The debate surrounding the federal minimum wage has been prevalent in the United Stated since it was first established in 1938 ("Questions"). This topic is so controversial because of the many different viewpoints there are on the minimum wage. People may be in favor of raising the minimum wage, lowering it, keeping it the same, or completely abolishing it. Typically, the democratic standpoint is that minimum wage should be raised, while republicans generally advocate for a lower or no minimum wage. This issue is especially present in the world today as President Obama has proposed a federal minimum wage of $15. Some cities have already adopted this as their minimum wage, while others remain at the current federal minimum wage of $7.25, or anywhere in between. The federal minimum wage should be abolished because of unequal standards of living across the United States, a lower incentive for the general public to get an education and move up in their jobs, and the general negative impact it has on our economy, such as jobs lost. 

Contrary to common thought, in reality, not that many people earning hourly wages are earning the minimum wage. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released that last year a little over 1.5 million people earned the current minimum wage of $7.25, while 1.8 million earned less than this (exceptions such as tipped workers and disability workers). Of all workers earning an hourly wage, 4.3% are earning minimum wage. Most of the workers earning minimum wage are white (77%) and about half are women. About half are between the ages of 16 and 24. Regionally, there tends to be a larger amount of minimum wage workers in the Southern-most states in the country (Desilver). 

"The Two Moralities Of The Minimum Wage," by Dwight Lee, provides a somewhat new and interesting perspective on minimum. Minimum wage is generally a political issue. People do not necessarily have the best thoughts about minimum wage because it might make people think about politicians fighting over the minimum wage. This article takes on the moral issues surrounding minimum wage. It identifies two different kinds of morality. The first is regarding families and small groups within which individuals have "personal concern and familiarity with each other." The other type is within large groups where individuals have little knowledge and personal concern" for one another. The article also points out the political backing for action on minimum wage. The minimum wage affects a lot of people, whether it is directly or indirectly. It is important to take into account the morality behind it. People want to know that their work is valued. When people are paid lower wages, it sends a message that the employer doesn't value his or her work as much (Dwight). 

The issue of minimum wage is very current right now. With Obama's proposal of a $15 dollar federal minimum wage, many states are starting to take action and decide if they should raise their minimum wages. One example of a current debate surrounding minimum wage is happening in Pennsylvania. Tom Levy, democratic Governor of Pennsylvania, raised the minimum wage in his state to $10.15. This applies to "state government employees and workers on jobs contracted by the state" and was put in action by an executive order. He did this now because he was unsatisfied with how slowly the state had been moving towards this change. This wage level corresponds to President Obama's executive order that "required federal contractors to pay their workers at least $10.10 an hour." Lawmakers with republican views are not pleased with this change. Because it was an executive order, they regret that Wolf acted alone and believe it will "drive up costs for employers" (Levy).  

Upon first look at the minimum wage, it seems like a higher minimum wage would help the middle class. This seems like the simple solution: if minimum wage workers aren't making a wage that they are able to live off of, raise their wages. The problem with this is that there are many different factors that people must take into account before making this decision. 

Looking deeper into this topic, the long-term effects of a higher minimum wage become apparent. In his article "Seattle's Coming $15 Minimum Wage," Clinton Alexander interviews small business owners to get their thoughts on what a higher minimum wage would do to their companies and what kind of changes they might have to make as a result. Walter McLaughlin has spent close to the last 30 years in Small Business Administration. As a tribute his success, he was awarded the Washington State Financial Services Champion award in 2005. Using his own experiences and insight, he states that he believes the increase in wages will lead to more inflation and unemployment as small businesses struggle to keep their costs low. He refers to an economic theory called "zero sum gain" meaning "an increase is set offset by a loss of the same amount." The irony of this is that an increase in the minimum wage will harm the people it was intended to help (Alexander).

McLaughlin is not the only small business owner with a negative view on an increased minimum wage. This seems to be a common opinion of small business owners across the board, including Joe Salvatore of The Recycling Depot. Salvatore has spoken to many small businesses in the Seattle area and they are all in agreement. He points out that most small businesses do not have large profit margins, unlike large corporations, that would allow them to "absorb costs" when they have to pay their workers more. Bobby Denovski, with Padrino's Pizza and Pasta, says that with this increase in wages, he believes his business will more than likely go out of business. He says that the only way he can attempt to keep his business afloat is to raise prices, which he worries will drive customers away. This increase in minimum wage will cause these small businesses to shut down, affecting not only the small business owners, but putting all their employees out of work (Alexander). 

The Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, is pushing for a higher minimum wage. His proposal is for a statewide $10.50 an hour minimum wage by the end of the year and a $15 an hour minimum wage in the next few years. This would be the highest statewide minimum wage to date. The article then goes on to interview a low-wage earner and mother of two, Leoni Miller. She explains that she has worked a full time job her whole life and still struggles to make ends meet. She feels like the work she does is worth more than she is getting paid. Next in the article, small business owners are interviewed about what would happen to their businesses if the minimum wage were raised in New York. Generally, most business owners said that they would be forced to raise prices, cut hours, and fire employees. One business owner says his company will surely go out of business if the minimum wage is raised to $15 an hour, as 70% of his workers earn minimum wage (Botero). There are harsh realities that come with raising the minimum wage. While it might help people like Leoni Miller at first, if she is working for a small business or a business that cannot absorb the costs of these higher wages, eventually, these businesses might shut down and these employees will be out of work.

Nick Hanauer, businessman and plutocrat, gave a TED Talk entitled "Beware, fellow plutocrats, the pitchforks are coming." Hanauer explains that he believes people are going to get angry at the top 1% of the country as the idea of "trickle-down economics" fails. He believes that the President's proposed $15 minimum wage is the solution to this issue. This way, money goes straight to the middle class instead of having to "trickle-down" from the rich. He calls upon Seattle as an example of a city that has adopted a $15 per hour wage and continued to prosper. What Hanauer has failed to take into account is the vast difference in the standard of living across the country. While that high of a wage might work in Seattle, an economic center, may not work in another state and another, perhaps rural, city. Therefore, a federal minimum wage of $15 across the board in the United States is not conducive. This generalization of the entire country, while it might sound acceptable, in practice, will not work (Hanauer).     

While abolishing the federal minimum wage might beneficial, this would be a drastic change. There are alternatives that can be put in place, at least until the United States is ready to take that step. In his article, "Should Congress Increase The Federal Minimum Wage And Index It To Inflation?" Lew Prince explains the importance of "indexing the federal minimum wage" with the cost of living. This means that as the cost of living increases, the federal minimum wage will raise automatically. His company, founded in 1979, has always valued its workers and paid above minimum wage to keep workers motivated (Prince).  This would be a good bridge from where the country is now to getting the minimum wage abolished completely. This could be the next step to ensure people are getting paid appropriate wages in accordance with inflation.

Abolishing the federal minimum wage would be a huge step for the United States. It is important that before eliminating the federal minimum wage completely, we find alternative solutions to the problems a higher minimum wage seeks to solve. In his scholarly article, "Reducing Poverty Via Minimum Wages, Alternatives," author David Neumark acknowledges that in order to decrease poverty levels, the first thing people think of is increasing the minimum wage. He also, however, points out that while this may seem like a good solution, this fix is aimed toward "individual workers with low wages," as opposed to "families with low incomes." There are other ways to decrease poverty in the United States, and Neumark offers some alternate solutions and policies like the earned income tax credit (Neumark). Everyone has the same goal: to help people who live in poverty or do not earn a livable wage. The only thing that varies from person to person is how the United States should go about handling this issue. The ideas Neumark suggests are good alternatives to raising the minimum wage, with the same goal in mind and with less of the repercussions that might come with an implementation of a higher federal minimum wage.

Many cities and states already have minimum wages personalized to their specific regions. Seattle is an example of a city that has adopted the minimum wage (Drier). Many people, like plutocrat Nick Hanauer, point to Seattle to show how successful a $15 minimum wage would be, but fail to take into account the vast differences in the standard of living from state to state. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25; there are nineteen states that have a minimum wage higher than the federal minimum wage. Ten states have their minimum wage increase automatically with inflation. Different cities like New York and Los Angeles have started created laws about the minimum wage personalized to their cities. Even if New York and Los Angeles decide to have a $15 minimum wage, this is appropriate because it is built to work in their own cities. States and cities should work to have their own minimum wage instead of adopting the federal minimum wage. This will always ensure that the wages fit the cities in which they are implemented according to the cost and standard of living in that city (Dreier).  

Many people in the economic field support an abolition of the minimum wage. In his article, "Policy Analysis No. 107: The Negative Effects of Minimum Wage Laws," Mark Wilson discusses the negative aspects of the minimum wage laws. He believes that enforcing a federal minimum wage harms the people it is intended to help. An increase in the minimum will cause cuts in employment, less job opportunities, and raises in prices of consumer goods. This study provides economic research that counters the idea that raising the minimum wage will benefit the economy (Wilson). Tim Worstall, author for the New York Times, also supports an abolition of the minimum wage. He believes this will allow the market to figure it out for itself, instead of forcing a flat wage across the country. With so many different levels of labor and skill, it seems impractical to give all the different levels the same wage (Worstall). 

