Raise Minimum Wage

The United States have a minimum wage level implemented and every state has to pay their employees at least that much money.  The minimum wage for the United States right now is seven dollars and twenty-five cents.  Each state can raise their own minimum wage to whatever level that they would like.  The highest minimum wage for a state right now is Washington, which is at nine dollars and nine-teen cents.  Oregon is the closet to them at eight dollars and ninety-five cents.

I believe that seven dollars and twenty-five cents is not sufficient enough to live off of, making a little under fourteen thousand dollars a year at minimum wage before taxes being taken out is not enough money to support a family.  Making under fourteen thousand dollars a year before subtracting taxes may not be enough to support yourself as, after taxes you will have t pay bills for your house, car, electric and phone bill.  After all of the deductions you may have enough to barely get buy, but you probably can not buy too much extra things for yourself, or treat yourself out to dinner once in awhile.

I believe that the minimum wage should be raise three dollars from seven twenty-five cents per hour to ten dollars and twenty-five dollars per hour.  With this jump in pay people that receive the minimum wage for their pay would be making just under twenty thousand dollars a year and they can have a little more spending money for the extra things in life and maybe treat themselves to dinner once in awhile as well. They would also not have to worry every week or two weeks if they will have enough to pay their bills and have food on their table as well.

There is a group that formed to try and raise the minimum wage, on their website they have their reason on why the minimum wage should be raised. Their reason why is:

With the worst recession in a generation still being felt across the nation, state and federal leaders are focused on getting their economies moving again while helping working families make ends meet.  Raising the minimum wage is a key strategy for doing both and should be part of an economic recovery agenda.  This briefing paper details the positive impact of raising the minimum wage – and indexing it to inflation so that it does not continue to fall in real value every year – on working families, local businesses and state economies.  By boosting pay in the low-wage jobs on which more families are relying than ever, a stronger minimum wage will help restore the consumer spending that powers our economy and that local businesses need in order to grow.   A robust minimum wage is a key building block of sustainable economic recovery.

Their main point of raising the minimum is based around how it is economically better for business and the United States economy more than it does individual people, but they do also back my point of how it would help people individually.