Many people argue whether the minimum wage should be increased or stay the same, here are a few reasons why.

Why should the minimum wage be increased?

Many people work in low-paying jobs and the national minimum wage is only $7.25 per hour which is not enough to supply a family of four and pay bills. The minimum wage being increased can take many people out of poverty as this current pandemic has already increased the poverty size. Another reason is due to majority of the people wanting this so they can supply their family and the role of the government is to also permit people to become more productive instead of limiting them. Increasing the minimum wage can also cause many millions of people to bounce back into getting jobs and billions of dollars would go to the people for economic purposes.  An average worker with the minimum wage makes $15, 080, $4,000 less than the average poverty line for three people in the household. If the government increased the minimum wage to $15 per hour (double the current minimum wage), then 900,000 would be out of poverty.. Minimum wage doesn’t decrease poverty, eleven percent of people are estimated to gain poor households if they increased the minimum wage.

Why should the minimum wage stay the same?

When the minimum wage was first increased by 25 cents in 1938, it lead to many jobs being lost. “If the minimum wage was to be increased by $1.75, then 1.3 million jobs would have been lost” -CNBC An increase in minimum wage would result in the price or groceries purchased by consumers to be increased at a projected four percent. The minimum wage increases between 2003-2007 had no effect on the poverty. In fact, the state also has the ability to increase the minimum wage, in California the minimum wage is $12 per hour, far higher than the national wage. If government jobs were increased to a higher minimum wage, it could lead to inflation since more paper money would be printing. Also, many big companies such as Facebook, Apple, and Google increase the minimum wage for their employees so that instead of $7.25, it would be higher to $15-$16. 

Paying the minimum wage is not an option if you have employees. It is considered illegal not to pay the minimum wage if you are the business owner. You would be fined for not paying the minimum wage and you would be given a warning in case you did it again.

Many people consider raising the minimum wage to fifteen dollars, in order to sustain life.