Jobs and Welfare Issue #2-Boosting the Minimum
by Caitlin Canavati - Tuesday, 15 December 2009, 12:00 AM
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After fighting for highter minimum wage, recently it was raised to $7.25 from $5.15. This increase would bring many Americans who are living off salaries that are minimum wage to above the poverty line with the help of food stamps and Earned Income Tax Credit. In 2007, president Bush signed a large Iraq war funding bill which gave $4.8 billion of tax cuts to small businesses. However, minimum wage battles continue. It is morally unfair that full time workers who are making the minimum wage are living below the poverty line. Raising minimum wage is believed to greatly help out americans especially single mothers who struggle and have a hard time getting above the poverty line. If people made more money, they would have more money to spend, hence a boost in the economy and it will outweigh the negative effects of businesses raising prices to cover increased wages. also, the topic of tax cuts comes into play because they say that tax cuts should not have been tied into the new minimum wage because businesses have recieved such generous tax cuts already. Fighting back on the rise of minimum wage, it is suggested a poor idea because it is a weak weapon to fight poverty because its such a low number of the workforce being affected, and almost half of the people making minimum wage are teens, and not full time workers in poverty. Opponants also say that the raise of costs of doing business with lead to more job cuts and higher prices. the opponants also argue a more plausable solution to helping povery which is expanding the EITC that rewards workers with low income without interfering with the market.
In my opinion, i support the raise of minimum wage. i am one of those working teens who would like to get paid more than 5 bucks an hour for my labor. i also work for a small business, Dairy Queen North, which is privately owned, so i am also in support of small business tax cuts. from this job, i was able to see first had what its like to live completely off that income of a small business, and it's a difficult lifestyle, especially with the economy as it is right now. though it is correct that most people getting minimum wage are teens, many teens are responsible for paying for alot of the things they need. parents support may only go so far and they need money, especially when they are also in school and not working full time. with rising prices, it becomes hard to keep up with such a low income, therefore a rise in wage seems neccessary. George Bush also supported and agreed with raising minimum wage in an article titled "Bush Supports Rise In Minimum Wage + Tax Help"
Joes blog discusses issue #1- All Things Being Unequal
Jons blog discusses issue #3-Putting Welfare to Work
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