Michael Blosser
Micro Econ
Final Paper
In America today, there are many different careers and jobs out there that are
being paid their fair share. There are some jobs that are a little underpaid, jobs that are
considered minimum wage positions. Now although we see them as underpaid, we
would just like to remind you that these people choose these minimum wage positions
in order to make an income. Whether these people are students or a single parent, they
all knew what they were getting into when they decided to work for minimum wage.
Many of the workers that are fighting to get the minimum wage raised do not
understand the consequences that could come from raising the minimum wage.
If our government were to raise the minimum wage, there would be a higher
amount of unemployed people in the United States. This would be due to the rising
cost that businesses are required to pay their workers. With a rise in the minimum
wage it would drive out other entry level (minimum wage) jobs throughout different
businesses and corporations. These companies would be forced to not keep new,
untrained workers because simply they just cannot afford them on payroll. “There is
abundant evidence that a 10 percent increase in the minimum wage leads to a 1 to 3
percent decrease in employment of low-skilled workers” (Dorn, 2013, para.4). We
complain so much about the unemployment rate and how it keeps rising, but with the
raise in minimum wage we believe that the unemployment rate will continue to rise.
Industry leaders won’t hire new workers and will start to outsource and go overseas in
order to get their products made for a cheaper price. This will plummet our
employment rate tremendously. Also, for an example: a restaurant would have to
increase its wages, thus forcing them to let go an employee or two. This would
completely kill this restaurant because they would no longer be able to run an
efficient business. They would be understaffed which would cause problems, and then
they would lose business and eventually have to shut down because they wouldn’t be
able to pay for their employee’s wages and cover operation costs.
Other issues with raising the minimum wage has to deal with the social
welfare and fairness of pay due to job responsibilities. The people of the United States
are the ones who are able to be heard and are believed to be the ones running the
country. The huge problem with raising the minimum wage is the military. If the
minimum wage is raised, then many believe it would only be fair to raise the pay
scales for the United States Armed Forces. Many Americans agree that if someone
who is responsible for flipping burgers at a fast food joint are paid $15 an hour; then
soldiers who put their lives on the line every day overseas should see a similar raise in
pay.
In my personal opinion, I do not believe that the minimum wage should be
raised. I believe that just like mentioned above, pay should be regulated due to
education, experience and job responsibilities. Not just because they are demanded a
