From the beginning of the first minimum wage implemented in 1938 to now, the United States has drastically increased it over time. Even though its' original intention was to help those who were living in poverty during the Great Depression, it turned out to do more than just that. The set minimum wage became a significant part of the government's expenses, various businesses, the people's everyday lives, and the employment rate. Rising from twenty-five cents to a current seven dollars and twenty-five cents, the federal government has monitored the wage for years however, as many more problems have arose the government has begun to steer its attention away from the issue. As someone who was worked and struggled to pay bills making just minimum wage I have experienced firsthand how it can be very detrimental and tough. I wanted to do more research on the topic and found the information very enlightening. With this information found, it concluded that minimum wage needs to be increased and it would tremendously service those who make it. 

The cost of living is rising every year because prices are going up and the world is becoming more advanced with technology. Many families are living under the line of poverty and struggling to live comfortable lives. With less money for "discretionary spending", families dealing with price "raises of gas, food," and other necessary products. (Ullman) With a constitution in place that states for the people by the people, this means our governments initial response should be to help the people in any way they possibly can. With the presidential elections approaching quickly, the people want to know what our government plans to do about this problem, meaning will they raise the minimum wage or not. This may even change the way that some people vote and who they decide to vote for. Although there are many issues that have precedence over minimum wage being raised, I believe that if we take care of this problem it will alleviate a lot of the other problems our government is dealing with such as inflation and poverty. Many people are pushing to raise the wage as high as fifteen dollars while others suggest a mere nine to twelve dollars. However, regardless of the price suggested, it is apparent that there needs to be some sort of raise.

It is believed that if raised to fifteen dollars the minimum wage will do more damage than good. Some people believe that it will do so much as raise unemployment rates, it will only have little effect on poverty rates, will result in higher prices for consumers, effect customer satisfaction, and cause businesses to fail. (Trugman) However research shows that if raised by a fair amount and not as much as fifteen dollars, that minimum wage will do the opposite of those things. Our government should make the obligatory decision of increasing the federal minimum wage to at least ten dollars because it would incite poverty levels to decrease over time, make unemployment rates decrease, cause prices to increase but consumers will be able to afford those, aid small businesses to flourish, and make investments in our college student's futures.

Poverty has become one of the most prominent of many problems that people in our country are facing today. It is our government's job to do their best to assuage problems like this when they become as widespread as poverty has. It is said that if the minimum wage is raised by a meagre [ten percent], then "the number of people living in poverty" will decrease by 2.4 percent. (Konczal) Even though that percentage may not be much, every little bit counts because overtime that number will increase and help us to reach our goal of one hundred percent. Over sixty percent of the people living in poverty are single mothers, which means most of that population we are helping with the minimum wage increase includes children. (Kirby) If the cost of living is continuing to increase every year, then the minimum wage needs to rise to the occasion also to compensate for the price increases. No one can expect families to continue to live comfortably on just seven dollars and twenty five cents, especially when children are involved. 

Along with a decrease in poverty levels come an increase in employment rates. However, there are many people that will disagree with this statement because they believe that this minimum wage increase will negatively affect the job market. They also believe that it will take money out of employers hands causing them to have to lay more people off thus spiking the unemployment rate, which has just be lowered drastically. (Worstall) Contrary to that belief, history and studies have shown that that is in fact not true, and an increase in minimum wage will cause little or most likely no effect on unemployment. As stated before, the Great Depression is what bought along a minimum wage and when it was implemented more jobs were created and eventually helped the economy get back to what it was before. Although the economy is not what it was once before, that does not mean that a raise in the minimum wage will not still help as it did before. (Minimum Wage Question and Answer) Along with history, several studies done by economist also prove that unemployment rates will not be affected. In a letter written to President Obama and several congress members by a group of over 600 economist and Nobel peace prize winners, they urge them to raise the minimum wage because their research has been done extensively and it shows that the unemployment rate will have little or no affect by it. (Minimum Wage Mythbusters) Even the President himself has made many promises and taken action so that the minimum wage level is increased. Rather than making predictions about the future and how it will be affected by the minimum wage, we should look at the facts and what it has proven. The facts show that the unemployment rate will have no direct effect on it by the wage being increased. The more people are offered to be paid, the more they will want to get out and work. The connection is very obvious and should be bought to anyone's attention who disagrees.

Another very widespread argument that people who are against minimum wage have is that it will cause prices to rise. This argument is correct because basic economics to prove this fact however, prices are expected to rise with or without the minimum wage increase. A study done by "University of Guelph Food Institute [estimated]" that the average [household] families will spend at least three hundred and twenty five dollars additionally on food this year. (Food Prices Set to Rise in 2016 as Weak Loonie Takes a Bigger Bite) This study along with many others proves that prices are expected to go up whether minimum wage is increased or not so it does not make sense to say that it is the direct causes of price increases. Also, the rise in cost also causes the cost of living to increase which as explained before is inevitable. Nevertheless, if we were to increase the minimum wage that would without a doubt prepare and assist those who make minimum wage to win the battle with rising cost. If the people have more money to spend then they can afford to keep up with the prices as they rise. The government cannot expect its people to continue to receive the same amount of pay while continuing to keep up with the cost of living as it continuously rises. Also, as prices begin to rise and people are spending more money the government will also be receiving more which means more money will be circulated into our economy. The economy cannot function without the people circulating money into it so why not invest in us so that we can help our country help itself. 

Talking about minimum wage increased involves the workers and the government but one factor that many people forget to put into play are the business owners. There has been a lot of hearsay that no business owners support the raise in the minimum wage and that small businesses will lose money if the wage is raised anymore but that is simply not true. Studies actually show that two out of every three business owner actually wants the minimum wage increased and fully advocate it. Two out of three means that sixty seven percent of the small business owners' population, which is more than half, want the minimum wage increased. (Small Businesses Support Increasing Minimum Wage) This statistic showed that contrary to popular belief many business owner support this because just like everyone else they have bills and finances to manage which means they, just as well as their employees, should make a good amount of money so that they can provide themselves and their children with a good life. Not only is that belief false, but the belief that business owners will lose money and their businesses is also false. Increasing the minimum age will allow [purchasing power] to increase, better "customer satisfaction", and a decrease in "employee turnover." (Eisenbrey) People tend to gravitate towards the jobs that pay more so jobs that only pay minimum wage will lose workers if minimum wage is not increased. This goes back to our government and how it is their job to make sure everyone is given the opportunity to live a suitable life regardless of their circumstances. 

Minimum wage workers not only includes people that do not have college degrees. It also includes those that are working toward getting their college degree and sadly, it even includes those who already have so much as a bachelor's degree. Over 60,000 people with a "bachelor's degree or higher" made minimum wage or less and in the following year "that number increased" to 120,000 more. (Bradley) This statistic goes to show that many people that are working for minimum wage are struggling to make ends meet and find quality work even with a degree. For the people that are working to pay through college, they deserve to be able to afford a decent education meanwhile still be able to afford to make a living. Also, those that already have a college degree but still struggle to obtain a job in their field, should also be able to afford to make a decent living while looking for a job in the field of their degree. The young men and women of today are our futures. It is the government's job to make sure our future is protected and well taken care of, meaning they are paid fairly. How can the government expect a student with no financial support from anyone but themselves, afford to put themselves through college and pay to bills with a job that only pays seven dollars and twenty five cents an hour? Our college students will make up our future doctors, lawyers, and business men so it will be wise to invest in their futures and help them to become the men and women that they aspire to be. Raising the minimum wage will allow them to be able to afford to take their next step in life and become successful with a degree. In today's economy it will be very hard to find a job without a college degree which means that our young people need to do just that. For the ones that have gotten their education, but struggle to find a job, we should have a minimum wage implemented that allows them to feel as though their degree paid off and all of their hard work is not in vain. The average cost per year for college students in 2013 was thirty-two thousand, four hundred dollars. (What's the Price Tag for a College Education?) That price on top of the price for food and other necessities exceeds the amount of money that minimum wage workers make. This means that most college students who are financially independent cannot afford an education which should not be acceptable in a country that is built on freedom, education, and endless opportunities. 

In conclusion, minimum wage from the beginning of time has been there to help our economy however it is beginning to fail at what it has always done. Those who make minimum wage are struggling to make a decent living and it is simply not fair. If our government does not wake up sooner or later, our economy will find itself in a ruckus with poverty levels constantly increasing, workers being laid off, businesses failing, and our government going deeper and deeper into debt. Those who do not agree with the minimum wage being higher do not say that the poverty level will not decrease but that it will not decrease at a high rate. However, it is better to have some than none at all. Any amount of progress is still progress and should be supported. We should not expect perfection but progress from the increase in the minimum wage. The unemployment rate has currently been lowered and in order for us to keep that change going, we need to continue increasing the minimum wage as we have always done. There will be less people willing to work unless we offer them something worth working for. No one will want to spend hours working only to receive seven dollars and twenty five cents at the end of the day. Not only will we have more jobs because more people will want to work, but we will also have higher prices. Now many people would see this as a bad thing, however if our people make more money than they would have more money to spend in return. The whole idea of the minimum wage should be for everyone to be able to keep up with the cost of living and this raise will do just that. How can someone afford to keep up with rising cost, which are inevitable, if they do not make enough to do so? Meanwhile, small businesses will continue to flourish because these people are spending more money and putting more money into the economy, which we drastically need. Raising the minimum wage may seem like a big risk to many people however this country itself was built on many entrepreneurs and citizens taking risk so why should we stop now? The sky is the limit for what our country can accomplish if we just take chances, help one another and stick to our values of which we were built on including fairness. The possibilities to what our country can do are endless. We shouldn't take this opportunity for granted. It would really be a shame to look back in the future and say that it was a mistake not giving the American people what they deserve and worked so hard for. As long as I am a citizen of the United States I will continue to fight for what I believe in which in this case is rising the wage. If the depressing look on a mothers face when she cannot feed her children is not enough to make congress reconsider that it is hard to imagine what will. However, I am optimistic and hope for the best as I work to continue to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves. 

