’t reduce employment and may even increase it. Some estimates found that increased economic activity from a minimum wage increase to $9.80 hourly would generate 100,000 new jobs . Other economists found no reduction in employment. In 2010, Dube, Lester, and Reich studied the time period between 1990 and 2006 and found no evidence of any job losses due to minimum wage increases in industries identified as “high impact” (predominantly restaurants and retail jobs). In 2013, the same economists conducted a similar study focused on teens, and found no impact on their employment, either. A 2014 study by Hoffman agreed that teen employment was also not impacted . In 2014, Dube and Zipperer conducted a study using a newly created control group approach, and came to the same conclusion . In 2009, Addison, Blackburn, and Cotti conducted yet another study and concluded that if they accounted for general trends, they did not find any evidence of job loss due to the minimum wage in retail or restaurant sectors. Of course, some survey methods have found more significant job losses, so it’s worth looking at what has actually occurred in jurisdictions that did raise their minimum wage. A study conducted by professors at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Center of Wage and Employment Dynamics found that the minimum wage hikes in Chicago, Washington, Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle, had not caused “ significant employment losses ” but had caused “ positive and statistically significant earnings effects. ” 

Increasing the Minimum Wage Will Benefit Small Businesses

Opponents to raising the minimum wage frequently invoke small businesses, arguing that raising the minimum wage will kill the local businesses and tip the market in favor of mega-corporations. However, if that’s true, someone forgot to tell the owners of small businesses — a study conducted by the American Sustainable Business Council found that 61 percent of small business owners across the US support raising the minimum wage. In some parts of the country, the number is even higher — it reaches 67 percent in the Northeast — and the lowest support, in the South, still reaches 58 percent .  Republican pollster Frank Lutz found that 80 percent of business executives in companies of varying sizes support a minimum wage increase to some degree.  

So, why do so many businesses support increasing the minimum wage?

They know that raising the minimum wage offers business a number of benefits. First, employees who are paid a higher wage tend to be more productive due to morale improvements, better health, less absenteeism and reduced “decision fatigue.” The Center for American Progress also found that raising the minimum wage causes reduced employee turnover . Employee turnover is expensive: replacing low-wage workers costs about 16% of the employee’s annual salary.  

Second, the worker-productivity benefits center mostly around a given business and the wages it pays its customers. However, business owners also have reason to advocate for a minimum wage increase across the entire market. Consumers who suddenly earn more also spend more, driving up proceeds for businesses. This assertion makes logical sense: people living below or close to the poverty line frequently forgo products they wish they could afford, but with more income, they will likely purchase those products. In practice, past minimum wage increases have indeed resulted in a boost in consumer spending. A minimum wage increase to $5.85 per hour in 2007 generated an additional 1.7 billion dollars in consumer spending and a minimum wage increase in 2008 to $6.55 per hour generated an additional 3.1 billion dollars in consumer spending.  

Gina Schaefer, owner of a collection of small hardware stores, notes , “When the minimum wage rises, it puts money in the pockets of those who most need to spend it, from paying the rent to buying more groceries to picking up lightbulbs, tools, and paint from the local hardware store. A higher minimum wage means more money circulating in the economy. It’s a virtuous cycle: our employees shop at other businesses and their employees shop at ours.”  

Why then don’t small businesses simply increase wages on their own, without waiting for the Federal Government to intervene?  Many do, and they benefit from it. But if a Federally-mandated increase is absent, others fear they will be undercut by competition.

Minimum Wage Does Not Mean Minimum Prices

Finally, opponents of increasing the minimum wage point to their own wallets: I don’t want to pay more for goods and services, so please don’t pay employees more .

But while economists concur that raising the minimum wage will likely cause prices of some goods and services to rise —so long as the raise is moderate, it will impact prices only slightly. And certainly raising the minimum wage will not cause prices to rise so much that the minimum wage hike was “useless,” as some detractors contend.   

For example, studies conducted by economists at California State University, San Bernardino, found that prices of impacted goods and services increase only 0.36 percent for every 10 percent increase in the minimum wage. Therefore, raising the minimum wage does indeed allow low-income workers to afford a wider range of purchases, even if the prices have increased very slightly. For example, if a worker for $7.25 an hour receives a 10% pay raise to $7.98 an hour, they can expect a good that cost $7.30 before the minimum wage increase to cost just $7.32 after the minimum wage hike. Even with that slight price increase, the worker is vastly better off.  

The United States has a long history of treating the free market as holy and rebelling against any form of government intervention. However, when big businesses and their pocket politicians advocate for keeping the minimum wage below a living wage, they aren’t just swindling their workers and damaging the economy: they’re swindling you, even if you aren’t working for minimum wage. They’re creating a less healthy, less productive, less solvent population and they’re relying on social welfare programs to pay their workers for them. Small businesses don’t benefit; workers don’t benefit. It’s time to stop pretending they do, and time to get serious about raising the federal minimum wage.  

Featured Image source: WorkingNation

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• economic inequality
• economic reform
• minimum wage

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Minimum Wage - Free Essay Samples And Topic Ideas

The concept of a minimum wage, a lower earnings limit set by law or regulation, has been a subject of extensive debate and analysis. Essays could delve into the historical evolution of minimum wage policies, the economic theories surrounding it, and the impact of minimum wage increases on employment, poverty, and income inequality. They might also discuss the differing views on minimum wage adjustments, exploring arguments from both supporters and opponents. Discussions could extend to the real-world examples of minimum wage implementations, comparing the outcomes in different regions or countries, and analyzing the broader implications of minimum wage policies on economic welfare and social equity. A substantial compilation of free essay instances related to Minimum Wage you can find at PapersOwl Website. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

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How To Write an Essay About Minimum Wage

Understanding the concept of minimum wage.

Before writing an essay about minimum wage, it's crucial to thoroughly understand what it entails. Minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their workers. It's a significant economic and political issue, with debates focusing on its impacts on poverty, employment, and economic growth. Begin your essay by defining minimum wage, including its history and the variations that exist in different countries or states. This foundation will set the stage for a more in-depth exploration of the topic in your essay.

Formulating a Thesis Statement

A strong essay on minimum wage requires a clear and focused thesis statement. Your thesis should present a specific viewpoint or argument about the minimum wage. For example, you might argue that raising the minimum wage is essential for reducing poverty, or conversely, that it could lead to higher unemployment rates. Your thesis will guide the direction of your essay, providing a clear path for your argument and ensuring that your essay remains focused and coherent.

Gathering and Analyzing Data

To support your thesis, gather relevant data and research from credible sources. This might include economic studies, government reports, and expert opinions. For instance, if you're arguing that increasing the minimum wage boosts the economy, you'll need to find economic data that supports this claim. Analyze this data critically, considering different perspectives and the quality of the evidence. Including a range of viewpoints will strengthen your argument and demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the topic.

Discussing the Impact of Minimum Wage

Dedicate a section of your essay to discussing the various impacts of the minimum wage. This could include its effect on poverty, employment, small businesses, and the overall economy. Discuss both the potential benefits and drawbacks, and relate these back to your thesis statement. For instance, explore how a higher minimum wage might lead to increased consumer spending but could also result in higher operating costs for small businesses.

Concluding Thoughts

Conclude your essay by summarizing the main points of your argument and restating your thesis in light of the evidence and discussion provided. Your conclusion should bring together your analysis and offer a final perspective on the topic. This is also an opportunity to highlight any areas where further research is needed or to suggest potential policy implications based on your findings.

Final Review and Editing

After completing your essay, it's essential to review and edit your work. Ensure that your arguments are clearly articulated and supported by evidence. Check for grammatical accuracy and ensure that your essay flows logically from one point to the next. Consider seeking feedback from peers or instructors to refine your essay further. A well-crafted essay will effectively convey your insights on the minimum wage and demonstrate your ability to engage with complex economic and social issues.

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Fact Sheet | Wages, Incomes, and Wealth

Why the U.S. needs a $15 minimum wage : How the Raise the Wage Act would benefit U.S. workers and their families

Fact Sheet • January 26, 2021

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This fact sheet was updated February 19 with a new section on tipped workers .

The federal minimum hourly wage is just $7.25 and Congress has not increased it since 2009. Low wages hurt all workers and are particularly harmful to Black workers and other workers of color, especially women of color, who make up a disproportionate share of workers who are severely underpaid. This is the result of structural racism and sexism, with an economic system rooted in chattel slavery in which workers of color—and especially women of color—have been and continue to be shunted into the most underpaid jobs. 1

This fact sheet was produced in collaboration with the National Employment Law Project .

The Raise the Wage Act of 2021 would gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025 and narrow racial and gender pay gaps. Here is what the Act would do:

• Raise the federal minimum wage to $9.50 this year and increase it in steps until it reaches $15 an hour in 2025. 2
• After 2025, adjust the minimum wage each year to keep pace with growth in the median wage, a measure of wages for typical workers.
• Phase out the egregious subminimum wage for tipped workers, which has been frozen at a meager $2.13 since 1991. 3
• Sunset unacceptable subminimum wages for workers with disabilities employed in sheltered workshops and for workers under age 20.

The benefits of gradually phasing in a $15 minimum wage by 2025 would be far-reaching, lifting pay for tens of millions of workers and helping reverse decades of growing pay inequality.

The Raise the Wage Act would have the following benefits: 4

• Gradually raising the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2025 would lift pay for 32 million workers—21% of the U.S. workforce .
• Affected workers who work year round would earn an extra $3,300 a year —enough to make a tremendous difference in the life of a cashier, home health aide, or fast-food worker who today struggles to get by on less than $25,000 a year.
• A majority (59%) of workers whose total family income is below the poverty line would receive a pay increase if the minimum wage were raised to $15 by 2025.
• A $15 minimum wage would begin to reverse decades of growing pay inequality between the most underpaid workers and workers receiving close to the median wage, particularly along gender and racial lines. For example, minimum wage increases in the late 1960s explained 20% of the decrease in the Black–white earnings gap in the years that followed, whereas failures to adequately increase the minimum wage after 1979 account for almost half of the increase in inequality between women at the middle and bottom of the wage distribution. 5
• A $15 minimum wage by 2025 would generate $107 billion in higher wages for workers and would also benefit communities across the country. Because underpaid workers spend much of their extra earnings, this injection of wages will help stimulate the economy and spur greater business activity and job growth .

Raising the minimum wage to $15 will be particularly significant for workers of color and would help narrow the racial pay gap.

• Nearly one-third (31%) of African Americans and one-quarter (26%) of Latinos would get a raise if the federal minimum wage were increased to $15. 6
• Almost one in four (23%) of those who would benefit is a Black or Latina woman.
• African Americans and Latinos are paid 10%–15% less than white workers with the same characteristics, so The Raise the Wage Act will deliver the largest benefits to Black and Latino workers: about $3,500 annually for a year-round worker. 7
• Minimum wage increases in the 1960s Civil Rights Era significantly reduced Black–white earnings inequality and are responsible for more than 20% of the overall reduction in later years. 8

The majority of workers who would benefit are adult women—many of whom have attended college and many of whom have children.

• More than half (51%) of workers who would benefit are adults between the ages of 25 and 54; only one in 10 is a teenager.
• Nearly six in 10 (59%) are women.
• More than half (54%) work full time.
• More than four in 10 (43%) have some college experience.
• More than a quarter (28%) have children.

The Raise the Wage Act follows the lead of the growing number of states and cities that have adopted significant minimum wage increases in recent years, thanks to the ‘Fight for $15 and a union’ movement led by Black workers and workers of color.

• Since the Fight for $15 was launched by striking fast-food workers in 2012, 9 states representing approximately 40% of the U.S. workforce —California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, and the District of Columbia— have approved raising their minimum wages to $15 an hour . 10
• Additional states—including Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Vermont, Missouri, Michigan, and Maine—have approved minimum wages ranging from $12 to $14.75 an hour . 11

Not just on the coasts, but all across the country, workers need at least $15 an hour today .

• Today, in all areas across the United States, a single adult without children needs at least $31,200—what a full-time worker making $15 an hour earns annually—to achieve a modest but adequate standard of living. 12 By 2025, workers in these areas and those with children will need even more, according to projections based on the Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator . 13
• For example, in rural Missouri, a single adult without children will need $39,800 (more than $19 per hour for a full-time worker) by 2025 to cover typical rent, food, transportation, and other basic living costs.
• In larger metro areas of the South and Southwest—where the majority of the Southern population live—a single adult without children will also need more than $15 an hour by 2025 to get by: $20.03 in Fort Worth, $21.12 in Phoenix, and $20.95 in Miami.
• In more expensive regions of the country, a single adult without children will need far more than $15 an hour by 2025 to cover the basics: $28.70 in New York City, $24.06 in Los Angeles, and $23.94 in Washington, D.C.

Workers in many essential and front-line jobs struggle to get by on less than $15 an hour today and would benefit from a $15 minimum wage.

• Essential and front-line workers make up a majority (60%) of those who would benefit from a $15 minimum wage. 14 The median pay is well under $15 an hour for many essential and front-line jobs; examples include substitute teachers ($13.84), nursing assistants ($14.26), and home health aides ($12.15). 15
• More than one-third (35%) of those working in residential or nursing care facilities would see their pay increase , in addition to home health aides and other health care support workers.
• One in three retail-sector workers (36%) would get a raise, including 42% of workers in grocery stores.
• More than four in 10 (43% of) janitors, housekeepers, and other cleaning workers would benefit.
• Nearly two-thirds (64%) of servers, cooks, and other food preparation workers would see their earnings rise by $5,800 on a year-round basis.
• Ten million workers in health care, education, construction, and manufacturing would see a raise —representing nearly one-third (31%) of the workers who would see a raise.

Phasing out the egregiously low $2.13 minimum wage for tipped workers would lift pay, provide stable paychecks, and reduce poverty for millions of tipped workers.

• There are 1.3 million tipped workers throughout the country who are paid as little as $2.13 per hour because Congress has not lifted the federal tipped wage in 30 years. Another 1.8 million tipped workers receive wages above $2.13, but still less than their state’s regular minimum wage. 16
• Seven states (Alaska, California, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington) have already eliminated their lower tipped minimum wage . In these “one-fair-wage” states, tipped workers in these states are paid the same minimum wage as everyone else before tips. 17 For restaurant servers and bartenders, take-home pay in one-fair-wage states is 21% higher, on average, than in $2.13 states.
• Having a lower minimum wage for tipped jobs results in dramatically higher poverty rates for tipped workers. In states that use the federal $2.13 tipped minimum wage, the poverty rate among servers and bartenders is 13.3%—5.6 percentage points higher than the 7.7% poverty rate among servers and bartenders in one-fair-wage states. 18
• Eliminating the lower tipped minimum wage has not harmed growth in the restaurant industry or tipped jobs. From 2011 to 2019, one-fair-wage states had stronger restaurant growth than states that had a lower tipped minimum wage—both in the number of full-service restaurants (17.5% versus 11.1%) and in full-service restaurant employment (23.8% versus 18.7%). 19

Growing numbers of business owners and organizations have backed a $15 minimum wage.

• In states that have already approved $15 minimum wages, business organizations representing thousands of small businesses have endorsed a $15 minimum wage.
• Business groups that have endorsed a $15 minimum wage include Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, 20 the American Sustainable Business Council, 21 the Patriotic Millionaires, 22 the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce, 23 the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce, 24 and others.
• Growing numbers of employers have responded to pressure from workers and raised their starting pay scales to $15 or higher. These include retail giants Amazon, 25 Whole Foods 26 (owned by Amazon), Target, 27 Walmart, 28 Wayfair, 29 Costco, 30 Hobby Lobby, 31 and Best Buy; 32 employers in the food service and producing industries, such as Chobani, 33 Starbucks, 34 Sanderson Farms (Mississippi), 35 and the Atlanta-area locations of Lidl grocery stores; 36 health care employers including Michigan’s Henry Ford Health System 37 and Trinity Health System, 38 Ohio’s Akron Children’s Hospital 39 and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, 40 Iowa’s Mercy Medical Center and MercyCare Community Physicians, 41 Missouri’s North Kansas City Hospital and Meritas Health, 42 and Maryland’s LifeBridge Health; 43 insurers and banks such as Amalgamated Bank, 44 Allstate, 45 Wells Fargo, 46 and Franklin Savings Bank in New Hampshire 47 ; and tech and communications leaders such as Facebook 48 and Charter Communications. 49

Our economy can more than afford a $15 minimum wage.

• Workers earning the current federal minimum wage are paid less per hour in real dollars than their counterparts were paid 50 years ago . 50
• Businesses can afford to pay the most underpaid worker in the U.S. today substantially more than what her counterpart was paid half a century ago. 51
• The economy has grown dramatically over the past 50 years, and workers are producing more from each hour of work, with productivity nearly doubling since the late 1960s . If the minimum wage had been raised at the same pace as productivity growth since the late 1960s, it would be over $20 an hour today . 52

Research confirms what workers know: Raising wages benefits us all.

• High-quality academic scholarship confirms that modest increases in the minimum wage have not led to detectable job losses . 53
• After the federal minimum wage was raised to its highest historical peak in 1968, wages grew and racial earnings gaps closed without constricting employment opportunities for underpaid workers overall. 54
• Comprehensive research on 138 state-level minimum wage increases shows that all underpaid workers benefit from minimum wage increases, not just teenagers or restaurant workers. 55
• Multiple studies conclude that total annual incomes of families at the bottom of the income distribution rise significantly after a minimum wage increase. 56 Workers in low-wage jobs and their families benefit the most from these income increases, reducing poverty and income inequality.
• By providing families with higher incomes, minimum wage increases have improved infant health and also reduced child abuse and teenage pregnancy . 57

An immediate increase in the minimum wage is necessary for the health of our economy.

• Raising the minimum wage now will tilt the playing field back toward workers who have dangerous jobs and little bargaining power during the pandemic. 58
• Providing underpaid workers with more money will directly counter the consumer demand shortfall during this recession. 59
• Even the Congressional Budget Office’s 2019 study of the impact of raising the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2025 clearly showed that the policy would raise incomes of underpaid workers overall and significantly reduce the number of families in poverty. 60

Low wages threaten the economic security of workers and their families, who then turn to social benefits programs to make ends meet.

• In states without laws to raise the minimum wage to $15, nearly half (47%, or 10.5 million) of families of workers who would benefit from the Act rely on public supports programs in part because they do not earn enough at work. 61
• These workers and their families account for nearly one-third of total enrollment in one or more public supports programs. 62
• In states without a $15 minimum wage law, public supports programs for underpaid workers and their families make up 42% of total spending on Medicaid and CHIP (the Children’s Health Insurance Program), cash assistance (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF), food stamps (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP), and the earned income tax credit (EITC), and cost federal and state taxpayers more than $107 billion a year . 63

Notes and Sources

This fact sheet is an update of Why America Needs a $15 Minimum Wage , published by EPI and the National Employment Law Project, February 2019.

Unless otherwise indicated, the figures presented in this fact sheet come from a forthcoming EPI analysis of the 2021 Raise the Wage Act .

1. Kate Bahn and Carmen Sanchez Cumming, “ Four Graphs on U.S. Occupational Segregation by Race, Ethnicity, and Gender ,” Washington Center for Equitable Growth, July 1, 2020.

2. The analysis is based on the 2021 Raise the Wage Act.

3. Sylvia Allegretto and David Cooper, Twenty-Three Years and Still Waiting for Change: Why It’s Time to Give Tipped Workers the Regular Minimum Wage , Economic Policy Institute, July 2014.

4. Estimated effects of the 2021 Raise the Wage Act throughout this fact sheet are from a forthcoming Economic Policy Institute analysis of the legislation and include benefits for both directly affected workers (those who would otherwise earn less than $15 per hour in 2025) and indirectly affected workers (those who would earn just slightly above $15 in 2025).

5. Ellora Derenoncourt and Claire Montialoux, “ Minimum Wages and Racial Inequality ,” Quarterly Journal of Economics 136, no. 1 (February 2021); David Autor, Alan Manning, and Christopher L. Smith, “ The Contribution of the Minimum Wage to U.S. Wage Inequality over Three Decades: A Reassessment ,” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 8, no. 1 (January 2016).

6. See also Laura Huizar and Tsedeye Gebreselassie, What a $15 Minimum Wage Means for Women and Workers of Color , National Employment Law Project, December 2016.

7. For racial/ethnic wage gaps, see Appendix Table 1 of Elise Gould, State of Working America Wages 2019 , Economic Policy Institute, February 2020.

8. Ellora Derenoncourt and Claire Montialoux, “ Minimum Wages and Racial Inequality ,” Quarterly Journal of Economics 136, no. 1 (February 2021).

9. Alina Selyukh, “ ‘Gives Me Hope’: How Low-Paid Workers Rose up Against Stagnant Wages ,” National Public Radio’s All Things Considered , February 26, 2020; Kimberly Freeman Brown and Marc Bayard, “ Editorial: The New Face of Labor, Civil Rights is Black & Female ,” NBC News, September 7, 2015; Amy B. Dean, “ Is the Fight for $15 the Next Civil Rights Movement? ” Al Jazeera America , June 22, 2015.

10. Economic Policy Institute calculation using Current Employment Statistics data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Values calculated using the listed states’ share of total U.S. nonfarm employment in calendar year 2019 (prior to the COVID-19 pandemic). For recent minimum wage changes, see the Economic Policy Institute Minimum Wage Tracker, https://www.epi.org/minimum-wage-tracker/ . We include the District of Columbia in this list even though it is not a state.

11. Yannet Lathrop, Impact of the Fight for $15: $68 Billion in Raises, 22 Million Workers , National Employment Law Project, November 2018.

12. Based on calculations from the Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator , which measures the income a family needs to attain a secure yet modest standard of living in all counties and metro areas across the country.

13. Congressional Budget Office projections for the consumer price index were applied to the Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator .

14. Economic Policy Institute analysis of the legislation, forthcoming.

15. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics, May 2019 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates United States (online database).

16. Economic Policy Institute analysis of Current Population Survey outgoing rotation group microdata, 2017–2019

17. Economic Policy Institute analysis of Current Population Survey outgoing rotation group microdata, 2017–2019

18. Economic Policy Institute analysis of Current Population Survey outgoing rotation group microdata, 2017–2019

19.  Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2011–2019.

20. Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, “ Federal Business for a Fair Minimum Wage—$15: Signatories List in Formation ,” accessed January 22, 2021.

21. Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, “ Federal Business for a Fair Minimum Wage—$15: Signatories List in Formation ,” accessed January 22, 2021.

22. Patriotic Millionaires, “ Endorsed Bill: The Raise the Wage Act ,” accessed January 22, 2021.

23. Greater New York Chamber of Commerce, “ Celebrating Juneteenth ,” June 18, 2020.

24. Kate King, “ New York Boosts Minimum Wage and Some Businesses Balk ,” Wall Street Journal , January 4, 2021.

25. Arjun Panchadar, “ Amazon Raises Minimum Wage to $15, Urges Rivals to Follow ,” Reuters , October 2, 2018.

26. Abha Bhattarai, “ Amazon Boosts Minimum Wage to $15 for All Workers Following Criticism ,” Washington Post , October 2, 2018.

27. Melissa Repko, “ Target Raises Minimum Wage to $15 an Hour Months Before its Deadline ,” CNBC , June 17, 2020.

28. Michael Grothaus, “ Walmart Is Giving 165,000 Employees a Pay Raise Between $15 and $30 per Hour ,” Fast Company , September 18, 2020.

29. Lucia Maffei, “ Wayfair Sets $15 Minimum Wage for All U.S. Workers ,” MassLive , January 8, 2021.

30. Sarah Nassauer and Micah Maidenberg, “ Costco Raises Minimum Wage to $15 an Hour ,” Wall Street Journal , March 6, 2019.

31. Hobby Lobby, “ Hobby Lobby Raises Minimum Wage ” (press release), September 14, 2020.

32. Gillian Friedman, “ Best Buy to Join Retailers Paying a $15 Minimum Wage ,” New York Times , July 22, 2020.

33. Chobani, “ Chobani Increases Employees’ Starting Wage to at Least $15/Hour ,” (PR Newswire release), Vending Marketwatch , October 30, 2020.

34. Janine Puhak, “ Starbucks to Raise Minimum Wage to $15 for US Employees over Next Three Years ,” WDRB.com , December 12, 2020.

35. Sanderson Farms, “ Sanderson Farms Increases Pay Rates for Hourly Employees ” (press release), June 3, 2019.

36. Kara McIntyre, “ Lidl to Raise Atlanta-Area Starting Pay to $15 An Hour ,” Patch (Atlanta, Ga.), January 5, 2021.

37. Henry Ford Health System, “ Henry Ford Among the First Michigan Health Systems to Raise Minimum Pay Rate to $15 Per Hour ” (press release), October 9, 2020.

38. Michael Kransz, “ Michigan Health System with 8 Hospitals Increases Minimum Wage to $15 an Hour ,” MLive.com , October 19, 2020.

39. Betty Lin-Fisher, “ Akron Children’s Hospital to Raise Its Minimum Wage to $15 ,” Akron Beacon Journal , October 3, 2019.

40. Kelly Gooch, “ Ohio Children’s Hospital to Boost Minimum Pay for 3,000 Employees ,” Becker’s Hospital Review , October 3, 2019.

41. Michaela Ramm, “ Mercy Announces Minimum Wage Increase, General Pay ,” The Gazette , December 22, 2020.

42. North Kansas City Hospital, “ North Kansas City Hospital and Meritas Health Raise Minimum Base Wage ,” December 21, 2020.

43. LifeBridge Health, “ Lifebridge Health Raises Minimum Living Wage for Hospital Team Members to $15 an Hour ” (press release), Greater Baltimore Committee, January 8, 2021.

44. Amalgamated Bank, “ Fight for $15 ” (web page), accessed January 22, 2021.

45. Amanda Mull, “ Corporations’ Social Crusades Often Leave Out Workers ,” The Atlantic , June 28, 2019.

46. Wells Fargo, “ Wells Fargo to Raise Minimum Hourly Pay Levels in a Majority of Its U.S. Markets ” (news release), March 4, 2020.

47. Scott Souza, “ Franklin Savings Bank Raises Minimum Wage in NH To $15 ,” Patch (Merrimack, N.H.), October 31, 2019.

48. Tomi Kilgore, “ Facebook Raising Minimum Wage to $20 Per Hour for Bay Area, New York and D.C. ” MarketWatch , May 13, 2019.

49. Charter Communications, “ Charter Statement Regarding Plans to Permanently Raise Minimum Wage to $20/Per Hour over Next Two Years for All Hourly Employees ,” April 6, 2020.

50. David Cooper, Raising the Federal Minimum Wage to $15 by 2024 Would Lift Pay for Nearly 40 Million Workers , Economic Policy Institute, February 2019.

51. David Cooper, Raising the Federal Minimum Wage to $15 by 2024 Would Lift Pay for Nearly 40 Million Workers , Economic Policy Institute, February 2019.

52. David Cooper, Raising the Federal Minimum Wage to $15 by 2024 Would Lift Pay for Nearly 40 Million Workers , Economic Policy Institute, February 2019.

53. Paul J. Wolfson and Dale Belman, “ 15 Years of Research on U.S. Employment and the Minimum Wage ,” Tuck School of Business Working Paper no. 2705499, 2016.

54. Ellora Derenoncourt and Claire Montialoux, “ Minimum Wages and Racial Inequality ,” Quarterly Journal of Economics 136, no. 1 (February 2021).

55. Doruk Cengiz, Arindrajit Dube, Attila Lindner, and Ben Zipperer, “The Effect of Minimum Wages on Low-Wage Jobs: Evidence from the United States Using a Bunching Estimator,” Quarterly Journal of Economics 134, no. 9 (May 2019).

56. Arindrajit Dube, “ Minimum Wages and the Distribution of Family Incomes ,” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 11, no. 4 (October 2019); Kevin Rinz and John Voorheis, “ The Distributional Effects of Minimum Wages: Evidence from Linked Survey and Administrative Data .” U.S. Census Bureau Center for Administrative Records Research and Applications Working Paper 2018-02, 2018.

57. George L. Wehby, Dhaval M. Dave, and Robert Kaestner, “Effects of the Minimum Wage on Infant Health,” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 39, no. 2 (Spring 2020); Kerri M. Raissian and Lindsey Rose Bullinger, “Money Matters: Does the Minimum Wage Affect Child Maltreatment Rates?” Children and Youth Services Review 72 (January 2017); Lindsey Rose Bullinger, “The Effect of Minimum Wages on Adolescent Fertility: A Nationwide Analysis,” American Journal of Public Health , March 2017.

58. Peter Dorman and Lawrence Mishel, “ A Majority of Workers Are Fearful of Coronavirus Infections at Work, especially Black, Hispanic, and Low- and Middle-income Workers ,” Working Economics Blog (Economic Policy Institute), June 16, 2020.

59. Cristian Alonso, “ Beyond Labor Market Outcomes: The Impact of the Minimum Wage on Nondurable Consumption ,” Journal of Human Resources , forthcoming.

60. Ben Zipperer, “ Low-Wage Workers Will See Huge Gains from Minimum Wage Hike, CBO Finds ,” Working Economics Blog (Economic Policy Institute), July 9, 2019.

61. Ken Jacobs, Ian Eve Perry, and Jenifer MacGillvary, The Public Cost of a Low Federal Minimum Wage , University of California Berkeley, Labor Center, January 2021.

62. Ken Jacobs, Ian Eve Perry, and Jenifer MacGillvary, The Public Cost of a Low Federal Minimum Wage , University of California Berkeley, Labor Center, January 2021.

63. Ken Jacobs, Ian Eve Perry, and Jenifer MacGillvary, The Public Cost of a Low Federal Minimum Wage , University of California Berkeley, Labor Center, January 2021.

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Minimum Wage Argument Essay

• December 25, 2022

Should the Federal Minimum Wage Be Raised?

Introduction

The federal minimum wage today is $7.25, and it has not changed since 2009. Moreover, it is fair to say that it has not been keeping up with inflation and productivity since 1968. This statement may be daring, but it is not a false assumption considering the minimum wage back then was $1.60 per hour, equivalent to $11.76 in 2019 (Boschen, Grossman 12). Like every other topic involving the humankind, the issue of the minimum wage is considerably controversial. However, the fact that the federal minimum wage is not enough for a citizen to get by is undeniable.

Body Paragraphs

The minimum wage differs from state to state due to the inaction of the authorities’ activities on the issue. As mentioned above, the fact that the federal minimum wage remains unchanged since 2009 can be shown as an example of this passiveness. With that being said, almost half of the US population is paid by the federal wage, which is way below the poverty line when we look at the annual earning of an employee (Formby, John, et al., 2). So in a word, an employee who earns federal minimum wage does not earn enough for his/her essential needs unless there are other supporting circumstances.

Let us think about a 16-year-old teenager who lives with his parents. He is currently working part-time and will probably go to college or later just move on to a better-paying job. Earning the federal minimum wage is well enough for him to provide himself with basic necessities such as entertainment. Now let us imagine that this person is not living with his parents. In this case, it is not likely that he is able to spend his money freely or even if he is able to provide himself with his necessities, as in the first scenario, they are not going to be the products or services of the best quality. One way or the other, he will have to give up on something very simple he really wants in the end, for not being able to afford it.

There are many people who have two jobs, completing the shift at noon and working until late hours in another job. This alone is already a time and energy-consuming situation, but unfortunately for some people, this is an opportunity not everybody gets due to the work schedules. Especially for students, having two jobs is not even a matter of discussion when freelance jobs are excluded. This problem is a huge obstacle for employees who are not offered to work full-time even if they want to. So in most cases, unless provided a second income channel, getting by with only federal minimum wage is a difficult task.

Now that we have mentioned why the federal minimum wage is considered inadequate subtly underlining the importance of an increase in it, it is critical to be able to see the two sides of the coin. There may also be negative outcomes of increasing the minimum wage. The most prominent one among them is that if there was an increase in the federal minimum wage, it would result in a reduction in jobs (Neumark, David 36). In other words, if employers had to pay more to employees, they would hire fewer people to avoid the extra cost, which gives rise to an increase in unemployment. However, considering low incomes prevent people from spending more, increasing the federal minimum wages will result in lifting approximately 4.5 people out of poverty (Cooper) and subsequently boosting the overall economy. Not to mention that increased wages will also lead to an increasing demand for more jobs. Sadly this is a fact largely glossed over by the people and a risk the employers avoid taking.

A higher federal minimum wage is not only advantageous for employees but also for employers. To start with, instead of looking for better-paying jobs, employees will work in their workplaces longer because they will be satisfied with their working conditions. What is the employer’s gain from this? They will not have to hire new people and train each of them every time. They will already have experienced employees working with them.

We have mentioned that raising the minimum wage will help people to keep up with inflation and boost consumer spending directly contributing to the economy. With that in mind, since people will be earning more, they will be less reliant on the governmental safety nets. Moreover, with lower unemployment, there will be an increase in tax revenues. So the increase is not only beneficial for the employees but also for employers and workers.

Apart from all of these statements, there are other opinions on the federal minimum wage. For instance, some people think it should not exist at all, and instead, the free market should govern all the wages believing they will naturally rise because the companies will be competing with each other. Furthermore, there are already some companies that support higher federal wages. For instance, companies such as Costco Wholesale and IKEA pay more than the federal minimum wage to their employees. However, this is also somewhat controversial.

On the one hand, it allows companies to pay more encouraging their employees to work more eagerly and productively. However, on the other hand, it may result in employers taking advantage of people who are ready to work for anything to support them. It may also result in employers who ask for cheap workers from outside the country. So, in the end, the federal minimum wage may be a dream amount for many workers. So the question of having a federal minimum wage is better or not, is a whole another discussion topic.

Minimum Wage Argument Essay: Conclusion

In conclusion, there are both pros and cons of increasing the federal minimum wage. However, we cannot ignore the fact that the benefits of an increase would well outweigh the wrong sides of it. It is not only better for the workers but also for the employers and the government. And it is fair to conclude that it is a big step towards enhancing the wealth and wellbeing of society.

Boschen, John, and Herschel Grossman. “The Federal Minimum Wage, Inflation, and Employment.” 1981, doi:10.3386/w0652.

Cooper, David. “Raising the Minimum Wage to $12 by 2020 Would Lift Wages for 35 Million American Workers.” Economic Policy Institute, www.epi.org/publication/raising-the-minimum-wage-to-12-by-2020-would-lift-wages-for-35-million-american-workers/.

Formby, John P., et al. “Minimum Wages, Poverty And Welfare.” Research on Economic Inequality Studies on Economic Well-Being: Essays in the Honor of John P. Formby, pp. 1–35., doi:10.1016/s1049-2585(04)12001-2.

Neumark, David, and William L. Wascher. “The Effects of Minimum Wages on Employment.” Minimum Wages, 2008, pp. 36–106.

Pollin, Robert. “ECONOMIC PROSPECTS: Making the Federal Minimum Wage a Living Wage.” New Labor Forum, vol. 16, no. 2, 2007, pp. 103–107., doi:10.1080/10957960701279306.

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Home — Essay Samples — Economics — Minimum Wage — The Effectiveness of Raising Minimum Wage Policy

The Effectiveness of Raising Minimum Wage Policy

• Categories: Economic Problem Minimum Wage

About this sample

Words: 2046 |

11 min read

Published: Apr 8, 2022

Words: 2046 | Pages: 4 | 11 min read

• Chen, J. (n.d.). Poverty. Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/poverty.asp
• Formby, J., Bishop, J., & Kim, H. (n.d.). What’s best at reducing poverty? An examination of the effectiveness of the 2007 minimum wage increase. Employment Policies Institute. https://epionline.org/studies/r124/
• Is there an economic consensus in favor of wage mandates? (n.d.). Employment Policies Institute. https://www.epionline.org/studies/r142/
• Jenkins, J. (2013, December 10). Real family values: Raising the federal minimum wage. Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/religion/report/2013/12/10/80780/real-family-values-raising-the-federal-minimum-wage/
• Lester, T. W., Madland, D., & Odum, J. (2014, February 26). Raising the minimum wage would help, not hurt, our economy. Center for American Progress Action. https://www.americanprogressaction.org/issues/labor/news/2013/12/03/80222/raising-the-minimum-wagel-would-help-not-hurt-our-economy/
• Poverty. (n.d.). Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/poverty.asp
• Sabia, J. J., & Nielson, R. B. (n.d.). Can raising the minimum wage reduce poverty and hardship? Employment Policies Institute. https://www.epionline.org/studies/can-raising-the-minimum-wage-reduce-poverty-and-hardship/
• Saltsman, M. (n.d.). The Impact of a $9.80 Federal Minimum Wage. Employment Policies Institute. https://www.epionline.org/studies/the-impact-of-a-9-80-federal-minimum-wage/

Should follow an “upside down” triangle format, meaning, the writer should start off broad and introduce the text and author or topic being discussed, and then get more specific to the thesis statement.

Provides a foundational overview, outlining the historical context and introducing key information that will be further explored in the essay, setting the stage for the argument to follow.

Cornerstone of the essay, presenting the central argument that will be elaborated upon and supported with evidence and analysis throughout the rest of the paper.

The topic sentence serves as the main point or focus of a paragraph in an essay, summarizing the key idea that will be discussed in that paragraph.

The body of each paragraph builds an argument in support of the topic sentence, citing information from sources as evidence.

After each piece of evidence is provided, the author should explain HOW and WHY the evidence supports the claim.

Should follow a right side up triangle format, meaning, specifics should be mentioned first such as restating the thesis, and then get more broad about the topic at hand. Lastly, leave the reader with something to think about and ponder once they are done reading.

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Reasons Why Minimum Wage Should Be Raised Essay: Benefits for Workers, Society, and The Economy

The minimum wage controversy has been among the most discussed and argued issues for many years. Those in favor of raising the minimum wage argue that the increased income would enable low-wage workers to better their lives, reduce poverty and income disparity, as well as bring an economic boost. On the contrary, many opponents of raising the minimum wage contend that it will cause job losses and lead to higher prices.

This essay, written by a custom essay company , can help you understand the topic. By examining the evidence and arguments from both sides of the debate, we can gain a better understanding of the potential impact of raising the minimum wage and make informed decisions about public policy in this area.

My Thoughts on Should Minimum Wage Be Raised Essay

The minimum wage has long been a contentious issue in the United States, with opinions divided on whether it should be increased or left at its current level. Those in favor of increasing the minimum wage argue that it would help to alleviate poverty, reduce income inequality, and stimulate economic growth. However, opponents of a minimum wage hike suggest that it could lead to job losses, inflation, and reduced economic competitiveness.

Nevertheless, by considering the potential benefits and drawbacks of increasing the minimum wage, I would like to to provide a comprehensive analysis of this complex issue and help readers come to an informed opinion.

Reduction of Poverty and Inequality

One of the most compelling reasons for raising minimum wage is the reduction of poverty and inequality. According to the Economic Policy Institute, raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour could lift 1.3 million workers out of poverty and reduce income inequality. This is because low-wage workers, who are often from marginalized communities, rely on minimum wage jobs to support themselves and their families. By increasing the minimum wage, their income would increase, allowing them to meet their basic needs, such as food, housing, and healthcare.

Boost in Consumer Purchasing Power

Increasing the minimum wage would also lead to a boost in consumer purchasing power. When low-wage workers earn more, they are more likely to spend more, which would stimulate the economy. For instance, a report by the National Employment Law Project estimated that raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour would generate an additional $118 billion in economic activity over a five-year period.

Improved Health Outcomes

Low-wage workers often cannot afford basic healthcare services, which can lead to serious health consequences. By raising the minimum wage, workers would have access to better healthcare services, which would lead to improved health outcomes. This is because when low-wage workers have better health, they are more productive, which benefits both the employer and the employee.

Reduced Reliance on Social Services

Low-wage workers often rely on social services such as food stamps, housing subsidies, and Medicaid to make ends meet. By raising the minimum wage, workers would be able to earn enough to support themselves and their families without having to rely on social services. This would reduce the burden on taxpayers and enable the government to allocate resources to other areas of need.

Encourages Workforce Productivity and Loyalty

By paying workers a fair wage, they are more likely to be productive and loyal to their employer. This is because they feel valued and appreciated, which leads to higher job satisfaction and engagement. Additionally, when workers are paid a fair wage, they are less likely to leave their jobs, which can reduce the costs associated with hiring and training new employees.

While there are differing opinions on the impact of raising the minimum wage, there is evidence to support the many benefits that come with increasing it. Raising the minimum wage can help to reduce poverty and income inequality, boost consumer purchasing power, improve health outcomes, and reduce reliance on social services.

Furthermore, paying workers a fair wage can lead to increased productivity, loyalty, and job satisfaction. While there may be some initial costs associated with raising the minimum wage, the long-term benefits can outweigh them. As society moves forward, it is important to consider the potential impact of increasing the minimum wage and work towards a more equitable and just society where all workers are paid a fair wage for their labor.

Through thoughtful policy-making and continued advocacy, we can ensure that the benefits of raising the minimum wage are realized for workers, society, and the economy as a whole.

Tips on Writing Why Should Minimum Wage Be Raised Essay

The issue of minimum wage has become a hotly debated topic in recent years, with advocates calling for an increase in the minimum wage to address issues of poverty and inequality. If you are passionate about this topic and want to share your views, writing an essay on why minimum wage should be raised can be a great way to do so. However, to make your essay stand out, it’s important to approach it with a clear and well-structured argument. Here are some tips on how to write an excellent essay on why minimum wage should be raised, so you can effectively convey your ideas and contribute to the ongoing discussion around this important issue.

Research the Topic

Before you start writing a raising minimum wage essay, it is important to research the topic and gather as much information as possible. This will help you to understand the various arguments and counter-arguments related to the minimum wage. Use reputable sources, such as academic journals, government reports, and news articles, to gather information.

Develop a Strong Thesis Statement

A thesis statement is the backbone of your essays on raising minimum wage and sets the tone for the rest of your writing. Make sure your thesis statement is clear, concise, and reflects your stance on the topic. A strong thesis statement might read: “Raising the minimum wage is necessary to reduce poverty and inequality, boost the economy, and provide workers with a fair living wage.”

Support Your Argument with Evidence

To write an opinion article , you need to support your claims with evidence. Use statistics, data, and examples to illustrate your points and provide evidence for your claims. For example, you might use data to show that raising the minimum wage has led to increased consumer spending in other countries, or you might cite research that shows how low wages can lead to poor health outcomes.

Address Counter-Arguments

When writing about a contentious topic like the minimum wage, it is important to address counter-arguments. Acknowledge the other side’s point of view and provide evidence to counter their claims. This will help you to build a more persuasive argument and show that you have considered all sides of the issue.

Use Clear and Concise Language

Your essay should be easy to read and understand. Use clear and concise language to communicate your ideas effectively. Avoid using jargon or technical language that might confuse your reader. Make sure to proofread your work carefully to catch any spelling or grammar errors that could detract from your argument.

By following these tips, you can develop a compelling argument that supports your position and addresses counter-arguments.

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How increasing the federal minimum wage could affect employment and family income.

This interactive tool—developed and updated by the Congressional Budget Office—allows users to explore the effects of policies that would increase the federal minimum wage, which is $7.25 per hour and has not changed since 2009.

The default policy option in this interactive tool is based on the Raise the Wage Act of 2023 (S. 2488) , which CBO analyzed in The Budgetary and Economic Effects of S. 2488, the Raise the Wage Act of 2023 . Under the default option, the first incremental increase in the minimum wage occurs in July 2024. Five years later, in July 2029, the minimum wage reaches its target of $17 per hour. Thereafter, it is indexed to the median hourly wage. The subminimum wage for tipped workers reaches $17 per hour in July 2030 and equals the regular minimum wage beginning the following year.

Users can also create custom policy options to examine how different approaches to changing the minimum wage would affect people’s earnings, employment, family income, and poverty.

In general, increasing the federal minimum wage would raise the earnings and family income of most low-wage workers and thus lift some families out of poverty—but doing so would cause other low-wage workers to become jobless, and their family income would fall.  

Federal Minimum Wage [?]

Federal minimum wage.

Options for the target amount for the minimum hourly wage range from $12 to $17 (in $1 increments).

The federal minimum wage would rise by varying amounts in July of each year until it reached the target amount in the year specified for full implementation. Under the default policy based on the Raise the Wage Act of 2023, the minimum hourly wage is $9.50 in 2024, $11.00 in 2025, $12.50 in 2026, $14.00 in 2027, $15.50 in 2028, and $17.00 in 2029; it is indexed to the median hourly wage thereafter.

Subminimum Wage for Tipped Workers [?]

Subminimum wage for tipped workers.

Cash earnings (excluding tips) must be at least $2.13 per hour under current law, and total hourly earnings (including tips) must be greater than or equal to the federal minimum wage.

Users of this interactive tool can leave the subminimum wage unchanged, increase it by varying amounts in July of each year until it reaches 50 percent of the federal minimum wage, or increase it by varying amounts in July of each year until it matches the federal minimum wage. The implementation period for the subminimum wage is one or two years longer than that for the regular minimum wage, depending on whether the minimum wage is adjusted after the target year. For options that increase the subminimum wage, the percentage difference between the federal minimum wage and the subminimum wage is maintained after the implementation period for the subminimum wage ends.

Under the default policy based on the Raise the Wage Act of 2023, the subminimum hourly wage for tipped workers is $6.00 in 2024, $8.00 in 2025, $10.00 in 2026, $12.00 in 2027, $13.50 in 2028, $15.00 in 2029, and $17.00 in 2030; it equals the federal minimum wage thereafter. As with the regular minimum wage, increases in the subminimum hourly wage would occur in July of each year.

Target Year for Full Implementation [?]

Target year for full implementation.

Like previous increases in the minimum wage, the options presented here would take years to be fully implemented. The target year for full implementation is the year in which the regular minimum wage reaches its target value.

Under the default policy based on the Raise the Wage Act of 2023, the increase in the regular minimum wage is fully implemented in July 2029. The subminimum wage for tipped workers reaches $17 per hour the following year and equals the regular minimum wage beginning in July 2031.

Adjustments After Target Year [?]

Adjustments after target year.

Users of this interactive tool can leave the minimum wage unchanged after the end of the phase-in period or index it to one of two measures: the consumer price index (CPI, a common measure of the cost of living) or the median hourly wage. Indexing the minimum wage means tying it to another measure so that it is automatically adjusted after it reaches the target amount to grow at the same rate as that other measure. Past increases in the federal minimum wage have not been indexed, so the value of those increases has been eroded by inflation.

Historically, the median hourly wage has grown faster than the CPI, and CBO expects that pattern to continue over the next decade. As a consequence, in this interactive tool, selecting the option to index the minimum wage to the median hourly wage leads to slightly larger effects on employment, wages, and family income than choosing to index it to the CPI.

Showing the option most similar to the Raise the Wage Act of 2021 (S. 53)

Raise the federal minimum wage to $ by The subminimums for teenagers and disabled workers are eliminated.

Federal Minimum Hourly Wage as of July 1

Change in Employment in an Average Week

Millions of jobs.

Change in the Number of People in Poverty

Millions of people.

Change in the Number of People Entering and Leaving Poverty

Overall change in real family income, billions of 2023 dollars, distribution of changes in real family income, by income group, 2029.

Average Change in Real Family Income, by Income Group

Size and scope of increases in wages, average mandated percentage increase in wages, effects on employment, income, and poverty.

* = a value that rounds to zero.

ASPECTS OF THE POLICY OPTIONS THAT ARE ADJUSTABLE

Federal minimum wage. Options for the target amount for the minimum hourly wage range from $12 to $17 (in $1 increments).

Subminimum wage for tipped workers. Cash earnings (excluding tips) must be at least $2.13 per hour under current law, and total hourly earnings (including tips) must be greater than or equal to the federal minimum wage.

Target year for full implementation. Like previous increases in the minimum wage, the options presented here would take years to be fully implemented. The target year for full implementation is the year in which the regular minimum wage reaches its target value.

Adjustments after target year. Users of this interactive tool can leave the minimum wage unchanged after the end of the phase-in period or index it to one of two measures: the consumer price index (CPI, a common measure of the cost of living) or the median hourly wage. Indexing the minimum wage means tying it to another measure so that it is automatically adjusted after it reaches the target amount to grow at the same rate as that other measure. Past increases in the federal minimum wage have not been indexed, so the value of those increases has been eroded by inflation.

DEFINITIONS

Directly affected workers. Workers whose wages would be between the previously applicable minimum (state or federal) and the proposed minimum if the federal minimum wage remained unchanged. Under any of the policy options, such workers would either become jobless or see increases in their earnings in an average week.

Potentially affected workers. Workers whose hourly wages would be greater than the proposed minimum but less than that amount plus 50 percent of the difference between the increased federal minimum wage and their previously applicable (state or federal) minimum wage. Only some of those workers’ earnings would increase under any of the policy options.

Income group. Families are grouped on the basis of their projected income (in 2023 dollars) measured in relation to the poverty threshold. In 2029, for example, the average family income of the groups is projected to be as follows: $12,300 for families with income less than the poverty threshold; $33,500 for families with income 1.0 to 1.49 times the poverty threshold; $47,400 for families with income 1.5 to 1.99 times the poverty threshold; $66,000 for families with income 2.0 to 2.99 times the poverty threshold; $113,900 for families with income 3.0 to 5.99 times the poverty threshold; and $285,900 for families with income 6.0 or more times the poverty threshold. Those projections reflect the assumption that the current federal minimum wage remains unchanged. 

Range of likely outcomes. In CBO’s assessment, there is a two-thirds chance that the effects of the policy option would be within this range.

Real family income. This measure constitutes before-tax family cash income (primarily earnings but also unemployment compensation, cash benefits from public assistance programs, and other forms of income) expressed in 2023 dollars to remove the effects of inflation. Changes in real family income reflect increases in earnings for workers who receive a higher wage, decreases in earnings for workers who lose their job, losses in income for business owners, and decreases in purchasing power because of increases in prices.

Subminimum wages for teenagers and disabled workers. For teenage workers, the minimum wage is currently $4.25 per hour during their first 90 days of employment; for disabled workers whose employers are certified by the Department of Labor, minimum wages are based on analyses of prevailing wages and worker productivity.

EFFECTS ON EMPLOYMENT

How would increasing the minimum wage affect employment? Raising the minimum wage would increase the cost of employing low-wage workers. As a result, some employers would employ fewer workers than they would have employed under a lower minimum wage. However, for certain workers or in some circumstances, employment could increase.

Changes in employment would be seen in the number of jobless—not just unemployed—workers. Jobless workers include those who have dropped out of the labor force (because, for example, they believe no jobs are available for them) as well as unemployed workers (those who are searching for work).

How did CBO estimate effects on employment? In CBO’s analysis, the size of the effects depends on the number of workers affected by the increase in the minimum wage, the changes in wages induced by the higher minimum, and the responsiveness of employment to those changes in wages. Effects would generally be greater if the change in the minimum wage affected more workers, if it led to larger mandated increases for directly affected workers, if firms had more time to respond (if, for example, the change was phased in over a longer period), and if the minimum wage was indexed to inflation or wage growth.

For details of CBO’s analysis, see Appendix A of CBO’s July 2019 report The Effects on Employment and Family Income of Increasing the Federal Minimum Wage . CBO updated the method it uses to calculate the responsiveness of employment to changes in the minimum wage, which is represented by elasticities. For details about that change, see CBO’s December 2023 report The Budgetary and Economic Effects of S. 2488, the Raise the Wage Act of 2023 .

If workers lost their jobs because of a minimum-wage increase, how long would they stay jobless? At one extreme, an increase in the minimum wage could put a small group of workers out of work indefinitely so that they never benefited from higher wages. At the other extreme, a large group of workers might shuffle regularly in and out of employment, experiencing short spells of joblessness but receiving higher wages during the weeks they were employed.

In analyzing the effects of joblessness on poverty, CBO used its estimates of the distribution of durations of unemployment for the 2000–2020 period to assign directly affected workers either no joblessness or a duration of joblessness within the projection year that was randomly chosen from that distribution. Thus, some workers in CBO’s analysis are out of work for nearly an entire year, whereas others are jobless for shorter—sometimes much shorter—periods.

EFFECTS ON INCOME

How would increasing the minimum wage affect family income? By boosting the income of low-wage workers who have jobs, a higher minimum wage would raise their families’ real income (that is, income adjusted to remove the effects of inflation), lifting some of those families out of poverty. For other families, however, income would fall because some workers would not be employed and because business owners would have to absorb at least some of the higher costs of labor. For those reasons, in this interactive tool, a minimum-wage increase generally causes a net reduction in average family income.

How did CBO estimate the effects on family income? CBO projected the distribution of family income in future years and then combined those forecasts with estimates of the effects on wage rates, employment, business income, and prices. The estimated effects on wage rates also include increases in the wages of some workers who would have earned slightly more than the proposed minimum wage if the minimum wage had not changed, because the literature indicates that wage increases from the policy would spill over to those workers. Losses in business owners’ income and consumers’ purchasing power would be partly offset by an increase in the productivity of workers who received higher wages. That increase in productivity might occur through various channels, such as a reduction in employee turnover. (For details, see The Effects on Employment and Family Income of Increasing the Federal Minimum Wage .)

How would increasing the minimum wage affect the number of people in poverty? By boosting the income of low-wage workers with jobs, a higher minimum wage would lift some families’ income above the poverty threshold and thus reduce the number of people in poverty. But low-wage workers who lost employment would see their earnings decrease, and in some cases their family income would fall below the poverty threshold. The first effect would tend to be larger than the second, so the number of people in poverty would generally fall.

How did CBO estimate the effects on the number of people in poverty? CBO projected the distribution of poverty in future years by using the same methods it used to project the distribution of family income and by applying the same definitions of income and poverty thresholds that the Census Bureau uses to determine the official poverty rate.

UNCERTAINTY AND OTHER EFFECTS

How certain are these outcomes? The size of any option’s effects on employment and family income are very uncertain for two main reasons.

First, future wage growth under current law is uncertain. If wages grew faster than CBO projects, then wages in future years would be higher than CBO anticipates. In that case, increases in the federal minimum wage would have smaller effects. If, instead, wages grew more slowly than CBO projects, the effects would be larger.

Second, the responsiveness of employment to an increase in the minimum wage is uncertain. If employment was more responsive than CBO expects, then increases in the minimum wage would lead to larger declines in employment. By contrast, if employment was less responsive than CBO expects, the declines would be smaller. Findings in the research literature about how changes in the federal minimum wage affect employment vary widely. Many studies have found such changes have little or no effect, but many others have found that increases in minimum wages lead to substantial reductions in employment.

Would changing the minimum wage have other effects? Studies have examined the link between the minimum wage and a range of other outcomes, including labor force outcomes such as labor force participation (whether a person is working or actively seeking a job); health outcomes, such as depression, suicide, and obesity; education outcomes, including school completion and job training; and social outcomes, such as crime. CBO did not examine those other possible outcomes in this analysis. However, a list of sources for more information is available in Appendix B of The Effects on Employment and Family Income of Increasing the Federal Minimum Wage .

In The Budgetary and Economic Effects of S. 2488, the Raise the Wage Act of 2023 , CBO estimated how an option for increasing the minimum wage to $17 would affect the federal budget.

CHANGES SINCE CBO LAST UPDATED THE INTERACTIVE TOOL

How have updates changed the estimates generated by this tool? For two main reasons, outcomes generated by the current version of the tool differ from those produced by the 2022 version.

First, the options would begin to be implemented in July 2024, not January 2023, and the increases in the regular minimum wage would be fully implemented on July 1 of 2028, 2029, or 2030—two and a half years later than the date by which the analogous options in the previous version of the interactive tool would be fully implemented. Wages would grow over those additional years—from 2027 to 2029, for example—further reducing the effect of any given increase in the minimum wage. The default policy based on the Raise the Wage Act of 2023 would begin to be implemented in July 2024 and would be fully implemented in July 2029. (The increase in the subminimum wage for tipped workers would take longer to be fully implemented. It would reach the target for the regular minimum wage of $17 per hour in July 2030, and the two rates would be equal starting in July 2031).

Second, CBO now projects a higher rate of wage growth under current law, so any given increase in the minimum wage would generally have a smaller effect on wages—and thus on employment and family income—than it would have had in the previous version of the interactive tool.

CBO made other revisions to the tool to reflect baseline policy changes (including updating the data it uses to account for increases in states’ minimum wages and the minimum wage for federal contractors), newer data, and an updated method for calculating elasticities. For details about the change CBO made to its method for calculating elasticities, see the agency’s December 2023 report The Budgetary and Economic Effects of S. 2488, the Raise the Wage Act of 2023 . Combined, the effects of those changes are smaller than the effects resulting from the later implementation of the policies and the higher projected rate of wage growth.

DATA AND SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

The computer code for employment elasticities linked below reflects the method that CBO used to calculate elasticities in its analysis of minimum wage policies starting with the 2019 report The Effects on Employment and Family Income of Increasing the Federal Minimum Wage . As noted above, the agency updated its method for calculating employment elasticities for its December 2023 report The Budgetary and Economic Effects of S. 2488, the Raise the Wage Act of 2023 . This code does not reflect those changes.

• Computer Code on Employment Elasticities (.zip file)

Related Publications

• The Budgetary and Economic Effects of S. 2488, the Raise the Wage Act of 2023 December 18, 2023
• CBO Updates Its Interactive Tool for Analyzing the Effects of Federal Minimum-Wage Increases April 5, 2021
• The Budgetary Effects of the Raise the Wage Act of 2021 February 8, 2021
• The Effects on Employment and Family Income of Increasing the Federal Minimum Wage July 8, 2019
• H.R. 582, Raise the Wage Act April 22, 2019
• The Effects of a Minimum-Wage Increase on Employment and Family Income February 18, 2014

CBO continually seeks feedback to make its work as useful as possible. Please send comments to [email protected] .

About this Interactive Tool

Nabeel Alsalam, William Carrington (formerly of CBO), Justin Falk, and Kevin Perese produced the initial estimates for this interactive tool with guidance from Molly Dahl and Joseph Kile. In January 2024, Nabeel Alsalam, Justin Falk, Julia Heinzel, Junghoon Lee, and Timothy Young updated the tool with guidance from Xiaotong Niu and Julie Topoleski.

The underlying data are based on CBO’s February 2023 economic forecast, which was developed by the agency’s Macroeconomic Analysis Division.

Casey Labrack developed and updated the interactive tool. Mark Doms, Jeffrey Kling, and Robert Sunshine reviewed it. Bo Peery edited it, and Maria Aquino integrated it into CBO’s website and prepared it for release.

This page was last updated on January 30, 2024.

Downloadable Content

Minimum wage increase: an evaluation of its social and economic impact

• Masters Thesis
• Barrera, Yaquelin
• Martinez, Thomas
• Sun, Jinping
• Bakersfield
• Business and Public Administration
• Public Policy and Administration
• California State University, Bakersfield
• Minimum wage
• http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12680/8c97kt03n

Relationships

Items in ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Thesis Statement: Raising the minimum wage is that higher earnings...

Thesis Statement: Raising the minimum wage is that higher earnings would, improve the overall standard of living for minimum wage workers, raise the earnings and family income of most low-wage workers, and thus lift some families out of poverty. 

Outline should include:

Thesis Statement

Major claims

Supporting Details

Source citations

Brief Intro & Conclusion information

Answer & Explanation

Thesis: Raising the minimum wage raises incomes, lowers poverty, and raises living standards. Subtopics: Poverty Reduction, Earnings Boost, and Impact on Living Standards. Principal Allegations: Better living circumstances, more earnings, and reduction of poverty. Supporting Information: Economic stimulation, decreased dependency on aid, and availability of essentials.  

Wilson (2018), Johnson et al. (2019), and Smith (2020) are cited as sources. Synopsis & Conclusion: Introduction: For low-income workers, raising the minimum wage is essential. In conclusion, raising the minimum wage improves societal justice and has observable benefits.  

Thesis Statement: By increasing the minimum wage, most low-wage workers' earnings and family income will increase, improving their overall standard of life and enabling some families to escape poverty.

Subtopics: 1. Impact on Living Standards Effect

2. on Wages and Family Income

3. Reduction of Poverty  

Principal Allegations: 1. A higher minimum wage raises the living standard.

2. Earnings and family income are significantly impacted by higher wages.

3. Raising the minimum wage helps to reduce poverty.

Details to Support: Effect on Living Standards: 1. improved availability of needs

 • including food, shelter, and medical care.

• less reliance on government support initiatives.

• enhanced living quality and mental health.

2. Impact on Wages and Household Income: • Raising the minimum wage boosts low-paid workers' incomes immediately.

• households earning more money, which improves their financial security

• Possibility of higher consumer spending, which would promote economic expansion.

3. Reducing Poverty:  

•  gives some families a living wage, enabling them to escape poverty.

• minimizes income disparity by reducing the difference between wealthy and low earnings.

• increases social mobility through providing more avenues for economic upward mobility.

Reference Citations: • A 2020 study by J. Smith titled "The Impact of Minimum Wage Increases on Standard of Living." 89-104 in Journal of Economic Perspectives, 35(2).

• Johnson and colleagues (2019). "Earnings and Family Income Effects of Minimum Wage Increases." Journal of Economics, Quarterly, 124(3), 567-589.

Economic Policy, 42(4), 701-724; Wilson, C. (2018). "Minimum Wage Policy and Poverty Reduction."

Synopsis and Conclusion Details: First of all, Raising the minimum wage, according to supporters, can greatly help low-income workers and their families, has long been a divisive topic in the argument over minimum wages. This essay investigates the possible benefits of raising the minimum wage for impacted individuals and families in terms of their incomes, standard of living, and degree of poverty. In summary, increasing the minimum wage has the potential to significantly improve the lives of low-wage workers by enhancing their standard of living, increasing their income, and lowering their rates of poverty. Raising the minimum wage can help build a more just and prosperous society by tackling these important issues.  

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