The Effects Of Minimum Wage From A Microeconomic Perspective

There has been much controversy over the years on the impacts resulting from an imposed minimum wage and how it relates to the economy. It wasn’t until President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a Bill enacting the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 that American’s gained the right to a minimum threshold by which their labor could be sold. Against much opposition President Roosevelt was for a law that banned oppressive child labor and set the minimum hourly wage at .25 cents, and the maximum workweek at 44 hours.1 The minimum wage has been around for many years and it wasn’t until recently that it has become the topic of many discussions again. The intent of this paper is to look at some of the economic impacts associated with an increase to the minimum wage. There continues to be a difference in opinion among many economists on the pros and cons of a minimum wage hike. Those in favor attribute quality of life, reduction in poverty and gained efficiencies; while those that oppose claim an increase to poverty, unemployment and reduced efficiencies across the board. Which path warrants the most merit and should be considered a viable option across the board for the United States labor force?

Ira Knight, who is an author of article “Let’s Make the Minimum Wage a Living Wage”, expresses an opinion that increasing the minimum wage would help all struggling workers and at the same time improve U.S economy. On the other side, Janice Steele in her article “Keep the Minimum Wage Where It Is” argues that raising the minimum wage would have bad effects on workers, consumers and small businesses. Ira Knight’s article seems to be the stronger of the two positions because her arguments are based on several recent studies, and last but not least, she had a personal experience with the minimum wage job.

Labor is an important service that must be available and balanced in an ever growing population. For example, there cannot be a larger number of residents than there is labor or else there will be a definite increase in poverty. In the United States, there is a set law of minimum wage, which has an effect on companies and how they manage their labor force. The increase of the minimum wages affects the overall distribution of hours available, therefore, hurting the amount of labor needed. Conversely, minimum wage also has a major effect on those who recetly entered the workforce. If the minimum wage rises, there will be an increase of the unemployment rate. Correspondley, as the unemployed suffer, the first to be affected will be incoming laborers who are looking for jobs and work experience which is essential for their future. However, the upside of increasing minimum wage is that for those employed who keep their jobs they will earn more income which may increase the

Six years after the end of the 2008 recession, the pay for American workers remains at the same rate as when the recession began. Low wage jobs have dominated the job growth associated with the post-recession recovery. The federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour remains decades out of date. “The federal minimum wage has lost more than 30% of its value and would be more than $10.59 per hour today if it had kept pace with the cost of living over the past forty years”. (“Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013, 2013).

House Bill 230, or the most recent bill introduced in North Carolina to increase minimum wage, was introduced by the House of Representatives on March 12, 2015. After the first version of the Bill was introduced, it was revised once. The bill was introduced because the goal of the state is to provide a minimum wage that allows for a decent and healthy life for its citizens. As the value of the American dollar continues to change, so does the average cost of living. The primary sponsors of the Bill were Representatives Farmer-Butterfield, L. Hall, Fisher, and Cunningham. The Bill states that “Employers shall pay employees wages no less than the minimum wage for all hours worked in North Carolina.” It then states that minimum wage in North

Initially the minimum wage law was introduced to reduce poverty and inequality. Proponents of the Minimum wage do believe that these laws attain to these objectives. They do guarantee that the workers at the bottom level of the pay scale are being treated right and don’t get underpaid as the result of the belonging to a particular race or sex. They also guarantee that the workers are receiving a reasonable compensation from the employer (Cho, n.d.). The proponents of minimum wage also believe that it may have a positive reflection on the work ethics of the low-pay workers, thus it may benefit employers. It is also might encourage more people to join the workforce instead of trying to gain earnings by the means of unlawful methods, such as prostitution, selling narcotics

In this paper I will introduce the concept of minimum wage and a few of the laws that govern wage rates within the United States. I will also discuss some of the idea of both the support and opposition to minimum wage. I will also introduce some United States companies who have made the decision to raise their own minimum wages, why they made the decision to do so, and the changes and expectations they have as a result. Raising minimum wage for a company is not easy, and what to raise it to is harder, but for many companies, it is a good idea. In this paper, I will explain why.

In 1938, the first national minimum wage laws in the United States were passed as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which served as “a floor below wages,” to reduce poverty and to ensure that economic growth is shared across the workforce. Today, many people who work for companies that pay at or near the minimum wage and remain near or below the poverty level rely on government health and food security and income programs to supplement their living expenses. Since 1938, there have been many additional policies to the Fair Labor Standards Act that have changed many things, such as increasing the national minimum wage numerous times to the currently salary level, which was set in 1997. The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, from the United States Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division, was a policy to change the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 in three additions, which began in July of 2009. (U.S., 2009).

In this globalization era, as various countries see growth in their economy, there has also been significant differences in the wages set to employees in different countries. The lowest wages set by the law that are fixed to a particular amount which is also defined to be the price floor below which workers shall not sell their labor, has its own effects. The minimum wage law came into force as a matter of social justice amongst the low-wage workers, also to reduce exploitation and see that workers can afford the standard basic living expenses and necessities, not to increase the unemployment rate, indeed to increase the employment rate.

They do pay a living wage. There is this gentleman named Jacob Lund Fisker. He has a blog Early Retirement Extreme (http://earlyretirementextreme.com)

Minimum wage, a program created to help the poor, has every contrary effect to its well intentions. Throughout the history, people who hurt the most during minimum wage hikes are the low-skilled and young workers. Drastically raising minimum wage is meaningless as high inflation usually comes alongside with wage increases. Past economic statistics have shown that the rate of increase in inflation usually outpaced the rate of increase in minimum wage. Thus, the real value wage workers receive worth less than if there had been no minimum wage increase. This paper will employ empirical studies and theoretical analysis to show that minimum wage has exacerbated the problem of unemployment as well as increased income

Minimum wage is the topic I chose because there has been a controversy regarding raising minimum wage and the impact of minimum wage to the society. Whether it would aid workers or not. There have been arguments of laypersons of increasing minimum wage to a very high level and there are arguments against it.

Many researchers believe that minimum wage does not always have an inverse relationship on employment. This report aim is to discuss the negative relationship between minimum wage and employment. The minimum wage can be defined as an active labor market policy instrument, used by governments around the world to set a wage floor. It mostly leads to structural unemployment since minimum wage is sectorial, that is every sector have a different minimum wage from the other i.e. the minimum wage for taxi drivers is 3,218/month while the minimum wage for domestic workers is 2,230/month (Wage Indicator, 2016: 1).

(Reich 145). Some policymakers believe that companies simply absorb the costs of minimum wage increases through reduced profits, but in fact, that’s rarely the case. Instead, a business rationally responds to such mandates by cutting employment and making other decisions to maintain their net earnings. These responses usually offset the positive labor market results that policymakers are hoping for. Excess supply of labor is dispersed in several ways; a reduction in hours, fewer job opportunities, and a shift in employment from the sectors covered by the wage law to sectors not covered. In the case of a nationwide minimum wage, large numbers of businesses will be affected thus by different amounts depending on the industry, region of the country, and other factors. In addition to the mandated cost increase, possibly having the cause of employment reductions, a portion of the higher wage costs may be passed forward to consumers or back to other workers or suppliers of business inputs. Some circumstances may be that firms may reduce work hours. The employment and hours worked may also be affected by wage-related changes in employee productivity. Faced with higher labor costs, businesses try to raise prices, lay off workers or cut their margins. Competitive pressure can prevent them from boosting prices. That leaves them with the choice of either cutting jobs or accepting lower profits. Employees on the other hand, will be hurt if companies cut the number of low-wage jobs because of a higher minimum wage. Wages depend on the value that people produce. If the government tells businesses they have to pay people more than that value, they will get rid of unproductive workers. Not only does minimum wage hurt people in the short run, but it also can harm them over their entire careers. Entry-level jobs give people the chance

Nowadays, minimum wage is very important for workers in this world. In addition, minimum wage is also a core element of public policy in lots of countries. For example, minimum wage has become a hot topic in Taiwan recently. The Taiwanese complained that the working hours are too long, and the wages are too low. Because of that reason, workers in Taiwan have come forward to protest this policy. Therefore, according to this example, minimum wage has become an issue that cannot be ignored anymore, not only in Taiwan but also all around the world. There are many advantages of establishing minimum wage. It is not just a common reference when companies hire new employees but also can help certain families, help with setting small