Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Wage Hike Will Lift Pay But Cost Jobs
This article describes the findings of a congressional budget analyst on President Obama's proposal to increase the minimum wage. Before reading this article I was in full support of Obama's plan to raise the minimum wage to $10.10, but now I am reconsidering my opinion. If a wage increase will truly cost approximately 500,000 American's their jobs than the negative aspects of the proposal may outweigh the positives. Is it better to provide a lower wage for more people or a higher wage for fewer? This article really justifies the excessive debate over the minimum wage increase.
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While there are upsides and downsides to every issue doing nothing is exactly that, nothing. We need to move forward, this plan would get a significant number of people up over the poverty line. It may cost some jobs, but a limited number and that is something we can work on next. I really think this is something we need to do, no plan is ever going to be perfect, but this would help a lot of people.
ReplyDeleteAs I have said in another post, the minimum wage ought not be a state issue. If it would be left up to the states, the individual states could experiment with the minimum wage. If other states enjoyed those results, then they could follow suit. If a state disagreed with the minimum wage on principle, they did not need to adopt it. Thus, all parties would be happy. Many other issues, if left to the states, could be resolved in a much more civil manner: if you do not enjoy your state’s policies, you can “vote with your feet” and leave.
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely a difficult issue to debate. The fact that raising the minimum wage to $10.10 would "lift 900,00 people above the federal poverty line" makes it a tempting issue. Every good thing must have its downsides, however, and this one would lead to fewer jobs, which would make the unemployment even worse in the country. It seems as if the benefits would probably outweigh the negatives just because every study has been different and a lot of them say that it wouldn't have that big of an effect on jobs at all.
ReplyDeleteI have mixed feelings about this issue. One part of me believes that people should make a liveable wage, but another part of me believes that many jobs do not deserve a wage of $10.10 an hour. Also as the article stated, this wage increase would deter many small businesses from hiring. The article also poited out that "many low-wage earners are not in low-wage families."
ReplyDeleteEvery plan, such as this one, have positive and negative effects that need to be weighed before coming to a decision. The fact that almost one million people would be lifted above the poverty line is a huge benefit. No person who works hard at a full time job should have to live below the poverty line. While this proposal has some negative impacts, there are also many benefits that should not be overlooked.
ReplyDeleteAs I just previously said in another article, I am not sure which side to choose yet. I think it is too early to tell (from my standpoint at least) when and where the pros outweigh the cons. With that said, Washington and outside sources can do extensive research and they still won't be able to exactly predict how implementing a minimum wage increase such as this will play out. If I were to choose a side currently, I would side with raising it.
ReplyDeleteIt seems as though there will be a statistical debate between the two sides that will be fueled by economists and business analysts. As two which side is right, i have no idea, but i have a difficult time understanding how the wage increase will reduce employment. If a company fires its employees, it will reduce its size and therefore will lose revenue. I also dont think there are many expendable jobs, so every layoff would hurt the company, instead i think that companies would pull from other assets to accompany for the higher wages.
ReplyDeleteLike many of the people in this class, I'm not really sure where to fall on this one. Raising the minimum wage will cost some people their jobs, but it could also lift many above the poverty line. Keep it the same, and you'll see many (if not more and more) people struggle to reach and even fall below the poverty line.
ReplyDeleteSo what seems to make sense? Somewhere in the middle. A study in the article mentioned hiking the minimum wage to $9/hr in 2016 and keeping it there projected to cost just 100,000 (instead of 500,000) jobs, but only about 300,000 people would be lifted above the party line. That may not be as many people as $10.10 an hour would benefit greatly, but it also means that more people will not be looking for work because they lost their jobs. All in all, I think somewhere in the middle is good: increase minimum wage just a little bit, but don't try and raise it up ridiculously high.
I am going to stand by what I said in my comment on Dean's article. I don't agree with this deal because of the 500,000 jobs that will be lost. Yes, lifting one million people above the poverty line would be fantastic, but I can't fully support it when there would be that much unemployment. Compromise is key in almost any situation. I think that they should come up with a second part that can increase jobs, so that the two can offset each other, and at least decrease the number of jobs lost.
ReplyDeleteWell I just finished Dean's article about the minimum wage increase...and now with this article and these comments I guess I'll rework my answer. It's been about seven minutes and I am a whole new person! (I have very strong, unwavering opinions clearly.) Because there have been some studies that show little to no effect on employment, as this article pointed out, I guess maybe this might be worth it. The benefits seem to outweigh any potential negatives.
ReplyDeleteThis article brings up a point I have made in a few other blogs. With an increase in the minimum wage, many will lose their jobs. 0.3 percent might not seem like a lot, but it is. Switching the minimum wage to 9 dollars an hour sounds like a much better idea. Many more people will get to keep their jobs and people get a wage increase.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ian, perhaps an increase between 7 and 10 dollars would be fair. Somewhere around 9 dollars would be a compromise that lifts minimum wage, and wouldn't have such a large impact in unemployment. Maybe if this is a plan that is to be implemented in stages, there can be time to reconsider after seeing how a certain increase affects the population.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article and the one Dean posted, I see why this idea is so controversial and why so many people are torn. With that said, this minimum wage increase of $10.10 per hour is enough money for a family to live off of. As I said in the previous article, so many families who are struggling and although there are many downsides, compromise is inevitable. There are many negatives, but I believe the pros outweigh the cons in this situation.
ReplyDeleteA boost in the minimum wage would make some problems in the job market but it would allow for many families to have better lives throughout the United States. When the wage is raised to $10.10, it'll allow the hard working people at many companies like most fast food establishments to gain moe for their work. They will have to work harder and many will lose their jobs, it in this growing job market I doubt that this will be a problem for long once this increase has fully taken into effect.
ReplyDeleteI think minimum wage has a lot of sides to it. I think that different conditions provide different aspects that need to be considered when discussing minimum wage. Currently I don't think it is high enough for anyone to live comfortably on, but having a job is better than no job, so I'm not really sure where I stand. In America I do think that the gap between rich and poor is really substantial and should be shortened but I don't know if an increase in minimum wage would do that.
ReplyDeleteI can see why there is so much controversy over this topic after reading these articles. Although many people would lose their jobs from this increase I don't think it's a bad idea. $10.10per hour is enough money for people to actually live off of, as opposed to the current minimum wage. Looking at Kevin's post, maybe it would make sense to raise the wage to $9 per hour and make a but of a compromise.
ReplyDeleteThe fact is, we wont actually see the benefits and consequences of a minimum wage increase unless it is implemented somewhere. Like others have stated before me, I don't think the change in hourly wage should be increased so drastically to start. Let's start by increasing it a little bit and see what the effects are.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article I know realize how much more complicated this topic really is. It's really frustrating that a plan that could help so many people could also hurt many people. Though the increase in minimum wage could cause some negative effects, I believe it still must be raised because when it comes down to it the current minimum wage is too low for people to live on.
ReplyDelete