Should the government raise the minimum wage?

Answer 1

No.

Forcing pay increases for minimum wage jobs forces businesses to pass the pay increase to consumers. Since nearly all food service and sales associate jobs pay minimum wage, and these are the businesses where everyone is required to shop, this causes a rapid inflation increase, and minimum wage earners tend to break even.

Answer 2

Since the last raise in minimum wage, in 2009, here are some common price increases:

• apples cost 16% more
• bacon costs 67% more
• cheese costs 21% more
• coffee costs 27% more
• ground beef costs 39% more
• milk costs 21% more
• a "Big Mac" costs 30% more
• electricity costs 9% more
• gas costs 45% more

How are you supposed to pay that much more for stuff if you don't make any more than you did before the prices increased?

Answer 3

Americans have been arguing over the federal minimum wage since President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed it into law with the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Today, as then, perspectives generally coalesce around one of two arguments:

Opponents of a higher minimum wage say a government-mandated wage floor will place an unfair burden on the businesses that pay workers. No one gets paid when an employer can’t afford wages, they say.

Meanwhile, proponents of raising the limit say full-time workers deserve a living wage. Both sides may argue over what constitutes a “living wage,” but for supporters of a higher federal minimum, we’re not there yet. The only way to get there is to raise the minimum wage, they say.

Note that states and municipalities can impose their own minimum wages. But among advocates for and against higher minimum payments for U.S. workers, the ultimate prize is at the federal level. That’s where sweeping nationwide changes take place.

So should the federal minimum wage be increased? The answer depends on where you stand. Let’s get into the details on either side of the argument.

Advocates for a higher federal minimum wage, such as the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) and the labor-driven Fight for $15 movement, point out that the current pay floor hasn’t changed since 2009. As of this writing, the U.S. minimum wage is just $7.25 per hour for non-tipped workers (for whom it’s much less).

Meanwhile, cost-of-living prices are going up. By 2024, everywhere in the nation, a single full-time worker will have to make at least $15 per hour in order to fund a “modest but adequate” lifestyle, reports EPI.

There’s also the demand-side economic argument, which holds that increased earnings on the low end of the scale will boost the nation’s gross domestic product by increasing consumer spending.

Not so fast, says the nonprofit Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), an institution that lists among its principles “individual liberty” and “free-market economics.” Is it really the federal government’s place to tell employers what they owe their workers?

In a free society, employers have the right to set wages wherever they want, FEE argues. As the rightful owner of your own labor, you’re also free to set your own prices; you can simply choose not to work for an employer who won’t meet your wage requirements.

The economic argument against a higher minimum wage is similarly crisp: Each worker produces a set amount of value. If pay is artificially inflated over the worker’s hourly created value, the business will not turn a profit, and the employer will vanish...along with the jobs.

President Roosevelt himself addressed this argument in a fireside chat the evening before signing the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“Do not let any calamity-howling executive with an income of $1,000 a day … tell you … that a wage of $11 a week is going to have a disastrous effect on all American industry," the president said.

Essentially, this line of thinking tells business owners, “Ah, you can afford it,” an argument that many struggling employers find hard to stomach—and that many employees see as indisputable, given the evidence in the parking lot.

So where does that leave our Answer?

This one is up to you. If you believe the U.S. economy offers a reasonably level playing field and each person is free to act in their own economic best interest, then no, the federal minimum wage should not be increased. But if you believe the free market isn't fair to everyone on the income scale, then yes, a minimum wage increase does seem in order.