Minimum Wage

Minimum Wage

A high school student that has a job or is thinking about getting a job knows what minimum wage is because they know how little it is. Minimum wage is a set p/hr earnings an employer must pay his or her employees. Oregon is one of eighteen states in the U.S. that has set a higher minimum wage then the federal law of only $5.15 per/hr. For many years there has been a debate on weather or not highirng the minimum wage helps or hurts the economy, in most states with a higher minimum wage it has shown an increase in that states economy.

When Bill Clinton was in office he gave the states the power to set their own minimum wages above the federal level. One reason why he chose to do this is because it would allow states to change according to what fit their needs the best. A living wage is how well a person can perform a standard of living. That of course depends on where you live and the different types you fall under.

You may think how does the minimum wage affect our economy. Dose it help or not. Economists recently signed a statement stating that federal and state minimum wage increases “can significantly improve the lives of low-income workers and their families, without the adverse effects that critics have claimed” (LEG 2005). Even the research that suggests a negative labor market effect shows only a minimal impact that is more than offset by the higher wage levels. The states that have adopted higher-than-federal minimum wages have seen low-wage workers’ incomes rise with no negative side-effects. If the minimum wage were increased nationally to $7.25 13.6 million workers

Would receive a raise, 80% of those affected are adults age 20 or over, and 7.3 million children would see their parent’s income rise. The first attempt at establishing a minimum wage in the United States came in 1933, when a $.25-per-hour standard was set into the NIR. However, in 1935 Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States ruled that the minimum wage was unconstitutional, and the minimum wage was abolished. The minimum wage was set back into place into in 1938 during the Fair Labor Standards Act. From then to now the minimum wage had its highest purchasing value ever in 1968, when it was $1.60 per hour or $9.12 in 2005 dollars ( ORG 2005). When I say purchasing power you might think what is that, or how does it work. Well purchasing power is amount of something you can buy with the same amount of money. If money income stays the same, but the price of the good or goods go up, the effective purchasing power of that income falls. Falling purchasing power can also be called inflation.

When you think of minimum wage you think of only high school students and fast food. In new research, results show 60% of people who earn a minimum wage are female and 40% male. Also they found 83% are single persons 25 or younger. Over half of minimum wage workers 53% are full or part time students. These statistics show you that it’s not only high school students that are making these wages. A little over 20% of American family’s the head of the house depends on a minimum wage job for their many source of income. That might seem alarming knowing that many families must live off the same amount I make and our forced to support a family.

With the national minimum wage set at $5.15 per/hr many states have chose to raise there minimum wages for a few different reasons. Supporters of minimum wage increases claim they are needed to help