The Problem With The Minimum

Josh Sheehan

Brian Lewis

Comp. 2 1022

Febuary 6, 2010


Minimum wage is a topic on a lot of people’s minds, mainly in the minds of workers who are stuck making minimum wage. With the current economic state as bad as it is, employers can only afford to pay employees minimum wage. No matter where someone goes to find a job, he or she is most likely looking at a minimum wage paying job. For teens that are still living at home with no real expenses, this $7.25 seems sufficient enough, but for people who are out of high school and on their own, this minimum wage seems way too low to live off of. College students are especially struggling with this insufficient wage. Most college students are no longer being supported financially by their parents. Therefore, they have to pay for their own daily expenses as well as the costs of going to school. This means that college students can only have a part time job. Part time jobs almost always start off with a salary of minimum wage. For a college student to be able to pay for classes, books, food and possibly rent off of minimum wage is unfathomable. I believe that minimum wage should be increased. Minimum wage is currently at $7.25 per hour which would be $290 a week with a full forty hour work week. This would be roughly around $1,160 or less per month. A person with this income working a full time job would be making about $13,920 per year. The poverty threshold varies from the amount of people living within the family; one person alone is drawn at $10,830, the rate increases by $3,740 per family member after that (Federal Register). This means that on minimum wage, working full time, a person will just pass the poverty line.

Minimum wage is not increasing directly with inflation, making minimum wage less and less each year. In 2009, inflation was negative for the first time in ten years, which means that inflation was extremely low. Other than 2009, the rates of inflation have gone up and up. With this going up each year and minimum wage not increasing, it gets harder and harder each year to support oneself on minimum wage. The inflation rate pretty much means that the value of the American dollar is worth less and less each year. This means that the prices of common items such as food go up each year. With the minimum wage not increasing and the inflation constantly increasing, minimum wage is, in essence, decreasing. Minimum wage should at least keep up with inflation so that it stays at a common equilibrium with the market.

A new concept in minimum wage could be in order as well. It is said that one of the leading causes of crime is poverty. Statistics show that the crime levels are worse in the poverty-stricken neighborhoods (Karmen). Research states that over half of the people living in these neighborhoods have never taken a college course. The problem, however, lies on the people who are forced to live in these neighborhoods even with a college degree of some kind. If minimum wage will not be increased, maybe congress should come up with a new minimum wage law that gives a second minimum wage, so to speak, to any person who has a degree of any kind. This could ensure anyone with a college-level education a better paying job which could lead to better living conditions.


Works Cited

Karmen, Andrew. “Poverty remains root cause.” USA Today 7 Jan. 2010. Academic Search
Premier. Web. 6 Feb. 2010.

“Labor Law Center.” Federal Minimum Wage Increase 14 Oct. 2009. Web. 8 Feb. 2010.

Federal Register. 74.57 (2009): 13261. 8 Feb. 2010.