Good Example Of Essay On Raising The Minimum Wage

I think the government should not control minimum wage and that companies should have the authority to choose how they will compensate their employees. I feel minimum wage makes people less motivated to make a change, further their education, participate in skilled training, or put in an honest days work. When they know their paycheck will always be a specific amount, they have little incentive to push out of their comfort zone and test their abilities.
There are pros to raising the minimum wage. For one, it forces business to share their profits with the employees who helped produce it. It also keeps businesses from abusing work ethics by asking employees to perform work for such little pay. And perhaps the most arguable is that employees need to be able to make enough money for basic living costs. Housing, food, and gas prices have all risen at a greater rate than minimum wage. David Cooper and Doug Hall (2012) believe that raising the minimum wage would actually boost the economy: “Economists generally recognize that low-wage workers are more likely than any other group to spend any extra earning immediately on previously unaffordable basic needs or services.”
Raising minimum wage may have serious economical consequences. American companies may feel it is better for their operation to move labor, manufacturing, call centers, etc. over sea for a cheaper price. Some companies may be strained to the point of bankruptcy or they may go the route of hiring illegal workers, leaving fewer jobs to our citizens. Non- profit organizations will struggle to provide the services they need when they are must dip into their limited budget to meet the raised minimum wage. And the American dream of starting your own company will be further out of reach.
If minimum wage were to be increased, it may come at the benefit of foreign countries. Foreign countries would have a greater competitive advantage as they offer their services cheaper. Foreign countries will bring in more money, raising the average household income and resulting in more citizens gaining higher education degrees and competing for a wider range of American jobs.
The government overstepped boundaries in the 2008 economic crisis by providing financial assistance to hundreds of banks. They put restrictions on these companies paying out bonuses or severance pay, which is understandable since the government didn’t want their financial assistance to land in the pockets of top employees. The government required income reports of top business executives, which resulted in colleges competing to reach the same pay and causing what is called the “ratcheting effect” (Bachelder, 2010).
The government was needed to step in and regulate fair and ethical work practices such as child labor laws, anti-discrimination laws, compensation for injuries on the job, etc. I don’t doubt they were genuinely trying to do a good thing by setting a standard of pay for low skilled jobs, but regulating minimum wage is over stepping boundaries and putting a burden on our economy.

References

Bachelder, J. E. (2010). Federal Intervention in Executive Pay. Retrieved January 19, 2015, from http://www.jebachelder.com/articles/100322.html
Cooper, D., and Hall, D. (2012). How Raising the Federal Minimum Wage would Help Working Families and Give the Economy a Boost. Retrieved January 19, 2015, from http://www.epi.org/publication/ib341-raising-federal-minimum-wage/