Thomas 1

Clifton Thomas
English 111-353
Mrs. Brittany Cowan
19 Nov 2014

The Raising of the Minimum Wage to $10.10

The minimum wage in America today has been at $7.25 for the past few years. Yet in
todays economy with constantly rising prices, $7.25 is no longer a sufficient amount to live on.
A minimum wage of $7.25 keeps American citizens impoverished; it is impossible to support a
family, and it alters the overall quality of life. To guarantee a fair quality of life for all
Americans the minimum wage should be raised.
Today a worker who is making $7.25 an hour is only making $290 a week and that comes
out to be $13,920.00 a year. These wages are below the poverty line. Can anyone live on
$13,920 a year? No. So why do Americans feel that the poor can? This is the greed of big and
small business wanting to make big profits, and not pay their workers a fair wage. When do we
treat the American workers as human beings who are entitled to a fair wage to support his or her
family?
By not making a fair wage it alters the quality of life for the worker to provide a good life
for his or her family. Therefore, many of the poor have to go on public assistance, and that
means the tax payers are paying to help the poor out. By raising the minimum wage the tax
payers dont have to pay for them anymore. Many Americans feel that a new minimum wage
should be raised to take poor out of poverty and bring them into the middle class. Should
Congress raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour? The answer is yes. The Washington Post

Thomas 2

printed. It shouldnt take an act of Congress to raise the minimum wage ( Lane). So if not
Congress then who? Today many poor are making only minimum wage and that is why they
feel that the wages they are making, makes them feel like they are getting slave wages, because
what little pay they get it feels like that to them. They cant buy a home, a car, or even go to the
movies or out to dinner, so a change has to come to raise the minimum wage. Seventy three
percent of Americans have voted to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour (Harris-Perry).
The time is now, not tomorrow but today. The poor works for little to nothing while the one
percent lives off of their work.
The argument that is against raising the minimum wage is how it would help the lower
wage workers. Would it help them and the county as a whole? Will the extra income earned by
those who keep their jobs outweigh those who could lose their jobs, if the hourly wage rate for
the poor is determine by market demand, and supply. Is $6.00 and the government raising the
minimum wage to $10.00, workers who lose their jobs will make zero income (Worstall).
Therefore those who start businesses would not be able to enter the market, because that many
other businesses could fail.
Today is the day to do right by those who work for little to nothing. No one wants work
for that little bit of money, so why should we feel they should. Lets all call or write our
congressman or congresswoman to vote to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour to give the
poor a fair wage so they can support their family and live the American dream. Isnt that what
every American wants: to live the American dream? Now there are many who dont want to
raise the minimum wage, they say they would have to be laid off from their jobs if it happens,
but they can raise their prices a little, and the government will save a lot of money by not paying
for public assistance, and that should make the minimum wage work for everyone.

Thomas 3

Works Cited
Harris-Perry. "Voters Approve Wage Increases in Red States." MSNBC. 9 Nov. 2014. Web. 9
Nov. 2014. <http://www.msnbc.com/melissa-harris-perry/watch/voters-approve-wage-increasesin-red-states-355753539709>.
Jamieson, Dave. "Most States Will Now Have A Higher Minimum Wage Than The One Set By
Congress." Huffington Post. 11 Nov. 2014. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/05/minimum-wage-by-state_n_6110204.html>.
Lane, Charles. "It Shouldnt Take an Act of Congress to Raise the Minimum Wage." The
Washington Post. Web. 10 Nov. 2014. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/charles-laneit-shouldnt-take-an-act-of-congress-to-raise-the-minimum-wage/2014/11/05/04cacfa2-651411e4-9fdc-d43b053ecb4d_story.html>.
Vilensky, Saul, and Michael. "Lawmakers Urged to Pass Higher Wage." The Wall Street
Journal. 11 Nov. 2014. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. http://online.wsj.com/articles/lawmakers-urged-topass-higher-wage-1415756842?KEYWORDS=minimum wage

Worstall, Tim. "Forbes." The Moral Case against Raising the Minimum Wage. 6 Mar. 2014.
Web. 5 Dec. 2014. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2014/03/06/the-moral-caseagainst-raising-the-minimum-wage/>.

Thomas 4